The UCLan Equestrian competitive teams are comprised of 4 different teams who compete at different levels. The first two compete within the British Universities and Colleges Sports (BUCS) leagues and are the champion and trophy teams. The third and fourth are the development team which will compete in friendly competitions against other local universities both for experience and to gain confidence. Each team is comprised of 4 members and take part in 4 competitions against 3 other universities, both at home and away.
BUCS Teams
BUCS teams compete in a way unfamiliar to many riders. Teams will compete against three other universities from their league with one competition being held at each university. Competitions are made up of a dressage test in the morning and a show jumping round in the afternoon. 4 horses are used by the riding school at each university for each discipline, and horses are allocated randomly to riders, with one member from each team riding the same horse. All horses are shown off, and riders are given only 5 minutes before their turn to warm up and get to know their horse. While this may be a daunting idea, it is a fantastic way to improve your ability and confidence across the board. Teams in both trophy and championship have the chance to compete at regionals and then nationals if their team wins their league.
Development Team
The development team competitions work in roughly the same way as the BUCS teams, however riders are allowed to chose which horse they wish to compete on during the show off. Although the development team do not get the opportunity to go to regional competitions, it is a brilliant way of getting competition experience and gaining the confidence needed to move up into BUCS or compete at home.