The Brandeis equestrian team trotted into action this weekend and jumped clear over the competition.The riders finished second out of 14 schools in their Intercollegiate Horse Show Association regular season finale Saturday, but still missed out on their zone playoffs. Instead, three of the team's riders competed in a regional event Sunday.

The team, part of zone one and region four in the IHSA, finished eighth place in their zone for the season after Saturday's performance. Stonehill College, the IHSA champion in 2003, emerged victorious.

Despite not making the zone playoffs, team members said they were pleased with the opportunity they had on Sunday, as well as their performance.

"Even qualifying is an honor," captain Amanda Winer '06 said. "We all rode very well."

Winer finished sixth place out of 10 riders in the intermediate fences event in Sunday's regional, while captain Jessica Dillon '06 came in seventh in the open fences. Meanwhile, Amy Goldwasser '06 recorded a fourth-place finish in the walk track event. While Winer and Dillon's events involved riding and fence-jumping, Goldwasser's competition involved just basic riding.

Dillon began Saturday at 14th place in her division, but managed to move up all the way to seventh place by the end of the weekend.

"I have improved a lot since we started, so I was really happy with how it turned out," Dillon said.

The team also said that luck played an integral role in Sunday's show. Riders were forced to compete on randomly selected horses that they had never ridden before in their careers.

"It's really the luck of the draw," Winer said.

"You draw a horse and then you have to ride it without practicing, so it is really challenging," Dillon said.

Any equestrian team needs steady coaching to master such a challenge, and Brandeis' new equestrian coach Debbie Branfield, this spring, was a key factor in the team's success, Wimer said.

"[Branfield] has done a wonderful job," Winer said. "We have been really successful with her.