Houghton University Equestrian Program

09/12/2026

We are looking forward to hosting WNYDA’s Fall Dressage Symposium featuring Amelia Newcomb over September 26 and 27 weekend.

It will be a great weekend of learning and we are excited to have two of our own participating. Hannah Williamson is riding one of our newer lesson horses Spirit and we are so excited to see them get this amazing learning opportunity to be one of the many great demo rides over the weekend.

Haven’t registered to audit yet? There may still be some last minute spots available but you need to reach out to WNYDA as soon as possible to check for availability.

Link with auditor registration details below . . .
https://wnyda.org/__static/jdj5jdewjfjscgfwwnd1ttvxv1ryvzzj/2026-Amelia-Newcomb-WNYDA-Fall-Symposium-Application.pdf?fbclid=IwVERFWAUSvSVwZG9mAWZkaWQWUOR28Zzo54KeoZPToj4tcjy3wm3pAWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR54fuiGoRpNAFEsWClDYxvaRoyAN5YZs92ls1LjbTkIuf3SFcGA1REIzjCu2A_aem_jCZ1dF5iSerdfvNXp1kHcA

Announcing our fantastic WNYDA SYMPOSIUM 2026 DEMO RIDERS 🐴

Hannah Williamson and Spirit 1st Level

Hannah started her love for horses at a young age attending summer horse camps, fostering horses and doing western and trail riding. However, it wasn't until coming to Houghton as a student in the equestrian program that she quickly realized she loved dressage and worked hard to continue her own education by participating in or auditing local equine clinics and events. After finishing courses at Houghton, Hannah spent a couple months at Devonwood Equestrian Center in Sherwood, Oregon. There she learned more about barn management at a high level show and boarding facility before accepting her current position as Events Coordinator, Assistant Barn Manger, and summer camp director at the Houghton University Equestrian Center. Hannah enjoys working with horses and loves to see the progress in young/green horses learn and grow with a good dressage foundation. Her current project is Spirit, a 5 year old Haflinger and Morgan Cross. Hannah took over his training after his initial start of being backed and has been developing him as a dressage horse over the last 2 years. He has been a fun and willing partner and she is excited to see him continue to grow and develop with the goal of being a great addition to Houghton's lesson herd.

09/03/2026

Summer at Houghton’s Equestrian Center is about so much more than riding.

Each year, young riders from across the country come to Houghton to grow their horsemanship skills, build friendships, experience God’s love and create memories that last far beyond camp.

See why summer camp at Houghton has become such a special tradition: https://www.houghton.edu/news/creating-memories-summer-camp-at-the-equestrian-center/

09/02/2026

Our Dressage and Combined Test Schooling show is happening on September 19th and there is still time to get registered. Entries close next week on September 9th so make sure to get registered to ensure a spot and avoid late fees. Entries can be submitted online or mailed in. We can’t wait to see you for our first show of the school year!

More show and cross country schooling details can be found in the prize list links below. We are looking forward to having you join us!
*Stabling is full with a waitlist*

Show Information & Prize List Link-https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JAb8iD4ZC43mukTzVRSDBqrO4DjJdUcR/view?usp=sharing

Online Registration Link-https://forms.gle/K6kTrvw2DKvcxdX86

08/28/2026

The start of the 2026-2027 school year has begun and we are wrapping up a great first week of classes.
It is great to see the barn full of both new and familiar faces who are eager to learn and grow. We are looking forward to a great year and can’t wait to see all that our students will accomplish this semester.

08/03/2026

We have had a very busy summer filled with lots of horse loving campers!

It was a great 2026 Summer Camp season where we had 90+ campers join us over 6 weeks of camp. Fun was had, memories were made and lots of learning and growth took place. We loved having all of the campers here and we can’t wait to start planning for the 2027 season.

08/03/2026

We loved having everyone out for a great show weekend!

Stay tuned for upcoming events as we have a lot planned for the upcoming school year. More details to come in the next couple weeks!

06/03/2026

Our annual spring recognized dressage show happened over the weekend and it was great to have a full show with lots of rides. We even had two of our very own lesson horses, Knight’s Dream and Chanceborn Spirit, compete and helped their riders earn scores towards their USDF Bronze medals.
Thank you to all of the wonderful volunteers and show officials that helped make for a smooth show weekend, we couldn’t have done it without all of your help!
A big congratulations also goes out to all of the riders that put forth some great rides that earned high point awards.

05/19/2026

The 2025-2026 school year is officially wrapped up! Spring semester ended smoothly and we had a May term class that recently finished and allowed students in our pedagogy methods course to get certified as riding instructors. We are excited for all of our newly CHA certified student instructors and can’t wait to have them help coach alongside our instructors in classes and be able to teach fellow students.

04/22/2026

Who’s looking forward to our first show of the year!

This Saturday, April 25th, is our Spring Hunter Jumper Schooling Show and we are getting all prepped and ready for a great day. Due to rainy forecast and colder weather we have decided to plan for an indoor show. Warm up will be available in our small indoor and outdoor rings. There are still some stalls available for the day and you can email [email protected] to request stabling. We will also have our local Alley Cat Pony Club group running concessions on site. We hope to see you there!

For class list and show details check out the link below . . .
https://hub.houghton.edu/equestrian/rsvp_boot?id=384897

04/18/2026

Thank you to everyone who supported us for an incredible One Day Giving Challenge.

Your support, love and generosity poured out throughout the day and allowed us to not only meet the goals we had set, but exceeded them for both our program and the school as a whole. With all of your support, we had a just over $15,000 given between the many gifts and matches that will be used for our programs needs and future projects to better serve our equestrian students. We are looking forward to all of the amazing opportunities and experiences these gifts will be able to bring.