Considering the Past: Topics in M.C. History

The story that Mary Lynch tells in A History of Meredith College is that a student was suffering from homesickness, and rather than leaving school, brought her horse to campus, jumpstarting the equestrian program at Meredith College. Johnson did not provide other details, but according to a newspaper article in the research files of the archives, the student was Mary Esther Sadler of Littleton, N.C., and the horse's name was Sylvia. In this version, recounted in 1957 in the Raleigh News and Observer, Mary Esther and her father visited the school in 1943 and met with Zeno Martin, the college treasurer, asking him if it would be possible for the incoming freshman to bring her horse. Martin agreed as long there was a second horse so that two students could ride together. So, Maude (the second horse) came to Raleigh, too. Students who borrowed the horses for rides would pay fifty cents an hour to help defray costs. Sylvia and Maude were housed in a stable formerly occupied by the two mules that had pulled the lawn mower. 

That summer, seeing the potential of an equestrian program, Mr. Martin bought three additional horses, established a class and hired an instructor. In November 1944, the Twig reported that there was a waiting list for classes (Education 51 and Education 52)  the following semester and that a total of nine "gentle" horses were available for the five beginner and one intermediate classes. A riding ring was built on the "highest spot" on the west side of campus and a trail was created on the north side. At the time, Meredith College was the only school in North Carolina with stables. 

Quickly an equestrian club, eventually called the Hoof-Print Club, was formed. Over the next few years, as the programs became more popular, horses were added to the newly built stables, trails were extended onto the adjacent N.C. State property and the Cary Prison Farm. Acreage that was previously mowed was now seeded with alfalfa and oats. By 1948, twenty-two horses were stabled at Meredith, plus six that were born there. Classes were opened to students at students at nearby Peace College, St. Mary's and to "youngsters of the town." The club sponsored group sunrise and moonlight rides. Once a year, a group would ride to Crabtree Creek Park and camp out overnight, with each rider responsible for the care of her mount. When new horses were acquired via purchase or gift, or a colt was born, their appearance was were often announced in the Twig. In addition to the annual show on campus, students participated in numerous horse shows in the state - 40 a year, according to the Twig in 1959. A summer horsemanship camp started up in 1965.

In 1966, a new barn with "luxurious facilities" for the program was opened. The barn enclosed a riding ring with three of the sides providing forty stalls for the horses. Offices for two instructors, a horse-shoeing area, a feed room and a classroom comprised the fourth side. Above was a "spacious hayloft." The modern facilities provided "excellent insulation and air-conditioning fans, which were installed to give maximum comfort on a year-round basis to the horses stabled there." (The Twig, October 6, 1966.)

By this time, Meredith equestrian students held a horse show at the annual May Day festival and hoped to host more. They also participated in two divisions (saddle seat and hunt seat) of the Meredith College Class of the North Carolina State Championship Horse Show at Dorton Arena. There were also class awards for best "hack type pleasure horses" and "saddle bred three-gaited horses with natural tails."  

The Zeno Martin Equitation Arena was dedicated in 1976 in memory of Zeno Martin, who established the program and was so supportive of it from the very beginning. The arena was the result of gifts by a number of businesses, foundations and individuals. 

In an article printed in The Herald on February 28, 1986, it appears that the equestrian program was suffering the effects of waning interest and rising prices. In 1983, President Weems had revised the program, eliminating the travel and other expenses involved in participating in horse shows around the state, even it only involved a few students. While the program still taught three levels of the basic fundamentals of horsemanship in beginners, intermediate and advanced classes, according to Luke Huggins, the full-time riding instructor and stable caretaker, the program at this point was no longer competitive, but was strictly recreational.

In 1987, the newspaper encouraged students to take part in riding classes, but the program continued to decline. The last year that students could board horses on campus was 1988. The last catalog to list on-campus equitation classes was the summer of 1989. Thereafter the campus-owned horses were sold or given away and the barn became home to the maintenance department. Until the 1998-99 academic year,  students could register for equitation classes at nearby off-campus stables, and then the 50+ year program ended completely at Meredith College.