Sweet Briar Riding

05/11/2026

Happy birthday to Riding Instructor Sarah Miller! We are so thankful for all that you do for our students and our horses!

05/06/2026

Today after 18 years with the program our sweet boy Ray, SBC's Love Z, told us it was time for him to pass over the Rainbow Bridge. Ray was 31 years old and came to us as a former Grand Prix jumper and left us as the best beginner horse a student or instructor could hope for. In his time with us, he was always in the ribbons for SWVHJA Medal finals, finally winning it in 2019 with Katie Balding '21. He was a fixture in the Oak Ridge Medal, his best finish was 2nd with Kathryn Richards '15. Ray participated in NCEA meets, ANRC's, IHSA and many local and rated horse shows. He participated in Senior Rides, Tree Lighting ( up until he decided he didn't like the bells), Trail Rides, Reunion Rides and Halloween Gymkhanas. He had the form of a hunter and the handiness of a equitation horse, he would happily canter around the ring on the counter lead and then throw out a perfect lead change. He believed that jumps were for jumping, not trotting, he was easy to teach on, all you had to let your riders know was that he liked to go left and was still teaching our riders to trot and canter and participating in fun shows and IHSA up until just recently.

05/03/2026

MILL SPRING, N.C. – The Sweet Briar College IHSA team completed day two of action at the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) National Championship today with both junior Kendel Wickline (Frederick, Md.) and first-year Sadie Swift (Leonardtown, Md.) competing.

05/02/2026

Good luck to Kendel Wickline and Sadie Swift at IHSA Nationals today!

05/01/2026

MILL SPRING, N.C. – The Sweet Briar College IHSA team kicked off action at the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) National Championship today, with first-year Sadie Swift (Leonardtown, Md.) seeing action in the ring.

05/01/2026

Good luck to Sadie Swift competing at IHSA Nationals today!

(Picture is of fellow IHSA Nationals Qualifier Sarah Pastula who is currently studying abroad in France!)

04/25/2026

So excited to celebrate Mr. Cronin at IHSA Nationals.

🎉 Congratulations to the IHSA Hall of Fame Class of 2026 inductee Paul Cronin!

🏆 Throughout his lifetime, Paul Cronin earned a reputation as not just a capable trainer of horses and riders, but as a teacher of teachers. Cronin coached at Sweet Briar College in Sweet Briar, Virginia, from 1967 until 2001, then served as Director of Riding Emeritus from 2001 until his death in 2024, imparting his memorable wisdom onto a generation of students, many of whom became equestrian professionals.

🐴 “He was wonderful. He worked so hard, and he brought in so many wonderful people in the horse industry to do clinics with us, which just helped us tremendously in our riding. And he was tough. You did it his way, but his way was very successful,” said Peggy McElveen, a student at Sweet Briar in 1967 during Cronin’s first year as an instructor.

📝 Read more and stay tuned for more on the other inductees! https://rideihsa.org/news

📸: Photo by Douglas Lees.

04/21/2026

Out of an abundance of caution and under the advice of our veterinarian, we have decided to cancel the SBC spring swvhja show. Thank you for your understanding.

04/20/2026

The Sweet Briar College spring show scheduled for April 25th is working to make a final decision about our upcoming competition for the safety of all horses due to the confirmed case of Equine Herpesvirus (EHV-1) at HITS Culpeper this weekend.

The following has been decided and additional information will be shared as we receive responses from potential competitors.
1). We will not be offering overnight or day stalls for outside competitors.
2) All horses that were on the grounds at HITS Culpeper show during the week of April 12-19, 2026, will not be permitted to enter the Sweet Briar College property. This includes any horses that left the show early, as well as horses that may have been exposed through contact and share farms with horses that attended.
3) All horses will need to follow the health protocol.
- SBC Horse Show Health Requirements form filled out for all attending horses
- Temperature monitoring twice daily being kept on a temperature log beginning, Monday April 20th
- Current negative Coggins (EIA) test
- Upon arrival at the show, horses should have their temperature taken and recorded
- We also will be asking for all entries to be made in advance so we can best plan for our trailer parking needs.
- All health documentation must be presented in printed form upon arrival
- Trailers will not be allowed to be emptied while on the property

04/17/2026

It’s Meet Day! Sweet Briar takes on Lynchburg in the semi finals of the NCEA Championship this afternoon! Up! Up! Sweet!

04/16/2026

🎙️Naomi Dachis, Single Discipline Fences Rider of the Year✨