Riders are required to take regular lessons (once a week or more) at Blue Fox Farms. Lessons are hunter/jumper style, concentrating on form and balance on the flat and working up to jumping once the rider is confident and ready. Lessons are $70 for a group lesson (~1 hour) and $75 for a private lesson (30 minutes). Team members must commit to riding at least once a week. Riders are required to have appropriate clothing (heeled boots, riding pants, approved helmet). Blue Fox has many lesson horses available for a variety of experience levels. If you are interested in leasing or boarding a horse please contact barn owner and team instructor Teri Bludworth for details and pricing.
We understand that not every student has a car. We do our best to create a lesson schedule at the start of each semester to optimize for carpools so that everyone is able to get to the barn. If carpooling doesn't work, there is a convenient service called Zipcar that allows students access to cars on campus for hourly rental.
Riders compete in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA). We compete with other universities in our region like University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M, LSU, Tulane, and Texas State. We encourage all members to come to shows and represent Rice. IHSA shows have introductory walk/trot classes up to an open division over fences. Rice also provides our team with funding so that the team can subsidize travel and show costs. In the event that you've ever wanted to hold a baby alligator, if you get lucky the team might make its annual pit stop at the Gator Chateau on the way to LSU.