As an organization, IHSA relies on each school to provide their own students (and competitors) with safe, reliable horses. The luck-of-the-draw system at IHSA shows not only helps keep costs down for riders by allowing them to share horses, but evens the playing field by ensuring that each rider is put on a suitable mount, and that no one sustains an unfair advantage by being put on a horse that they may already have ridden tens of times. Our team here at UCLA is lucky to have a barn full of talented horses for every level of rider. This year, we’ll be shouting out some of our beloved equine teammates on the blog to thank them for their continued efforts—starting with Internal Affairs Officer Tess Fleser’s beloved kid, Quincy!
QUINCY
Show Name: Quintessential
Jockey Club Name: Creative Prospect
Nicknames: Q, Quince, little man, little idiot, kiddo, John Quincy Adams
Age: 10 years young
Breed: Thoroughbred
Color: Dark bay
Height: 16.3hh
Quincy’s original career as a racehorse lasted only a year. He retired from the track in 2015 with 16 starts, 0 wins, and 1 comment from an announcer which described him “falling into stride slowly and racing awkwardly” down the track. At one point he was patterned for barrels, but with Tess’s guidance has blossomed into a talented showjumper as well as a lovely mover on the flat! Since Tess is kept busy with school and extracurriculars, she kindly shares him with the rest of the team as a lesson horse and a draw in the intermediate divisions at IHSA shows to help him get the exercise and stimulation he needs.
Tess purchased Quincy as a “pandemic pony” 2.5 years ago. He came to her with only one canter lead and various sourness issues, but with a lot of hard work, Tess retrained him to be a jumper pony with the guidance of a trainer solely on the ground. They moved to LA together at the start of Tess’s freshman year in fall 2021, and Quincy has been a fan favorite ever since! We are so grateful to have both him and his mom on our team.
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