UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 11
November 14, 1996
Top competitor: Animal science major rides into championship

     Last summer, UD sophomore Kim Cian and her horse, Fabian,
were selected to compete in the North American Riders' National
Championship in August.
     "Getting to the national championship had been my goal for
six years," Cian said.
     The rider and horse pair came in 19th out of 45 in the
competition sponsored by the Federation Equestre Internationale
and held in Illinois.
     Cian has been working with Fabian for four years, but her
passion for riding began when the Newark resident was 11. While
on vacation in Hershey, Pa., she took her first trail ride and
became hooked.
     "I fell in love with riding," she recalled. At 15, Cian
began learning dressage.
     "Dressage requires that the horse execute precision
movements, such as skipping and moving sideways," Cian explained.
     "It's like a ballroom dance. The goal is to make it look
like the horse is performing without being directed, and to do
that, the horse and rider have to work as one."
     Majoring in animal science with a concentration in pre-
veterinary medicine in the College of Agricultural Sciences, Cian
has leaned to pace herself and balance her attention to both
studies and riding.
     Every day, she makes the drive to West Grove, Pa., to work
with Fabian and Alex. When preparing for competition, she takes
lessons three times a week, but competing also demands quite a
bit of traveling, especially in the spring.
     "It was crazy at first," Cian said, "but now I'm used to it.
I've been going to school part-time, so I'll probably take five
or six years to get my degree, but I'm halfway there."
     According to Lesa Griffiths, Cian's adviser, "Kim's a
competitive athlete and is just shy of taking a full-time course
load. She'll have multiple career options when she completes her
degree."
     Cian admitted that she has now set her sights on other
goals, including competition in the World Cup and the Olympics.
     "I might be 80 when I get there," she said, "but I think
I'll make it."
                                                 -Valerie Baddorf