BY MARLEY LIEN-GONZALEZ
Kathryn Kraft, head coach of Purdue Equestrian Team, knew her students were good going into the 2025 Interscholastic Horse Shows Association (IHSA) Hunt Seat National Championship last spring after leading an undefeated season and earning a podium finish in the Tournament of Champions Series, but she didn’t dare dream just how good they were as they faced off against some of the nation’s top collegiate riding teams.
She could not have predicted that Purdue’s club program would not only hold its own against other colleges with coaches who had decades of experience, fully funded organizations, and scholarship riders, but they did more than that, emerging victorious and smashing several records in the process.
“My goal at the beginning of the year was to finish in the top 10,” Kraft says. It was only her third year coaching the team, and while Purdue has always had a strong riding program, they had only placed in the top 5 once in 1993, and their last individual national champion title was in 2005.
Yet, at the Tournament of Champions, an event meant to simulate high-pressure competition without the official point system, they finished third behind SCAD’s two teams—the previous year’s national champions. After that Kraft started to push her expectations for her gritty and determined riders, “We upgraded our goal then to be top 5 in the country.”
Things fell into place at Nationals. She and her team settled into their routine, producing strong and consistent rides. At the end of day two of the three-day event, they were tied with three other teams for second place. Getting swept away in the constant motion of finals, Kraft didn’t have a second to pause and calculate the points earned as two of her riders walked away with individual wins.
At the start of the final class, she says, “I was trying to just get my open flat kid on and focused. I figured we were in a good space, but I actually didn’t really know anything about where we were sitting with the points.”
As the judges pared down to their final four flat riders, whispers started to move through the crowd, but Kraft didn’t let herself speculate. “I was living in that moment,” she says. “Some coaches were coming up to me, doing all the math, saying, ‘I think you just won,’ and I had to table those emotions and wait for the final results.”
Though once the giant scoreboard at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina, where the championship is held, lit up and confirmed the hushed rumors, Kraft and her team erupted in celebration. “We all were bursting into tears,” she says. “It was the most surreal thing, and it took us weeks to comprehend.”
Not Just An Ordinary Win
For Kraft and her students, winning Nationals wasn’t just about making history for Purdue as the first time the school has taken the title, being one of only three times a club team (a non-varsity/non-scholarship team) has done so in the last 25 years, or crowning Kraft as the youngest coach to ever claim a National Championship at just 26 years old. It was an accomplishment that reflected their year-long tenacity and ethic as a group.
There are over 50 members of Purdue Equestrian, and it’s a largely student-organized operation. Senior team leaders and captains take on the responsibility of coordinating with Kraft and managing the other riders. The team doesn’t receive heavy funding from Purdue, so the cost is covered by member dues or fundraising. With 13 team horses, riders usually only ride one to two times a week, a fact that used to daunt Kraft, but she now believes carries a certain advantage.
“When I first started coaching, I kind of thought that was a big debilitating factor,” says Kraft. “But I realized so much about riding is your mindset and being really intentional in the saddle. Ideally, I’d want to see my kids in the saddle all the time, but making the most of saddle time you have, and realizing how much you can learn and how much you can get better outside of the saddle makes them more present every time they get on.”
Outside of the barn, the team organizes workouts to stay fit and analyzes videos together. Kraft also invites Purdue alumni who are now judges and industry professionals to speak with her current riders. In November, they took a trip to watch ASPCA Maclay Finals at the National Horse Show.
“Even car time while we’re traveling gets us to bond more and more,” Kraft says. “And we’re pretty strategic about that, because teamwork presents itself in the placings too. If you’re supportive of each other and a cohesive group, you have more opportunity to be successful. There are so many factors that go into being a national championship team—it’s not just being the best in the saddle.”
As a student, Kraft rode on a varsity equestrian team and was a scholarship rider. Now coaching a club team, she has an appreciation for both. “The fact that the kids have to pay dues to be on our team honestly raises their commitment level since they have to financially buy in. They come to the barn and know they have to work hard and earn their space, and they have to sacrifice a little bit more than scholarship kids do. But both college scholarship teams and club teams have really positive sides. You just have to really understand the difference when you’re coaching,” she says.
Where she might have once experienced imposter syndrome as a rising coach, Kraft now has no room left for doubt. Despite the Purdue National Champions causing quite the upset, other teams and their coaches were quick to show their congratulations. In a warming show of camaraderie, second-place finishers Sacred Heart University made a cheering tunnel for Purdue to run through.
“All the coaches were great; the two that come to mind, Tiffany [Haijdasz] at Sacred Heart, and Belinda [Colgan] who coaches for Skidmore, were so supportive and so proud that I felt more confident as a young coach—like I could walk out of that space and feel like I proved myself a little bit and improved our team,” says Kraft.
For Kraft’s students, the success was as much theirs as hers. “The club format gives the kids an excellent opportunity to take ownership in the team. They’re all excited and devote a lot of time and energy to it,” she says. “Those who are on the team’s executive board get so much more confident in the saddle knowing that they’re not only a rider, but a central part of the team’s operation—that’s a huge source of strength for us.”
How To Show Support
The Purdue Equestrian Team relies on donations and sponsorships to continue building their strong legacy and prioritize the best horse care for their four-legged teammates. Anyone can be a supporter by following the team on social media (Purdue Equestrian Team on Facebook and purdueequestrian on Instagram).
Head coach Kathryn Kraft’s recent focus has been on bringing more horses into the program. They have received a few donated horses in recent years who really make the team what it is.
“The horses teach the lessons, I just translate them to English. So the more diverse our group is in level, style, and temperament, the more they represent the horses we may pull at Nationals, during the regular season, the tournaments, etc., and the better equipped we are to be successful,” she says.
Inquire about donating horses by reaching out at kbkraft28@gmail.com. Other ways to contribute support can be found at purdueequestrian.com/donate
