The school has poor facilities besides the new parts like the alpine village and the new cafeteria. Other than that, everything at the school sucks. It would be cool, at a school like Skidmore in Saratoga Springs, if more of the student body had opportunites to ride and play with the horses, with out having to be fully committed to the club. Horse riding is mad fun, and really enriching.
Skidmore has a huge riding program run out of the Van Lennep Equestrian Center,available to all students at all levels. There are atleast 4 beginner classes a semester with a bunch of riders in each-- not to mention hundreds of other students who ride at other levels. There is also the Equestrian Team, which is run out of the same facility. The polo team is completely seperate from both of those however. We board at a different facility and own 16 of our own ponies.
We give any student who wants to the chance to learn how to play polo. So, a school like Skidmore in Saratoga Springs actaully gives the student body an unreal amount of opportunities to ride and learn about horses.
Thanks for the info. I enjoyed reading it, and good luck on the fund raising. I wish I had taken part in some horse riding or polo team playing while I was there.
I don't get it. Who owes the debt? Do you owe it to the bank? And, why should the current members have to pay the debt of old members expenditures? Like how could this happen? And, why does Skidmore have so many money troubles when they charge one of the highest tuitions among colleges and universities? Like remember when they wanted to drop the loser hockey team?
Let me see if i can clear this up for you... The Polo Team is a club at Skidmore just like the Outing Club or Photography Club. We run ourselves with an administration of President, Barn Manager, Treasurer, Secretary, and PR. Just like all other clubs, we report to the Student Government Association, and Leadership Activities.....
SGA and Leadership Activities are given a budget each year, and from that budget they allot each club a certain amount of money each year. This is where the problem arises... Unlike most clubs, the polo team has incredibly high expenses (having to take care of our ponies). All in all, we spend around $55,000 each year.
Unfortunatley, SGA has only been able to allot us $18,500 each year. 10 years ago, that would have been enough (combined with the $30,000 or so the club raises) to keep the club afloat. However, because of increased costs of board, hay, and more vet visits as our ponies get older.. it is no longer enough. This problem was exacerbated during the past 3 years, when the elected club treasurers failed to do thier jobs properly.
They did not keep track of funds, or ask SGA for a supplemental budget (extra money). Thus, each year the team was spending more than it was making and getting from SGA... so the debt kept piling up (the debt which we owe to SGA & Leadership Activities, who provides the money). The club was not aware of the debt until the beginning of the 06 07 school year.
Because such a large debt had been incurred (20,000) SGA and Leadership Activities threatened to cut the club at the beginning of the year. However, this years administration (including myself as the new treasurer) had many meetings with SGA, and convinced them to keep us going. We set up a Loan Agreement with SGA, that states we will pay $3,000 to $5,000 each year towards our debt. Allong with that, I was able to get SGA to allot us $27,000 for this upcoming school year, instead of $18,500.
Skidmore itself has a lot of money.. it is just how they choose to spend it. It became clear this year however, that if you show you have a real reason to recieve more money.. the college is glad to provide it. As for the hockey team, that was a budgeting issue. The Athletics Department is given a budget just like SGA/Leadership Activities. The year they wanted to cut the hockey team, they didn't think they had enough money in the budget to keep it afloat (as a Varsity sport).
Seeing as the schcool still has a varsity hockey team, they figured something out. Like I said, it isn't the amount of money that is the problem (lord knows the school makes a lot).. it is how/where it is spent.
As for polo, we are hoping the $27,000 allotment will help us stay afloat as well. We are working hard to raise more money, and I am keeping on top of our finances and making sure we are spending wisely. To this day, we've been able to cut our debt down to $15,000.
I MISS FLEURIA!
love,
Ben
TomatoCrab 2 years ago
haha i bought cotton the white horse in the middle of the video a few years ago
emmajo333 2 years ago
cute vid! hope to make alumni game this year!
-former skiddie polo player
gwbowie 4 years ago
one of my friends were i rode is on that team.. she said she really likes.. she taught us polo at camp.. its easier than it looks
equinegirl92 4 years ago
Guess Savary didn't get into Skidmore.... Sorry pal.
trider 4 years ago
try looking on facebook retard. I did go there for one semester, and it sucked, even though after I left I kind of missed and liked the kids there.
SavaryNative 4 years ago
The school has poor facilities besides the new parts like the alpine village and the new cafeteria. Other than that, everything at the school sucks. It would be cool, at a school like Skidmore in Saratoga Springs, if more of the student body had opportunites to ride and play with the horses, with out having to be fully committed to the club. Horse riding is mad fun, and really enriching.
SavaryNative 4 years ago
Skidmore has a huge riding program run out of the Van Lennep Equestrian Center,available to all students at all levels. There are atleast 4 beginner classes a semester with a bunch of riders in each-- not to mention hundreds of other students who ride at other levels. There is also the Equestrian Team, which is run out of the same facility. The polo team is completely seperate from both of those however. We board at a different facility and own 16 of our own ponies.
kathmcconks 4 years ago
We give any student who wants to the chance to learn how to play polo. So, a school like Skidmore in Saratoga Springs actaully gives the student body an unreal amount of opportunities to ride and learn about horses.
kathmcconks 4 years ago
Thanks for the info. I enjoyed reading it, and good luck on the fund raising. I wish I had taken part in some horse riding or polo team playing while I was there.
SavaryNative 4 years ago
I don't get it. Who owes the debt? Do you owe it to the bank? And, why should the current members have to pay the debt of old members expenditures? Like how could this happen? And, why does Skidmore have so many money troubles when they charge one of the highest tuitions among colleges and universities? Like remember when they wanted to drop the loser hockey team?
SavaryNative 4 years ago
Let me see if i can clear this up for you... The Polo Team is a club at Skidmore just like the Outing Club or Photography Club. We run ourselves with an administration of President, Barn Manager, Treasurer, Secretary, and PR. Just like all other clubs, we report to the Student Government Association, and Leadership Activities.....
kathmcconks 4 years ago
SGA and Leadership Activities are given a budget each year, and from that budget they allot each club a certain amount of money each year. This is where the problem arises... Unlike most clubs, the polo team has incredibly high expenses (having to take care of our ponies). All in all, we spend around $55,000 each year.
kathmcconks 4 years ago
Unfortunatley, SGA has only been able to allot us $18,500 each year. 10 years ago, that would have been enough (combined with the $30,000 or so the club raises) to keep the club afloat. However, because of increased costs of board, hay, and more vet visits as our ponies get older.. it is no longer enough. This problem was exacerbated during the past 3 years, when the elected club treasurers failed to do thier jobs properly.
kathmcconks 4 years ago
They did not keep track of funds, or ask SGA for a supplemental budget (extra money). Thus, each year the team was spending more than it was making and getting from SGA... so the debt kept piling up (the debt which we owe to SGA & Leadership Activities, who provides the money). The club was not aware of the debt until the beginning of the 06 07 school year.
kathmcconks 4 years ago
Because such a large debt had been incurred (20,000) SGA and Leadership Activities threatened to cut the club at the beginning of the year. However, this years administration (including myself as the new treasurer) had many meetings with SGA, and convinced them to keep us going. We set up a Loan Agreement with SGA, that states we will pay $3,000 to $5,000 each year towards our debt. Allong with that, I was able to get SGA to allot us $27,000 for this upcoming school year, instead of $18,500.
kathmcconks 4 years ago
Skidmore itself has a lot of money.. it is just how they choose to spend it. It became clear this year however, that if you show you have a real reason to recieve more money.. the college is glad to provide it. As for the hockey team, that was a budgeting issue. The Athletics Department is given a budget just like SGA/Leadership Activities. The year they wanted to cut the hockey team, they didn't think they had enough money in the budget to keep it afloat (as a Varsity sport).
kathmcconks 4 years ago
Seeing as the schcool still has a varsity hockey team, they figured something out. Like I said, it isn't the amount of money that is the problem (lord knows the school makes a lot).. it is how/where it is spent.
As for polo, we are hoping the $27,000 allotment will help us stay afloat as well. We are working hard to raise more money, and I am keeping on top of our finances and making sure we are spending wisely. To this day, we've been able to cut our debt down to $15,000.
kathmcconks 4 years ago