WEST CANAAN — The group might be small with only four athletes, but so far the success of Mascoma Valley Regional High School’s newest team has been large.

The newly formed Mascoma equestrian team — Molly Gray, Aubrey Meyveagaci, Abby Waugh and Rainah Zullo — placed second out of 15 teams at their first-ever competition April 20 in Fremont, N.H. The team is scheduled to compete at Fremont again this coming Saturday as they work to qualify for the state tournament at the end of this month.

While each member has competed in equestrian events in the past, it is the first time the quartet has been part of a school team.

“I think it’s nice to be able to support my school and be with people I’ve been riding with my whole life,” Meyveagaci, a sophomore, said during an interview at the Goose Pond Equestrian Center on Goose Pond Road in West Canaan after a Sunday afternoon practice.

It’s different — and in some ways more special — to compete as a collective team rather than at competitions at various fairs and other events.

“You’re not fighting against each other,” Waugh, a junior, said. “You all have to work together.”

The team got its start last fall, after Waugh and Meyveagaci pushed Meyveagaci’s, mom, Karla Champney, to start a club at the school.

“They really wanted this to start,” Champney said. The club competes with other teams as part of New Hampshire High School Equestrians, which includes around two dozen public and private schools throughout the state. “These girls do this 365 days a year. This is their life.”

Champney got the approval from Mascoma’s administration, with the caveat that the group would raise money to cover all of its expenses. They got to work doing just that, raising more than $1,000 for tack for horses and uniforms for riders. Some team members own their horses while others lease them. They refer to their horses as “golden oldies” — as all the horses are older than 14.

“The community really stepped up,” said Champney, who was sporting a purple Mascoma Equestrian T-shirt, same as the team’s members.

There’s a misconception that equestrianism isn’t a real sport and that the competitors aren’t true athletes, Emily Brown, the team’s assistant coach, said.

“It’s hard for people to get out of that box,” Brown said. She reminds naysayers that the sport is in the Olympics and emphasizes the amount of strength equestrians have to build to work with horses.

During the practice, Gray, a freshman, exhibited the athleticism required of the sport as she raced around a series of barrels, deftly steering her Quarter Horse, Benji, at every turn.

“Keep riding, keep riding, keep riding,” shouted Brown.

As Gray and Benji came to a halt in the arena, the rest of the team and their supporters cheered.

Having a school-sanctioned team brings the sport even more into the mainstream and helps give the student-athletes greater recognition among their peers, as well as the community at large.

“It shows more support for it, all the work we do that nobody pays attention to,” Gray said.

Team members work to train their horses to complete complex obstacle courses and other events, including in-hand showmanship, in-hand obstacle course, pole bending, and stake racing. They care for them, from grooming to feeding.

“It takes a lot of work, time and failure,” Meyveagaci said.

Katie Gray, Molly’s mother, is thrilled her daughter has an opportunity she did not. She grew up riding horses and passed along that passion to her children. She participated in competitions while a student at Hanover High School, but never as a team sport.

“Having a team that works together, you learn a lot from each other,” Katie Gray said.

The girls have all participated in more traditional team sports, but the equestrian team provides some variation.

“It’s nice to have a team that doesn’t have to do with other humans all the time,” Waugh said.

Zullo, a senior, always had a love for horses and only stared riding a few years ago. After her visit to a barn, she was hooked.

“I instantly fell in love,” she said, while standing with Lady Bug, a Welsh-cross pony owned by Goose Pond Equestrian Center. “I feel like it brought out a different side of me. It became the one place I could be really calm.”

The girls said what they’ve learned from working with horses has translated to other parts of their lives.

“In general, competing has definitely taught me more patience,” Zullo said, adding that she tends to be a “major perfectionist,” but through competing, she’s learned to let that go. “You gotta be happy with whatever place you get.”

Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.