By Hannah Newman

From the stables to horse shows, to a camera screen for fashion week, senior criminal justice major Dahlia Devivo has become the epitome of versatility after beginning her career as a model at 19 and keeping it alive throughout her college career.

Devivo started horseback riding at the age of 12 and made visits to the stables weekly until she got to high school where she took on track and basketball, pausing her time horseback riding due to the immense expenses it came with. 

After high school, Devivo knew she wanted to continue horseback riding. After exploring her options to do so at Rider, she felt that the club sports teams were highly recognized and taken rather seriously for not being at the Division I level. The comfortable environment and opportunity to compete was the key to Devivo committing to Rider.

“When I was looking for colleges, I saw that Rider had an equestrian team, and that’s honestly what drew me to Rider. I really liked the accepting community and team aspect I found here,” said Devivo.

In addition to joining the equestrian team, Devivo has taken on two leadership roles: social media chairman and treasurer. 

 “As a competing member, she has training requirements each week she has to meet in order to compete in the upcoming events,” said equestrian team adviser Lisa Tindall. “Dahlia does a great job in both her roles on the executive board and has demonstrated her commitment to the team. I…