The TCU equestrian team has relocated to a larger practice and competition facility after years of looking for a new home.

The team had been looking to move to a new facility for the past four years, assistant coach Kindel Huffman said.

The partnership between October Hill Farms and the TCU equestrian team began when the owners of October Hill Farms met head coach Gary Reynolds a couple of years ago, said owner Wendy Davis. Davis said both parties began to explore a possible relationship between the venue and the team at that time.

Davis said TCU was originally looking at another facility in Hudson Oaks, a town 25 miles west of Fort Worth, but the proposal with the first facility fell through. After that the October Hill Farms staff stepped in and Davis said she made a proposal to TCU that ended up working out for both sides.

Huffman said the last facility the team practiced at was intended to be temporary, but the team ended up staying there for four years.

“We outgrew the place we were at,” Huffman said. “We needed something…that suited our needs a little bit better.”

According to the October Hill Farms website, the location offers a fully enclosed area allowing the team to practice in most weather conditions. The property also has four barns, 14 pastures and all the TCU-owned horses have their own stalls, unlike the previous location.

Huffman said she thought the horses were much happier with the nicer living conditions at the October Hill Farms facility.

Junior business major Chelsey Sample, a hunt seat competitor, said she has had a great experience at October Hill Farms since the team relocated. She said October Hill Farms offered more space for the horses and that the horses were well cared for.

“We’re really excited about this new facility; it’s going to give us…a great opportunity to excel,” Sample said. “The people here are just really good to work with and they really want to help us out.”

Davis said her experience with the team has been great so far and that the players have all been very easy to work with.

“We’re still in the “get to know you’ phase, but things have gone really smoothly,” Davis said.

University alumna Davis said she was excited about the exposure hosting the TCU team would bring to October Hill Farms.

“We’re all about exposure at the farm,” Davis said. “We’re looking forward to having a lot of new faces to show the facility to.”