On a campus where taste and dignity are confined to closed-door fundraisers and alumni mixers (we like to imagine), the Stanford Equestrian Team continued its reign as the most dignified host of refinery with its first Big Ride. A more civil nod to the Big Game (Go Card! Or whatever), the Big Ride marries the Stanford team and that of those Bears across the Bay, if only for a day of fundraising and good sport.

Don’t expect hot dogs or foam fingers at this sporting event, though. Students of a more manicured affectation delighted in a showing of horses at Stanford’s hidden gem the Red Barn, tucked cozily between fairways and tennis courts. Prepared bites and Hermes accessories decorated the main arena’s flanks, as visitors donated to their team of choice.  The low-key afternoon replaced the Red Barn Festival, the team’s all-out soiree of fundraising and equestrian spectacle, for the fall at least.

So is it the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic of Stanford? Not quite, but it’ll keep our glasses full until we don brimmed hats for Derby Days.