Interscholastic Eventing League Guidelines

Updated December 2025

Introduction

The mission of the USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL) is to bring together eventers with a common interest and provide a supportive community through which students can continue to pursue their riding interests.

The program is made up of riders who share a common bond, whether it be riding at the same barn, going to the same school, being members of the same pony club, or another connection. Riders who share these common bonds will establish an IEL Club and submit a roster of members who plan to compete for their Club. Each team that competes at an IEL Team Challenge is made up of three to four members from the Club roster.

This program helps to provide a pathway for those riders who may seek to be part of the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program after high school. The primary goal of the USEA Interscholastic Eventing League is to increase membership, education, and engagement in riders on a national level who are rising fifth through outgoing twelfth graders. The secondary goal is to build organizational awareness and engagement with the coaches and clubs who are instructing our members.

IEL Club

Riders are encouraged to create an IEL Club with their friends, barn-mates, other students who share the same coach, or other common bond. Registration of a USEA IEL Club is done using the Interscholastic Eventing League Application Form. Riders are only allowed to join one IEL Club at a time. The club membership fee is $75. Each club registration or renewal is due to the USEA prior to February 15. If submissions are received after that date, they will be accepted on a case-by-case basis.

Each club shall appoint one representative, who is over 18 years of age, to be the point of contact for the USEA. The representative may be a coach, parent, owner, or team captain. The USEA requires that every Club Representative be SafeSport certified and a member of the USEA.

For IEL Clubs that are associated with a certified USEA ECP coach, the $75 fee will be waived. Each ECP Coach is only allowed to be associated with one IEL Club.

Each club should submit their application and initial rosters of riders by February 15 annually using the Interscholastic Roster Form. Updates to the roster are allowed throughout the year, but they must be submitted at least 10 days prior to attending an IEL Team Challenge that the club intends to participate in. Club roster submissions and changes should be directed to USEA Senior Director of Membership, Jennifer Hardwick, at [email protected].

IEL Membership

Riders representing an IEL Club must be members of the USEA. There is no additional USEA membership fee for the riders to be part of the IEL. IEL members may be part of their USEA Area Young Rider Program, but they are not required to do so at this time. Annually, the rider will need to confirm that they are associated with an IEL Club before the start of their competition season to be included on an IEL team roster.

Riders are allowed to be a member of only one IEL Club at a time. Riders should confirm that their name is on the Club’s roster each year, which should be submitted by the Club Representative. Riders may also modify their IEL Club selection by contacting the USEA Senior Director of Membership, Jennifer Hardwick. IEL members must be in the grades five through twelve. Incoming fifth graders and outgoing twelfth graders may participate for the entire competition year. There is no restriction on the type of school an IEL member attends (i.e. public, private, online, or homeschool).

IEL Team Challenges

IEL Team Challenges are additions to recognized horse trials in the United States. Teams of three or four members competing in events identified as IEL Team Challenges should self-identify to the Event Organizer. Riders will compete in the regular horse trial competition as individuals, and their final score will be utilized to calculate the team scores. Teams can consist of riders of any level. The three best scores for the team are counted for the final team result. Clubs with less than three riders or only individual riders attending may be scrambled by the Organizing Committee. Clubs with more than four riders may choose to send multiple teams to the same competition, or riders can be scrambled with other Clubs. Please visit the USEA website for a current calendar of IEL Team Challenges.

For additional information on hosting an IEL Team Challenge, please contact the USEA Interscholastic Eventing League staff liaison, Kaleigh Collett, at [email protected].

Entries

When listing an IEL Team Challenge in the Omnibus, IEL Calendar or elsewhere, organizers should indicate:

The levels to be offered for the IEL Team Challenge
The preferred method for submitting team list(s) (online, paper, etc.).

When entering an IEL Team Challenge the riders/clubs are encouraged to:

Include the club name and team name on the entry form and the stabling form.
Send a complete team list via email to the entry secretary or designated team challenge coordinator for the event by the closing date.
Make note of the team’s name on any electronic and/or paper communication.
Team challenge participants are encouraged to stable together and promote team atmosphere and camaraderie. Banners, spirit wear, etc. are encouraged.

New participants that are unaffiliated with an IEL Club at the time of entry will be placed on a “scramble team” at the discretion of the Event Organizer. To select a specific team for any challenge, the rider must join an affiliated IEL Club and be listed on their official roster.

If an IEL Team Challenge receives interest from a minimum of six riders and/or two teams, they will be required to host the challenge. For any challenges that do not meet this level of interest, the challenge may be cancelled and removed from the calendar for that year. If a venue/event has three (3) consecutive team challenge cancellations, the venue/event will be placed on probation until a review can be completed by the IEL Task Force.

Scoring

Though there are no official requirements for scoring individual IEL Team Challenges, the USEA encourages all hosting venues to use the following guidelines, which are used at the USEA Intercollegiate & IEL Championships. Teams can be made up of three or four riders. Teams can be made up of riders of varying levels. To account for differences in level difficulty, each rider’s score is multiplied by a coefficient appropriate for their level, and then the individual scores are added together to determine the team score. A rider finishing on a letter (E, R, etc.) will be awarded 1000 points as their final score. Only the best three individual scores will count towards the team score, the fourth score serving as a “drop” score.

The coefficient system recommendation is as follows:

Starter: 1.0
Beginner Novice: .99
Novice: 0.95
Training: 0.90
Modified: 0.85
Preliminary: 0.80
Intermediate: 0.75
Advanced: 0.65
CCI1*: 0.85
CCI2*-S: 0.80
CCI2*-L: 0.75
CCI3*-S: 0.70

Coefficients for additional levels not listed here will be assigned as necessary.

While most electronic scoring systems support team scoring at this time, the USEA has a scoring template in an Excel spreadsheet that can be utilized upon request. Click here to download the IEL Team Challenge Scoresheet, if needed.

Awards

Awards for IEL Team Challenges are provided at the discretion of the Event Organizer. While ribbons for top placing teams are not required, they are highly encouraged. Given the nature of IEL Team Challenges often having competitors entered in various levels, the results will likely not be known until the end of the event. The Club Representative should offer to provide the event a self-addressed envelope with sufficient postage for the awards to be mailed if they do not intend to stay until the completion of the event. Some examples of awards provided at past Team Challenges include ribbons, trophies, certificates, and/or sponsored prizes.

IEL Championship

The USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL) Championship is hosted annually in the spring alongside the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships. By bringing the two program championships together on the same weekend at the same venue, the USEA encourages a pipeline for participation in the sport through all levels of a student's educational career. The inaugural USEA Intercollegiate & Interscholastic Eventing Championships were hosted at Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina in 2024.

Championship Guidelines

All IEL Clubs represented at the championship must be affiliates of the USEA. In order to participate, individual competitors must also be listed on the IEL Club’s official roster, as submitted to the USEA Membership Services Department by February 15 annually.

A student may not compete more than one horse on a team. However, if a student has an additional horse(s) entered in the competition, they may compete on a secondary team that their Club fields or they may join a scramble team.

Participants must enter the championship as individuals through the event’s designated entry system. The Club Representative must then submit a tentative team roster for the Championship to the event organizer or designated team coordinator no later than the closing date for the event.

Scramble teams, which are made up of members from different clubs, may participate in the Championship. Students may request to be on a specific scramble team and/or the coordinator may design the scramble teams. A spot on a scramble team is dependent upon entries and not always guaranteed.

Teams may declare alternates with their tentative team roster. Alternates must be entered in the competition as an individual competitor and may serve as a substitute for a team rider in the event of a scratch or withdrawal prior to the naming of definite team rosters. Alternates will not be named to a scramble team until after definite team rosters are declared. Therefore, alternates are not guaranteed a spot on a scramble team.

Definite team rosters must be provided by 12:00 p.m. ET the Monday prior to the start of the Championship. Any changes from the previously provided tentative roster may not affect another club’s team structure (i.e. moving a horse off of a scramble team). This is to ensure that all eligible students who are entered in the event and expressed interest in participating in the Championship may do so.

Absolutely no substitutions or changes may be made to any team after 3:00 p.m. ET the day prior to the first day of competition. The Championship does not allow mixed levels (P/T, N/T, A/I).

IEL Leaderboard

Individual Leaderboards

All athletes on the IEL Team Rosters will be added to the Individual IEL Leaderboards categories by level using the same methodology used for the existing individual leaderboards.

Team Leaderboard

Currently, the Interscholastic Eventing League is not tracking a team leaderboard at the national level. Some Areas are testing the IEL Year End Awards. A future goal of the IEL is to have an IEL Leaderboard based on Club performance. The USEA will keep members informed as this concept is developed.