In honor of what would have been the fifth annual USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships, let’s celebrate the past and learn how the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program has evolved into what it is today. Over the past five years, the program has grown into a national program with unparalleled enthusiasm and it first started in 2014.
2014 – The USEA Board of Governors approved the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program.
2015 – This was the first year of the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program. The first official intercollegiate team challenge was held at Poplar Place Horse Trials and was called the ‘Columbus State Team Challenge.' This team challenge had eight teams competing and USC Aiken took home top honors (the full results can be found here).
2016 – The inaugural USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships were held at Virginia H.T. in Lexington, Virginia. This was the first year of having a Championships and it saw eight schools, nine teams, and 37 competitors.
US Equestrian, World Equestrian Brands, and the USEA joined as sponsors of the program.
The USEA Intercollegiate Committee was formed in July 2016 with Andy Bowles as the Committee Chair.
The national USEA Intercollegiate leaderboards became active.
2017 – Out of the four years of holding a Championship, this year saw the most drastic increase in participation. The 2017 USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships at Virginia H.T. doubled in size and it had 17 schools, 21 teams, and 84 competitors.
EasyCare and RideSafe joined as sponsors of the program.
The USEA Intercollegiate Committee Chair position transitioned to Leslie Threlkeld.
2018 – This was the third year of the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships and the third consecutive year for Virginia H.T. to host the Championships. The 2018 Championships had 18 schools, 23 teams, and 87 competitors.
The ‘Meet the Teams’ preview article was introduced for the first time on the USEA website and social media.
Virginia Horse Trials joined as a sponsor of the program.
2019 – In 2019, the Championships had a new venue, a new division, and new criteria for the Spirit Award. This was the first year the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships were held at Chattahoochee Hills H.T. in Fairburn, Georgia. The graduate division was introduced, and the Spirit Award had new criteria that included a series of small contests throughout the weekend. The 2019 Championships had 16 schools, 22 teams, and 89 competitors.
This was the second consecutive year for Auburn University to claim the Championship title and the second year for Texas A&M University to win the Spirit Award.
A Championship hype video and a Championships recap video were both featured the first time on the USEA website and social media.
FITS, Flair, Chattahoochee Hills Horse Trials all join as sponsors of the program.
Fresno County Horse Park submitted an expression of interest to host a future Intercollegiate West Coast Championships. The USEA Board of Governors voted to have a pilot year first showing participation from six different colleges/universities.
The USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program was established in 2014 to provide a framework within which eventing teams and individual competitors could flourish at universities and colleges across the country. The USEA offers a discount of $25 on annual USEA memberships for current students of universities and colleges registered as Affiliates with the USEA. Many events across the country now offer Intercollegiate Team Challenges where collegiate eventers can compete individually as well as on teams with their fellow students. In Intercollegiate Team Challenges, each rider’s score is multiplied by a coefficient appropriate for their level to account for differences in level difficulty and then the individual scores are added together to determine the team score.
The USEA would like to thank Bates Saddles, EQuine AMerica Magazine, FITS, World Equestrian Brands, FLAIR and US Equestrian for sponsoring the Intercollegiate Eventing Program.
The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) continues to monitor the outbreak of Vesicular Stomatitis (VS) in California. Currently, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has confirmed that there are three counties—San Diego, San Bernardino, and Riverside—where confirmed or suspected cases of VS have been identified.
The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and United States Eventing Association (USEA) are pleased to announce the dates and location of the 2023 USEF/USEA Eventing Developing Horse National Championships for 6- and 7-year-olds.
The Championships, which will include a CCI2*-S for 6-year-olds and a CCI3*-S for 7-year-olds, will take place at the Stable View Oktoberfest Horse Trials in Aiken, South Carolina, from Sept. 29-Oct. 1, 2023.
The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) is pleased to announce updates to the 2023 Eventing Elite and Pre-Elite Program Lists. The programs are part of the U.S. Eventing Pathway, which is focused on developing combinations to deliver sustainable success in team competition at the championship level.
Four years ago, Megan Weber was feeling discouraged about her event horse who didn’t seem to want to do the sport. She’d made the decision to find a new horse but found she was struggling to connect to the several she’d tried.
She reached out to a friend who had experience with adopting mustangs, and the idea of an untouched, green horse sounded like a fun idea.