United States Eventing Association

All Things USEA Intercollegiate and Interscholastic Eventing League from the USEA Annual Meeting & Convention

Are you a member of the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program or USEA Interscholastic Eventing League? Considering joining one of these exciting programs in 2025? Then you won't want to miss these important recaps and updates presented during the USEA Annual Meeting & Convention, which was held Dec. 12-14 in Seattle, Washington.

USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program

As of December 2024, there were 362 Intercollegiate members in the USEA membership, spread across 27 affiliate colleges and universities:

• Area II – 6 schools
• Area III – 11 schools
• Area IV – 1 school
• Area V – 1 schools
• Area VI – 2 school
• Area VII – 1 school
• Area VIII – 5 schools

To see which schools are registered in your area, click here.

The 2024 USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship had record-breaking entries with 150 entries making up 39 teams that represented 18 schools. For reference, the first-ever USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships in 2016 had 33 entries that made up nine teams total and represented eight schools. That is a MASSIVE amount of growth!

Several Intercollegiate riders saw themselves atop the USEA Leaderboards in 2024. Take a moment to cheer each of these riders on for their accomplishments across the 2024 season:

• USEA Starter Intercollegiate Rider of the Year – Juliana DiCesare
• USEA Beginner Novice Intercollegiate Rider of the Year– Sophia Hand
• USEA Novice Intercollegiate Rider of the Year – Callia Englund
• USEA Training Intercollegiate Rider of the Year– Elle Snyder
• USEA Modified Intercollegiate Rider of the Year– Ruth Rosendaul
• USEA Preliminary Intercollegiate Rider of the Year– Megan Loughnane
• USEA Intermediate Intercollegiate Rider of the Year – Kiersten Miller
• USEA Advanced Intercollegiate Rider of the Year – Elle Choate

Don't forget to save the date for the USEA Intercollegiate and Interscholastic Eventing Championships, which will take place in Aiken, South Carolina, May 3-4, 2025, during the Stable View H.T.

Important Updates for 2025

• The USEA Intercollegiate Membership discount will no longer be offered in 2025, but rosters will still be due by February 15 to secure your members eligibility for the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships.
• A dream has been realized this year with the approval of a standalone USEA Intercollegiate and Interscholastic Eventing Championships by the USEA Board of Governors. Due to the outstanding participation, continued growth of the two programs, and the high number of entries at the 2024 Championships, the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Committee sought approval of a standalone championship date. This means that the Championships will no longer be bound to an existing competition, but will be a separate, special competition just for the members of these two programs. Both dates and locations for 2026 and 2027 were approved and will be announced at a later date.
• Senior gifts are presented to outgoing seniors who are in attendance at the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship as a rider, groom, or support person. These individuals are self-identified, and the names are submitted by the team president or representative who submits the Championship team roster. It’s important to make sure you have the correct list of seniors because at this time we do not have a way to track who are the seniors through our own database. Make sure you double check your list of seniors so that those recognized are accurate and that everyone is included. For those students who will NOT be in attendance at the Championship, the Intercollegiate Eventing Committee has designed a certificate that can be distributed via email by request, which can then be printed and displayed.
  
• The Mentorship Program will be offered during the 2025 USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship. This is an opportunity for non-competing students to get a behind the scenes look at the many essential roles required to put on a successful horse trial. Spend the weekend shadowing and learning from officials, organizers, scorers, announcers, and more. Application information will be available in the new year.

USEA Interscholastic Eventing League

Membership in the USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL) was just a tick higher than the Interscholastic membership for 2024 with 394 members representing 49 clubs across the USEA Areas:

• Area I: 1 clubs
• Area II: 13 clubs
• Area III: 8 clubs
• Area IV: 6 clubs
• Area V: 5 clubs
• Area VI: 5 clubs
• Area VII: 10 clubs
• Area VIII: 1 club

Want to connect with a club in your area? Check out the master list here.

2024 was an exciting year for members of the IEL with the hosting of the inaugural IEL Championship that ran alongside the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship. Eight clubs were in attendance and made up 12 teams with 41 entries divided amongst those teams. We can't wait to see that number continue to grow at the 2025 Championship which will take place in Aiken, South Carolina, May 3-4, during the Stable View H.T.

The top IEL riders of the year were recognized this year at the USEA Annual Meeting & Convention. These riders are:

• USEA Intermediate Interscholastic Rider of the Year – Hanni Sreenan
• USEA Preliminary Interscholastic Rider of the Year – Harper Padgett
• USEA Modified Interscholastic Rider of the Year – Berkley Gardner
• USEA Training Interscholastic Rider of the Year – Marina Cassou
• USEA Novice Interscholastic Rider of the Year – Kendal Fansler
• USEA Beginner Novice Interscholastic Rider of the Year – Raegan Hornfeck
• USEA Starter Interscholastic Rider of the Year – Ashley Zupan

Important Updates for 2025

• Club rosters are due Feb. 15, 2025.
• As a reminder, the USEA IEL is open to all riders in grades 5-12.
• Interested in creating an IEL club in your area? Check out the guidelines here!

About the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program

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. Many events across the country offer Intercollegiate Team Challenges where collegiate eventers can compete individually or in 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 Intercollegiate Eventing Championship is a capstone event for the program, which is held annually in the spring. The 2025 USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship will be held at Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina, on May 3-4. Click here to learn more about the Intercollegiate Eventing Program.

The USEA would like to thank Bates Saddles, Horse & Country, Kerrits, Nunn Finer, Sidelines, U.S. Equestrian, WeRideTogether, and World Equestrian Brands for sponsoring the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program.

About the USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL)

In August 2020, the USEA Board of Governors approved the creation of the USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL) as an official program of the USEA. The mission of IEL is to unite junior riders who are in the 5th—12th grade and provide a supportive community through which students can continue to pursue their riding interests. A group of junior members in the 5th—12th grade who share a common bond, such as the same barn, school, Pony Club, or other connection, can register with the USEA as an IEL Club. The second annual USEA Interscholastic Eventing Championship will be held alongside the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship at Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina, on May 3-4, 2025. Click here to learn more about the Interscholastic Eventing League.

The USEA would like to thank Bates Saddles, Horse & Country, Kerrits, Nunn Finer, Sidelines, U.S. Equestrian, WeRideTogether, and World Equestrian Brands for sponsoring the USEA Interscholastic Eventing League.