United States Eventing Association

Clemson Eventing Team Focuses on Love of the Sport

The Clemson Intercollegiate Eventing Team is comprised of 28 riding and non-riding members. Riding members are Clemson students who regularly compete in team trials and ride in clinics hosted by the team. Our non-riding members are students who are active participants in team sponsored activities and share a love of horses and the sport of eventing.

This year, Clemson teams placed well at every event in which we participated, including second place on a scramble team with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville at Chattahoochee Hills and third place at the FENCE Horse Trials. We also had quite a few individual highlights at USEA Intercollegiate Championships. To kick off the fall semester, senior Linda Limeri finished second in her starter division at the FENCE Horse Trials. At Chattahoochee Hills in October, freshman Kaley Crosby placed second in the Senior Training Rider division and freshman Audra Alland placed fourth in the Open Novice division. The River Glen Horse Trials was also a success as junior Olivia McQuarrie and freshman Cortlinn Bailey placed first and second in the Beginner Novice division, respectively. Alland also placed third in the Senior Training division. To finish out the season, sophomore Emily Thomas placed first in the Beginner Novice division at Pine Top’s Thanksgiving Horse Trials.

Throughout each semester, the team always makes time to have fun and spend time together with team dinners, movie nights, and fun cross-training activities. Additionally, team activities include fundraisers, like our semi-annual combined test and jumper show, and peppermint wreath sales during the holidays. Moving forward, the team plans to expand their fundraising efforts with new activities this upcoming spring.

When looking at the team’s riding and non-riding activities and achievements, there are several aspects that make the Clemson team unique. By including options to become either a riding or non-riding member, the team fosters a supportive culture that focuses on loving the sport, in addition to working to make membership more flexible based on students’ needs or desires. Furthermore, the team is completely student-run and requires that members hold themselves accountable for training for events. In order to aid members in their training, our Clinician Chair Jessica Ruffa organizes clinics throughout the semester and brings in numerous clinicians from different disciplines. Typically, she is able to secure these clinics at discounted prices.

Looking at future goals, the Clemson Eventing Team hopes to regain its national championship title as well as continue to grow in numbers to help support USEA’s Intercollegiate Program.

Follow the Clemson Intercollegiate Eventing Team on Facebook and Instagram or check out their website.

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. The USEA offers a discount of $25 on annual USEA memberships for current students of universities and colleges registered as Affiliates with the USEA and many events across the country now offer Intercollegiate Team Challenges throughout the year, 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. Only the best three individual scores will count towards the team score, so teams of four will have one “drop” score. Click here to learn more about the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program.

The USEA wants to feature your collegiate eventing team in our Intercollegiate Eventing Spotlight series! Please send your story and photos to Claire Kelley at [email protected] to be featured.