United States Eventing Association

Fall Season Crowns Over a Dozen New IEL Team Challenge Champions

As the curtains close on the 2024 competition season, the USEA is looking back at an incredibly busy fall season. With the MARS Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill, two Dutta. Corp USEA Young Event Horse Championships, Area Championships in all 10 sections of the country, and more, there was no shortage of excitement, but the rise in IEL Team Challenges was certainly a highlight of the year for the USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL). Since we last reported in October, 13 additional IEL Team Challenges were hosted at events across Areas II, III, IV, VI, and VIII, to bring the grand total for the year to 44 challenges.

Picking up where we left off, Seneca Valley Pony Club H.T. in Poolesville, Maryland, saw three teams contest their IEL Team Challenge over Labor Day Weekend. In the end, it would be the scrambled Area II Developing Riders (A2DR) & East Coast Eventers team of Ella Ruth Goodman, Sarah West, Berkley Gardner, and Andronicki DiBiasi who came out victorious. Goodman anchored the team’s eventual win by adding just one time fault in show jumping to her dressage score to finish with a score of 29.2, earning the win in her Junior Beginner Novice division.

The following weekend, the IEL headed south for the Five Points H.T. in Raeford, North Carolina, and it was the A2DR, Aiken County Pony Club, and Hidden K Stables Clubs that went head-to-head. After two days of competition, it was the scramble team of riders from A2DR and Aiken County Pony Clubs with members Ava Brooke Bailey, Katie Johnson, Meaghan Nelson, and Payton White who took home the win. Bailey and White both contributed faultless weekends to finish on their dressage scores, while all four members of the team finished in the top three of their respective divisions.

In mid-September, it was The Leaping Legends team of Sofie Goodlund, Ava Linder, Sophia Smith, and Laney Wallace who came out victorious over three other competitors to win the team challenge at the Otter Creek Fall H.T. in Wheeler, Wisconsin. Goodlund and Mark Ward’s 16-year-old Irish Draught Horse, Juniper (Hang on Johnny x Winnie), had a flawless weekend in the Junior Novice division, winning on their dressage score of 25.8 and providing the lowest total to the team’s eventual win.

Spring Run Farm Eventing sent multiple teams to the Flying Cross Farm H.T. IEL Team Challenge in Goshen, Kentucky, the same weekend, and it was their Team #2 that bested the competition. Kennedy Daley, Claire Rigney, and Kyra Steinrock managed to secure their win without a coveted “drop” score from a fourth member. The highlight of the competition may have been when teammates Steinrock and Rigney earned a one-two finish in the Training Rider division.

The league returned to Area IV next for the Heritage Park H.T. in Olathe, Kansas. Five teams competed, but it was the Area IV Remix team of Michaela Frye, Lillian King, Lahn Looney, and Rayna Williams who came out on top. The best completions came from Lahn and Jessie Looney’s 9-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, Pro TIP (High Cotton x With Elan), who took second in the Junior Beginner Novice division, and Williams with her own 10-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, Storm Surge (Too Much Bling x Penny Lake), who won their Open Training division on their dressage score.

On the last weekend of September, two IEL Team Challenges occurred at Stable View Oktoberfest H.T. in Aiken, South Carolina, and Sundance Farm H.T. in Plymouth, Wisconsin. In Aiken, three teams came together at the 2024 IEL Championship host venue, where the GWIF Groupies reigned victorious once again. This time, it was Raegan Hornfeck, Collins Zgutowicz, and Madison Zgutowicz that topped the leaderboard. The trio added only one rail to their team total throughout the entire event to take the win! It was Hornfeck’s fault-free score that earned the highest place of the team, which helped her claim second title in her Beginner Novice Rider division with Halliea Milner’s 9-year-old Pony of the Americas gelding, Legendary Spots.

In Wisconsin, The Mane Attractions team of Adilyn Cartwright, Alexandra Grzybowski, Cambria Konkle, and Sienna Scherer who came in first out of five teams. Starter competitor Scherer completed only her second USEA recognized event ever on a score of 33.7 to win the Junior Starter division, and Grzybowski contributed the lowest score on the team, adding zero faults after dressage, to claim second.

The Maryland Horse Trials at Loch Moy Farm in Adamstown was one of the largest team challenges of the fall season with seven teams competing. A2DR Team A, which included Ella Ruth Goodman, Riley Shank, and Sarah West with two of her horses, claimed the win by less than a point over the Iron Bridge Hounds Pony Club who came in second. All three riders turned in a fault free score, with just West’s second mount collecting any additional faults after dressage, earning them one of the lowest combined totals of the season.

In Hamilton, Georgia, members of the GWIF Groupies IEL Club scrambled with River Run Eventing to take the win at the Poplar Place Farm October H.T. Raegan Hornfeck and Khloe Lovingood from GWIF joined Brylee Brown and Delanie Ward from River Run to win this team challenge. Yet again, Hornfeck anchored the team’s win, improving on her efforts from Stable View to claim the champion title in the Junior Beginner Novice division.

In mid-October, the league switched coasts to head to the team challenge at Ram Tap National H.T. in Fresno, California. In the end, it was the Black Diamond Equestrian Team of Fiona Maxwell, Georgia Myers, Molly Myers, and Sonia Zahradnik who received first place recognition. Molly and her own 15-year-old Connemara mare, Big Bear’s Queen of Granada (Fergus x Shammer Gypsy Queen), logged the lowest score on the team to earn fourth place in a large Novice Rider division.

Another well attended team challenge at the Waredaca Classic Three-Day Event & H.T. closed out the month of October in Gaithersburg, Maryland. IEL competition was fierce between the six teams in attendance, and it would be The Flying Potatoes from Purcellville, Virginia, who came out victorious. Charles Campbell, Lillian Goeller, Ainsley Riddle, and Callie Snow came together to form this champion-worthy team. Snow and her own 12-year-old Zangersheide gelding, Botshabelo MVH Z (Balisto Z x Tornella), logged the lowest individual score on the team, finishing in fourth place in her Training Three-Day division. Riddle and Goeller also opted to compete in Classic Series divisions, finishing in the top-10 of their Beginner Novice Three-Day event.

At the Virginia Horse Center Eventing Fall H.T. in Lexington, six teams duked it out for bragging rights in the IEL Team Challenge, and the scramble team from Deep Purple Eventing and East Coast Eventer earned the champion title. Berkley Gardner, Peyton Frankovich, and Megan Hopkins needed no drop score on their way to their win. Adding just one rail to their score, Garnder and Jenni Bickerstaff’s 8-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare, In Vogue (Future Trend x Ballymolloy Hollyhock), claimed reserve champion in the Modified Rider division to anchor the team’s win.

Finally, the last IEL Team Challenge of the year was hosted at Full Moon Farm’s Fall H.T. in Finksburg, Maryland, on Nov. 17. The home team from the Full Moon Farm IEL Club earned top honors with Elizabeth Burns, Kelsey Klein, Carla Lindsay, and Emily Paniccia representing. Paniccia and Millie Paniccia’s 9-year-old Paint gelding debuted as a partnership in the Starter division and finished on their dressage score to earn sixth place, which was the highest placing individually of the teammates.

Thank you to all the participants, supporters, and organizers that helped make the 2024 IEL season such a success! The IEL would not be possible without the support of the event organizers that graciously offer team challenges throughout the year. If you are an event organizer that is interested in supporting the IEL in 2025, consider hosting a team challenge! Adding a team challenge to your existing USEA-recognized event is seamless, and the USEA staff are here to help you get started. Learn more about what it takes to host an IEL Team Challenge here, and contact Abigail Fulmer, Programs Coordinator, at [email protected] to sign up.

Are you interested in joining the Interscholastic Eventing League? View the list of current IEL Clubs here and reach out to a club representative in your Area to learn more. If you would like to start a new IEL Club in your area, follow instructions on the IEL homepage and contact staff liaison Kaleigh Collett at [email protected] if you have any questions.

Don’t forget, all IEL Clubs will be welcome and encouraged to enter to compete at the 2025 USEA Interscholastic Eventing League Championship at Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina, on May 3-4, 2025. There’s no better time than now to start preparing for this exciting opportunity! Click here to view the list of venues that will host IEL Team Challenges this year. To stay up to date on the 2025 IEL Championship, join Stable View’s WhatsApp group here.

To learn more about the IEL, visit useventing.com/iel.

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 Affiliate. The USEA Board of Governors recently approved an inaugural IEL Championship to kick-off in 2024 at Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina, which will be held in conjunction with the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships on May 4-5, 2024. 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.