United States Eventing Association

The fourth annual USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Team Championships kick off next weekend, May 18-19. After spending three years at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, Virginia, the Championships now moves to Area III at the Chattahoochee Hills Horse Trials in Fairburn, Georgia.

Since its inception, the USEA Intercollegiate Championships have grown from 37 competitors and 10 schools and teams to nearly 90 competitors and over 22 teams competing for the championship title.

Carrying the tradition from the Virginia Horse Trials, all intercollegiate competitors will be stabled together in “College Town” which will be an area devoted to the USEA Intercollegiate Championship competitors. Riders stabled in College Town will have a dedicated scoreboard to keep up with the college team standings and championship announcements, along with snacks and refreshments available all weekend long.

The coveted Spirit Award is up for grabs again this year, but with the new location comes new award criteria. There will be four judged competitions that will occur throughout the weekend, including a Friday night relay race, a most spirited cross-country crowd competition on Saturday, pressure to have the best stall/barn decorations, and a Saturday night song and entertainment competition. The school that shows the most creativity and school spirit throughout the weekend at these fun competitions will accumulate points to win the highly sought-after Spirit Award!

Thanks to the generous USEA sponsors, ribbons will be awarded to the top six teams, and prizes will be given to the top four teams.

The Champion Team will receive prizes such as Champion embroidered show coolers and silver plate trophies provided by the USEA. They will also receive embroidered saddle pads from U.S. Equestrian, tri-zone brushing boots from World Equestrian Brands, FLAIR strips, Ride Safe Bracelets, FITS Riding gift certificates, and more! The Reserve Champion team will receive Reserve Champion plates, embroidered saddle pads from U.S. Equestrian, Vespucci rubber reins from World Equestrian Brands, FLAIR strips, FITS Riding gift certificates, and Ride Safe bracelets. The third and fourth place teams will receive U.S. Equestrian embroidered saddle pads as well, and the third place team will also receive the FLAIR strips, FITS Riding gift certificates, and all top four teams will receive additional miscellaneous items from USEA sponsors.

Scoring and Team Dynamics

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. Only the best three individual scores will count towards the team score, so teams of four will have one “drop” score.

The coefficient system that will be applied at the Championships is as follows:

Beginner Novice: 1.0

Novice: 0.99

Training: 0.9

Preliminary: 0.85

Intermediate: 0.75

The team with the lowest score at the end of all three phases will be named the 2019 USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Team Champions! The team who expresses the most school spirit across the activities throughout the weekend will take home the prestigious Spirit Award! Check out this USEA article to learn more about the Spirit Award and see what schools need to pack for the Championship.

To participate in the Championships, schools must be affiliated with the USEA. Schools may fill out this form to become an affiliate. For more information, contact Claire Kelley at [email protected] or (703) 669-9994.

To view the omnibus listing for the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Team Championships at the Chattahoochee Hills Horse Trials, click here. Entry status may be found here.

The USEA would like to thank FLAIR, FITS, RideSafe, World Equestrian Brands, and US Equestrian for sponsoring the Intercollegiate Eventing Program and Championships.

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. 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. Click here to learn more about the Intercollegiate Eventing Program.