United States Eventing Association

Intercollegiate Eventing Heats Up on the West Coast at Galway Downs & Twin Rivers Ranch

Since 2014, the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program has provided a framework on which eventing teams and individual competitors can continue to pursue their aspirations within the sport while attending colleges and universities across the country. While Intercollegiate Team Challenges have quickly risen in popularity on the East Coast of the U.S., adoption on the West Coast is just picking up with two exciting new team challenges that have been added to the 2024 calendar at iconic California venues, Galway Downs and Twin Rivers Ranch.

The first Intercollegiate Team Challenge of the season in Area VI will be hosted at the Galway Downs International H.T. in Temecula, California, on March 28-31. Two weeks later, collegiate athletes will have the opportunity to compete again at the Twin Rivers Spring International in Paso Robles, California, on April 11-14. Entries are open now for both events, and collegiate eventers, whether they part of a USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Team or not, are encouraged to attend!

Galway Downs, which will host national levels from Beginner Novice through Advanced, as well as FEI divisions at the CCI1*-S, CCI2*-S, CCI3*-S, and CCI4*-S levels, is eager to welcome collegiate athletes to their world-class facility. "After hosting the USEF Eventing Young Riders Championships in November, we are thrilled to add the USEA’s Intercollegiate Team Challenge to our International Horse Trials March 28-31,” said Robert Kellerhouse, Equestrian Facilities Manager at Galway Downs. “We really salute these young riders juggling college and equestrian pursuits and we are excited to help advance their riding goals and celebrate their accomplishments!”

Entries for the Galway Downs International H.T. close on March 12, so don’t wait to submit your entry to compete. For those interested in participating in the team challenge, please submit your entry for the event, then click here to declare your interest in participating in the Intercollegiate Team Challenge. Existing Intercollegiate Teams can enter as a group and designate their preferred teams of three or four using the form. For any undergraduate college students that are not currently members of the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program, you are invited to participate as well, and the team at Galway Downs will place you on a scramble team if you are representing your school as an individual. Again, schools do not need to be registered with the USEA for students to compete in these team challenges.

Twin Rivers Ranch, which will offer national levels from Beginner Novice through Advanced, as well as FEI divisions at the CCI1*-L CCI2*-S, CCI2*-L, CCI3*-S, CCI3*-L, and CCI4*-S levels, is looking forward to offering an Intercollegiate Team Challenge at their feature spring event as well. “We are very excited to add the Intercollegiate and Interscholastic team challenges at our Spring International Event,” said Connie Baxter, owner of Twin Rivers Ranch. “We have celebrated the Adult Team Challenges for years, so giving the youth a chance to compete as a team will hopefully add to the fun of the competition.”

Entries for the Twin Rivers Spring International close on March 26. Once you’ve submitted your entry for the competition, please email Christina Gray at [email protected] to submit your interest to participate and team designations, if applicable. All individual competitors will be placed on scramble teams before the start of the competition. Get a taste of the Intercollegiate Eventing Program before you campaign to start a team at your school!

Participation in the team challenges at Galway Downs and Twin Rivers Ranch will help determine the feasibility of future Intercollegiate Eventing Championships on the West Coast. If six or more schools compete in one Intercollegiate Team Challenge, planning for a future West Coast Championship, as soon as 2025, will be able to proceed. Support these events in order to make a West Coast Intercollegiate Eventing Championship a reality!

Are you an Event Organizer interested in hosting an Intercollegiate Team Challenge? Learn more about hosting a team challenge in the Organizers Guide linked here, and contact USEA Staff Liaison Kaleigh Collett at [email protected] to sign up.

Don’t see an Intercollegiate Team Challenge near you? Contact your local USEA Horse Trial organizers to express interest and ask if they are willing to host an Intercollegiate Team Challenge at their event.

Intercollegiate Affiliate Applications and team rosters are past due to the USEA Senior Director of Membership Service, Jennifer Hardwick, at [email protected]. While team members will no longer receive the Collegiate membership discount when rosters are submitted, there is still time to register your school in order to be eligible to participate in the 2024 USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship at Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina, on May 4-5. Submit your application today participate!

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 at universities and colleges registered as Affiliates with the USEA. Many events across the country offer Intercollegiate Team Challenges where collegiate eventers can compete individually or 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 Intercollegiate Eventing Championship is a capstone event for the program, which is held annually in the spring. The 2024 USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship will be held at Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina, on May 4-5. Click here to learn more about the Intercollegiate Eventing Program.

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