It's officially USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship week, and this year's is shaping up to be one for the history books! The USEA is excited to meet up with a record-breaking 150 intercollegiate entries representing 18 schools who will join forces to create 39 teams competing in Aiken, South Carolina, this weekend. For the first time, the Intercollegiate Championship will also be joining forces with the inaugural USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL) Championship at Stable View on May 4-5. Festivities are set to kick off this Friday, May 3, with the opening ceremonies.
The University of South Carolina - Aiken not only earn the title of hometown favorites for this year's event, but they will also be on the hunt to defend their 2023 Championship title with two full teams representing the Pacers. As is par for the course, the University of Kentucky will have the largest presence at the Championship with a whopping nine teams in contention, while Auburn University stays close on their heels with 6sixteams set to compete.
Florida State University, North Carolina State University, University of South Carolina, University of Virginia, and Virginia Tech will return after missing the 2023 Championship, while Otterbein University and University of Pittsburgh will participate for the first time. Before the action starts, find out which championship competitors moonlight as airplane pilots when they aren't in the saddle and who was recently on an episode of TLC's "90 Day Fiancé" in the Meet the Teams preview below.
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.
We’ve all been there—on the horse who pokes his way around the warm-up ring, needs leg, leg, leg coming into the combination, or brings up the rear on every trail ride. None of us wants each and every ride to be a lower-body squeezefest, nor do we wish to do anything with our crop except maybe wave it at that annoying deerfly. In this excerpt from his book The Sport Horse Problem Solver, former international eventer Eric Smiley explains the essential quality of forwardness and how to prepare the horse to expect you to look for it in all that you do together.
The inaugural USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL) Championships may have been the pinnacle for program members of the IEL last year, but that’s not the only exciting achievement that occurred in 2024. A total of 41 events offered IEL Team Challenges for over 360 program members, and in the end, a year-end leaderboard champion was named at every level from Starter through Intermediate. The following IEL members worked tirelessly with their clubs and on their own competitive journeys in 2024 to earn the title of Interscholastic Rider of the Year at their respective level. Join us in congratulating these up-and-coming eventers on their success!
Veterinary pathologist Susan Hart has been trapped in an “always the bridesmaid, never the bride” loop on the USEA Volunteer Incentive Program (VIP) Volunteer Leaderboard since 2022. After two years of chipping away at the leaderboard, 2024 was finally her year to proverbially walk down the aisle. With a total of 691 and a half hours, Hart topped the leaderboard to become the 2024 USEA Volunteer of the Year, sponsored by Mrs. Pastures, and win the first gold medal in USEA VIP history, which is awarded for achieving over 2,000 lifetime volunteer hours.
Day 3 of the USEA Eventing Coaches Program (ECP) Symposium at Galway Downs was all about correct cross-country position after an informative discussion from sports psychologist Natalie Hummel.