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.
Strange as it may seem to some die-hard eventing fans, not everyone seeks out horses in their lives. Sometimes, the horse world chooses the equestrian. And that’s exactly what happened to this month’s VIP Volunteer Laurie Hogan. Hogan has two main passions in life—volunteering at horse trials and jam sessions with a group of local musicians.
Area VI’s Harvest Renfro, 13, and her pony, Take That, or “Robbie,” recently won their first blue ribbon at Introductory at Ram Tap’s February Horse Trials (Fresno, California) on their score of 43.9. Harvest’s accomplishment was even more impressive because she was competing in an open class.
It's the first Team Talk of 2025 and the first Team Talk with newly appointed U.S. Eventing Chef d’Equipe and High Performance Manager Leslie Law and it is an exciting one! USEA Podcast host Nicole Brown asks Leslie all the big questions: from what his new responsibilities will be, to preparations for the LA Olympics, and more!
This month we’re going to wrap-up our discussion on mindsets and how they can point us in the direction of growth, grit, and gratitude—or in the direction of disappointment, defeat, and dejection.