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.
Three years ago, Bucyrus, Kansas-based professional Julie Wolfert and her two good friends Renee Senter and Sheri Gurske, went to Ireland where they tried about 40 horses before they decided to go in together on the now 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding SSH Playboy (Cit Cat x Stomeyford Black Pearl).
Cross-country in the USEF/USEA Developing Horse Championships proved the age-old statement that "this is not a dressage show," as we saw the CCI3*YH-S whittled down, while the CCI2*YH-S had some shuffling in the top-10 standings.
Day 1 is a wrap at the 2024 USEF/USEA Developing Horse Championships at Morven Park International, and we saw a familiar face rise to the top in the CCI3*YH-S Championship, while the leading CCI2*YH-S competitor is making her international debut.
Coming off a CCI4*-S win at Stable View (Aiken, South Carolina) two weeks ago, Lucienne Bellissimo (GBR) is feeling confident with Dyri coming into the Morven Park CCI4*-L this weekend.