United States Eventing Association

One Month Until the 2021 USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships

We are one month away from the start of the 2021 USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships at the Virginia Horse Trials in Lexington, Va. With the University of Kentucky bringing over 35 members, Auburn University bringing multiple teams to defend their title, and new schools coming for the first time - the 2021 Championship title will be up for grabs come May 27-30!

The first intercollegiate activities will begin on Friday, May 28 with an opening ceremony held outside and conducted under the USEF Covid-19 Action Plan protocols. Following the opening ceremony, a dinner will be provided for the Championship competitors.

The traditional “college town” will be in a new, central location this year in Barns 5 and 6. Schools may set up their tent and team decorations around the barns, and in that indoor arena. For teams wanting to order a tack room, teams should do so on their entry form.

There will be two divisions in this year’s Championships - the usual Championship for undergraduate students, and the newly added graduate division. The graduate division is open to current graduate students and the seniors from the graduating class of 2020, who missed out on the championships last year due to COVID-19. This division will be scored and awarded separately from the undergraduate Championship.

For both divisions, prizes will be awarded on Sunday during the Intercollegiate awards ceremony. For the undergraduate Championship, Bates Saddles will be providing some fun prizes, Revitavet will provide a Revitavet system to the winning team, World Equestrian Brands will provide prizes to the top three winning teams, FITS will be providing gift certificates, EQuine AMerica Magazine will be providing prizes, US Equestrian will provide custom Intercollegiate saddle pads, and more.

Every senior student and every 2020 senior competing in this year’s Championships will be given a commemorative senior gift.

The infamous Spirit Award will return and will follow similar guidelines as the last Championships that were held at Virginia H.T. A panel will observe each school throughout the weekend to see who brought the most spirit. The winners of the spirit award will be refunded their entry fee and will hold the prestigious title of the 2021 Spirit Award winners.

The Championships offers Beginner Novice through Intermediate levels and CCI*-L, CCI2*-S, CCI2*-L, and CCI3*-S levels. The event will follow the USEF COVID-19 Action Plan.

There are no qualifications necessary to compete in these Championships, but there are two requirements. First, for the undergraduate Championships, the student must be registered as a USEA Collegiate Member and enrolled as an undergraduate student. Please note that students may compete in the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships up to six months after graduating, allowing December graduates to compete in the May Championships. Second, the school must be a currently registered Affiliate of the USEA. Every school must renew each year, click here to renew for 2021.

Entries are open and will close on Tuesday, May 11. In addition to sending your entry, teams must sign up for the Championships by sending their championship team rosters to Leslie Threlkeld at [email protected].

Refresh on the rules of the Intercollegiate Eventing Program by reviewing the Intercollegiate Handbook.

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.

The USEA would like to thank Bates Saddles, FITS, World Equestrian Brands, EQuine AMerica Magazine, Revitavet, and US Equestrian for sponsoring the Intercollegiate Eventing Program.