The USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL) will officially kick off in 2021 with the first interscholastic team challenges taking place this year. The mission of the IEL is to bring together junior riders with a common interest and provide a supportive community through which students can continue to pursue their riding interests. This program encourages team camaraderie and gives junior members a chance to compete in a team atmosphere. This program will also help provide a pathway for those riders who seek to be part of a collegiate eventing program as they graduate high school.
Any rider who is currently in 7th through 12th grade is eligible to become an IEL member. Members who wish to join an IEL team should register with the USEA as a Junior Member. Please note, IEL memberships are by calendar year, not school year, so Seniors who graduate in the spring will still be eligible to compete in interscholastic team challenges in the summer and fall.
Team representatives should send their team rosters to the USEA Senior Director of Membership Services Jennifer Hardwick at [email protected] by February 15. Please list every member on your IEL team.
As this is the IEL’s first year, new IEL members can be added throughout the year. New IEL teams will also be able to register and submit rosters at any time during the year.
As there is currently no option to select your IEL team on your USEA membership profile, the only way to be included in the IEL is to have your name included on an IEL roster.
There is no minimum or no maximum number of members that can be on an interscholastic team. However, in interscholastic team challenges, teams are limited to three or four athlete/horse combinations. IEL teams are still welcome to put forward multiple teams at a single interscholastic team challenge.
Please remember that every IEL team must be registered with the USEA. Click here to register for 2021!
Refresh on the rules of the program by reviewing the Interscholastic Eventing League Guidelines.
Start planning your season by checking out the 2021 Interscholastic Team Challenge calendar.
In August 2020, the USEA Board of Governors approved the creation of the USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL) as an official program of the USEA. The mission of IEL is to bring together junior riders who are in the 7-12th grade and provide a supportive community through which students can continue to pursue their riding interests. A group of junior members in the 7th-12th grade who share a common bond (same barn, same school, same Pony Club, etc.) register with the USEA as an interscholastic team. Click here to learn more about the Interscholastic Eventing League.
Riders in both the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S and the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L are sharing similar sentiments about this year's cross-country courses: course designer Derek di Grazia didn't play around this year. Here is what some of the riders across both divisions had to say about the tracks they will aim to conquer on Saturday.
Off The Record decided not to let Michael Jung be the only record-breaking entry at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event this week and delivered a career-best score in the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S on Friday morning. He and Will Coleman delivered a test that received a score of 21.8, not only marking a personal best for the horse but also securing their position at the top of the leaderboard going into cross-country tomorrow.
Boyd Martin and the 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding Commando 3 were the last pair to go in the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L field on Friday afternoon and were warmly greeted to the bluegrass with an impressive downpour that outshined anything the other horse and rider pairs had to combat throughout the day. But that didn’t stop this pair from putting their best foot forward and impressing the judges enough to earn them a score of 26.0, just 0.2 points ahead of second-place pair Tom McEwen (GBR) and Brookfield Quality.
Please always remain vigilant when it comes to sending any personal communications via email or text. Every year we receive reports of members and leaders of our sport receiving phishing attempts both online and by phone. These are often communications disguised as being sent from USEA staff or other leaders. As the years go on, the phishing attempts appear to be more directed and tailored.