United States Eventing Association

As the curtains close on the 2024 competition season, the USEA is looking back at an incredibly busy fall season. With the MARS Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill, two Dutta. Corp USEA Young Event Horse Championships, Area Championships in all 10 sections of the country, and more, there was no shortage of excitement, but the rise in IEL Team Challenges was certainly a highlight of the year for the USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL). Since we last reported in October, 13 additional IEL Team Challenges were hosted at events across Areas II, III, IV, VI, and VIII, to bring the grand total for the year to 44 challenges.

The U.S. Eventing Association’s (USEA) Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL) has grown in leaps and bounds in 2024, with the inaugural IEL Championship held alongside the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship this spring at Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina.

Sixteen-year-old Izzy Lenk (Clarksburg, Maryland) loves eventing and absorbs any opportunity she can that allows her to be further involved in the sport. She recently just wrapped up a month-long working student stint with her trainer Woods Baughman in Lexington, Kentucky, and participated in the Young Rider Mentorship Program at the Young Rider Eventing Championships. She is especially proud, however, of her ongoing efforts of supporting the USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL) Club that she founded, the East Coast Eventers.

2024 has already been a pivotal year for the USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL) with the introduction of the USEA IEL Championship, which saw 42 competitors join forces to create 12 teams that went head-to-head at Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina, early last month.

The USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL) got a major boost on the West Coast last weekend when the Spokane Sport Horse Spring H.T. hosted a total of 43 fifth through 12th grader competitors in their first ever IEL Team Challenge at the venue in Spokane, Washington. Eleven teams made up of junior USEA members from Area VII and parts of western Canada went head-to-head competing in the Starter through Preliminary levels to contribute to their team’s final rankings.

The "happiest horse trial on Earth," the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship, got a whole lot happier this year with the inclusion of the inaugural USEA Interscholastic Eventing Championship. Just shy of 200 entries competed at the 2024 joint championships which took place from May 4-5 at Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina. There were pom poms and banners and glitter galore, but team spirit was of the greatest abundance as young riders from the 5th grade through college gathered together to share their pride for their team.

Coach Halliea Milner loved that the USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL) gave her riders the opportunity to compete together as a team in a normally individual sport. But, when it came down to it, her riders acted no differently this weekend at the inaugural USEA Interscholastic Eventing Championship than they do at home.

Talk with any of the coaches or riders of the eight USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL) clubs that make up the 12 IEL teams competing in the inaugural USEA Interscholastic Eventing Championship this weekend and one theme has been constant across the board—camaraderie.

The spirit of eventing was strong during the opening ceremonies on Friday afternoon at the 2024 USEA Intercollegiate and Interscholastic Eventing Championships. Just shy of 200 Intercollegiate and Interscholastic competitors lined up in the main arena at this year's host venue, Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina, while chanting fight songs, waving team flags, donning mascot costumes, and more, all in celebration of this year's championships officially getting under way.

The inaugural USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL) Championship at Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina, is just over a week away, which means it is time to meet the teams that are set to compete! A total of 42 competitors representing eight IEL Clubs will make up the 12 teams that are set to compete in the 2024 USEA IEL Championship on Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, May 5.