United States Eventing Association

Following another successful USEA Intercollegiate & IEL Championships at Stable View and the announcement of the 2027 championship at Galway Downs, the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Committee and IEL Task Force are excited to promote additional ways for events and groups to get involved in the fun of team competition. Two new initiatives that the USEA will be offering for members of the Intercollegiate Eventing Program, and the IEL are combined team challenges and team fundraising promotion.

The USEA is proud to partner with more than 50 events across the U.S. to host Intercollegiate and IEL Team Challenges for our members throughout the year. These challenges are meant to serve as preparatory competitions for the annual championships and give the students a place to show their team spirit and camaraderie to their fellow Horse Trial competitors.

Historically, if an event was unable to fill an Intercollegiate or IEL Team Challenge, that challenge would be cancelled and removed from the calendar. However, now the USEA is encouraging Event Organizers to combine their Intercollegiate and IEL Team Challenges if one or both cannot fill, so the students can still get the opportunity to compete.

Organizers will be given the choice to combine the Intercollegiate and IEL Team Challenges at their discretion. Combining the team challenges can provide a great opportunity for networking and mentorship between program members, and creates a more prominent team atmosphere as program members mingle. As always, Organizers are encouraged to stable Team Challenge participants together when possible to help promote this mingling.

In addition to combined team challenges, the USEA will now be offering a social media incentive to all Intercollegiate Eventing Programs and IEL Clubs. Starting in June 2026, all collegiate team and IEL Clubs will have the opportunity to submit one (1) fundraising event per year to the USEA Intercollegiate and IEL Staff Liaison, Kaleigh Collett, at [email protected], for the chance to be featured on the USEA Facebook and Instagram pages.

This new initiative will give teams the opportunity to promote their program to the USEA membership and share the exciting fundraising events and activities they are hosting. This is a great opportunity to gain potential new supporters for the teams, and for other program members to see what is working in terms of fundraising for other groups.

If your team would like to participate, please email one (1) photo in JPG or PNG format or one (1) 30-second or less video in MP4 or MOV format to [email protected] with a brief description of the fundraising effort. The USEA Staff will review and schedule posts based on the timing of the fundraiser and availability in the media calendar.

The USEA looks forward to receiving submissions from the Intercollegiate teams and IEL Clubs! For any questions regarding the Intercollegiate Eventing Program or Interscholastic Eventing League, please contact Kaleigh Collett at [email protected].

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. Many events across the country offer Intercollegiate Team Challenges where collegiate eventers can compete individually or in 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. The USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship is a capstone event for the program, which is held annually in the spring. The 2027 USEA Intercollegiate & IEL Championships will be held at Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina, May 7-9. Click here to learn more about the Intercollegiate Eventing Program.

The USEA would like to thank Bates Saddles, Gallagher’s Water, Kerrits, PulseVet, Schneiders Saddlery, Aiken Saddlery, AllStar Tents & Events, Horse & Country, Meybohm Realtors – Deirdre Stoker Vaillancourt, Powell Asset Protection Agency, Sidelines, U.S. Equestrian, Wendel Mobile Equine, WeRideTogether, World Equestrian Brands, Young Rider Magazine, and 100xEquine for sponsoring the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program.

About the USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL)

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 unite junior riders who are in the 5th—12th grade and provide a supportive community through which students can continue to pursue their riding interests. A group of junior members in the 5th—12th grade who share a common bond, such as the same barn, school, Pony Club, or other connection, can register with the USEA as an IEL Club. The 2027 USEA Intercollegiate & IEL Championships will be held at Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina, on May 7-9. Click here to learn more about the Interscholastic Eventing League.

The USEA would like to thank Bates Saddles, Gallagher’s Water, Kerrits, PulseVet, Schneiders Saddlery, Aiken Saddlery, AllStar Tents & Events, Horse & Country, Meybohm Realtors – Deirdre Stoker Vaillancourt, Powell Asset Protection Agency, Sidelines, U.S. Equestrian, Wendel Mobile Equine, WeRideTogether, World Equestrian Brands, Young Rider Magazine, and 100xEquine for sponsoring the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program.