ICP Certificate Definitions

ICP offers a regular certificate at Levels I through IV and a provisional certificate at Levels I through IV. The standards of and the requirements for the ICP workshops, assessments, and continuing education are exactly the same for both regular and provisional ICP certification, except for one difference in the requirements for being assessed: the three students who must verify that they have been taught by the instructor may be riding at one competition level lower for provisional candidate instructors than they must be for regular candidate instructors. Furthermore, to apply for a provisional certificate at Level I-Novice, an instructor’s highest-level students may be riders who have not yet begun to compete in eventing. One of the purposes of provisional certification is to make the ICP education process (workshops) and ICP certification process (assessment) available to young and/or less-experienced instructors. Exactly the same as for candidate instructors seeking a regular ICP certificate, candidate instructors seeking a provisional ICP certificate must demonstrate at an ICP workshop(s) and at their assessment that they are able to impart the knowledge of riding/training/competing and horse care skills appropriate up through the student competition levels listed with their ICP Level.

Regular ICP Certificate

To be accepted to be assessed for regular certification, in addition to attending the required workshop(s), the candidate instructor must present verification from three of their past and/or current students that they have competed competently under the candidate instructor’s tutelage at one of the competition levels listed with the ICP level that the candidate instructor has chosen for themselves.

To be accepted for assessment for an ICP regular certificate

• At Level I - three of your past and/or current students must compete competently at Novice while you are their instructor.
• At Level II - three of your past and/or current students must compete competently at the Training, Training Three-Day Event, Modified, or CCI* level while you are their instructor.
• At Level III - three of your past and/or current students must compete competently at the Intermediate, CCI3*-S, or CCI3*-L level while you are their instructor.
• At Level IV - three of your past and/or current students must compete competently at the Advanced, CCI4*-S, or CCI4*-L level while you are their instructor.

After a candidate instructor is successfully evaluated at an ICP assessment, their regular ICP certificate confirms the quality of that instructor’s teaching knowledge and skills up through the student competition level of their ICP level.

Provisional ICP Certificate

To be accepted to be assessed for provisional certification, in addition to attending the required workshop(s), the candidate instructor must present verification from three of their past and/or current students that they have competed competently under the candidate instructor’s tutelage at one competition level below the competition levels listed with the ICP level that the candidate instructor has chosen for themselves.

To be accepted for assessment for an ICP provisional certificate

• At Level I - three of your past and/or current students must compete competently below the Novice level while you are their instructor.
• At Level II - three of your past and/or current students must compete competently at the Training level while you are their instructor.
• At Level III - three of your past and/or current students must compete competently at the Preliminary level while you are their instructor.

After a candidate instructor is successfully evaluated at an ICP assessment, his/her provisional ICP certificate confirms the quality of that instructor’s teaching knowledge and skills up through the student competition level listed with his/her ICP level.

Instructors likely to seek a provisional rather than a regular ICP certificate:

• Instructors whose own riding/competing/learning have developed their teaching knowledge and skills beyond what they have used so far in their own teaching, perhaps due to an insufficient range of eventing students where they live.
• Instructors whose own riding/competing/learning have developed their teaching knowledge and skills but who, because they are young or new to instructing, have not yet acquired a student group ready to learn the more difficult riding skills which they have learned how to teach.
• Individuals seeking certification at Level I-Novice Provisional who are just beginning to instruct professionally or have not yet instructed students who compete in eventing.

As an instructor's student group develops to the point where at least three of their students are competing competently at the listed competition level of their ICP level, a provisionally certified instructor may send to the USEA office verifications from those three students that they are their instructor. That instructor will then receive a regular ICP certificate (at the same ICP level) to replace their provisional ICP certificate.