Since 2014, the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program has provided a framework on which eventing teams and individual competitors can pursue their aspirations within the sport while attending colleges and universities across the country.
Intercollegiate Team Challenges are an entry point for this program and are popular on the East Coast. The West Coast is jumping on board with two Intercollegiate Team Challenges on the 2024 calendar at iconic California venues.
The first Challenge will take place during the International Horse Trials at Galway Downs in Temecula, March 28-31. And the second follows April 11-14 at the Twin Rivers Spring International in Paso Robles. Galway Downs International entries are open until March 12 and Twin Rivers entries close on March 26.
Riders competing in any division can be part of an Intercollegiate Team Challenge. Each rider’s score is multiplied by a co-efficient appropriate for their level to account for differences in difficulty. The individual scores are added together to determine the team score.
Riders can enter as a team representing their school, or as individuals who will be placed with riders from other schools on a “scramble” team.
All college students are eligible to compete in the Intercollegiate Team Challenge, including those who are not yet part of an USEA Intercollegiate Eventing team.
Existing Intercollegiate Teams can enter as a group and designate their preferred teams of three or four. Undergraduate college students who are not currently members of the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program can sign up as a team or individuals representing their school.
To sign up for the Challenge at Galway Downs, first enter the competition as you normally would on www.evententries.com. Then, click here to enter the Challenge.
Warm Galway Welcome
Galway Downs eagerly welcomes collegiate athletes to their world-class facility.
“After hosting the USEF Eventing Young Riders Championships in November, we are thrilled to add the USEA’s Intercollegiate Team Challenge to our International Horse Trials,” says Robert Kellerhouse, Galway Downs event organizer and facilities manager. “We really salute these young riders juggling college and equestrian pursuits and we are excited to help advance their riding goals and celebrate their accomplishments!”
Those interested in contesting the Challenge at Twin Rivers Ranch should email Christina Gray at info@grayareaevents.com.
Area VI Collegiate Activity
Northern California professional Holly Fox could be called the queen of collegiate eventing in the West. She started coaching at UC Davis in 1985 and created an eventing team right away.
Eventing is a “recognized club sport” at UC Davis. This means that the school provides some funding but costs are mostly covered by student fees. That is different from a National Collegiate Equestrian Association, NCEA, designation. Typically, NCEA school teams are funded by the athletic department. NCEA teams provide the horses on which their own and opposing teams compete when they host league competitions.
UC Davis has NCEA hunt seat and western teams and a dressage team that competes in the Intercollegiate Dressage Association league.
Holly and former students have had a hand in various incarnations of collegiate eventing development in the West.
Around 2011, members of the UC Davis Event Team created the West Coast Collegiate Eventing League, with four schools facing off against each at a Twin Rivers Horse Trials. That evolved into the Intercollegitate Eventing League and a 2013 USEA task force, led by Area VI’s Brian Sabo. And that led to the USEA’s Intercollegiate Eventing Program’s launch in 2014. Current USEA CEO Rob Burk is a big supporter of collegiate eventing, too.
Rob described collegiate eventing as a “great way to maintain or increase membership in the 18-24 year old demographic,” in a Practical Horseman Magazine article. In the bigger picture, the fun and challenge of collegiate competition is a great way to keep riders in the saddle through their college years. It’s considered a bridge to engagement with horses throughout adulthood and that’s critical to the growth of equestrian sports overall.
Challenges & Rewards
Holly describes eventing as well suited for collegiate competition because of its many levels. “That makes it very open to all levels,” she notes. Conversely, it’s not well suited for the catch-riding format involved in NCEA competition.
She acknowledges the challenges of collegiate competition. “It’s been a little harder at Davis of late. Academics are so rigorous now and a lot of students are working, too.” Even for students who have their horse at Davis’s wonderful equestrian center, travel and costs of competing add another layer of difficulty to recruiting new riders.
Some of the West Coast schools Holly has reached out told her they would love to compete in Area VI Team Challenges or collegiate championships, but the costs and logistics are daunting. The USEA’s efforts to build awareness will help build enthusiasm, she asserts. Grants to defray costs would be wonderful, she adds.
“It’s always fun to be on a team,” she emphasizes.
Along with UC Davis, Cal Poly San Louis Obispo has a USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program team.
Looking Ahead
Participation in the Team Challenges at Galway Downs and Twin Rivers Ranch will help determine the feasibility of future Intercollegiate Eventing Championships on the West Coast. If six or more schools compete in one Intercollegiate Team Challenge, planning for a future West Coast Championship, as soon as 2025, will be able to proceed. Supporting these events will help make a West Coast Intercollegiate Eventing Championship a reality.
Learn more about hosting a team challenge in the Organizers Guide linked here, and contact USEA Staff Liaison Kaleigh Collett at kcollett@useventing.com to sign up.
The USEA offers a discount of $25 on annual USEA memberships for current students at universities and colleges registered as Affiliates with the USEA.
The USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship is a capstone event for the program, which is held annually in the spring. The 2024 USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship will be held at Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina, on May 4-5. Click here to learn more about the Intercollegiate Eventing Program.
The USEA would like to thank Bates Saddles, Horse & Country, Kerrits, U.S. Equestrian, WeRideTogether, and World Equestrian Brands for sponsoring the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program.