Wednesday was filled with plenty of activities as the Interscholastic Equestrian Association had fun at the Welcome Party hosted by the National Reining Horse Youth Association (NRHyA).  Competition officially kicked off Thursday with plenty of excitement, tiebreakers and ride-offs!

Riders competed in reining and horsemanship classes on unfamiliar mounts and equipment.   IEA’s format requires each rider to draw a horse on the day of competition with no opportunity to familiarize himself or herself with the horse.

“We had extraordinary rides – proven by the riders and the excellent scores”,  said Roxane Lawrence, IEA Co-founder and Executive Director when asked about today’s performance.

Friday continues with the Team Competition as each team vies for high score honors to become the Upper School or Middle School Champion Team.  The day’s events also include a Parade of Teams and the presentation of the following awards: Horseman’s Knowledge Test, presented by The United States Pony Clubs, Inc., the Team Spirit Award, the NRHA Sportsmanship Award, and the NRHA Outstanding Reining Horse.

Thursday’s Individual Competition results are:

Champion Western Rider:

Caroline Gute from Autumn Rose Equestrians riding Big, provided by Arizona Western Equestrian Team.

NRHA Varsity Open Reining Individual Champion:

Caroline Gute of Autumn Rose Equestrians partnered with Tidal Chexalena of Sliding K Reining Horses.

NRHA Varsity Intermediate Reining Individual Champion:

Addy Cullum of Central Carolina Equestrian Team riding Shiners Cowboy Joe of Right Lead Ranch.

NRHA Future Intermediate Reining Individual Champion:

Elisabeth Will of Grier School riding Moose of Schwarz Reining Horses.

Varsity Open Horsemanship Individual Champion:

Sydney Hoffa of Equine Differences joined with Henry of West Texas A&M University.

Future Intermediate Horsemanship Individual Champion:

Kaylee Naylor of Arizona Sliders Reining Team showing Shu of Bales Show Horses.

Varsity Intermediate Horsemanship Individual Champion:

Erin Bosse of KM Equestrian partnered with Shu of Bales Show Horses.

JV Novice Horsemanship Individual Champion:

Laura Meadows of King Show Horses Equestrian Team riding Oso of West Texas A&M University.

Future Beginner Horsemanship Individual Champion:

Isabelle Shakespeare of Hillside Meadows showing on Raisin of West Texas A&M University.

JV Beginner Horsemanship Individual Champion:

Kimberly Hartman from Dare Equestrian Team joined with Slik from Arizona Western Equestrian Team.

Future Novice Horsemanship Individual Champion:

Laney VanderHart from KM Equestrian riding Bob from West Texas A&M University.

High Point Crossover Rider:

Jessica Sherman from Last Lap Ranch.

Founded in 2002, the IEA has more than 10,000 middle and high school student-riders across the United States.  The IEA was organized to promote and improve the quality of equestrian competition and instruction available to middle and secondary school students. Its purpose is to set minimum standards for competition, provide information concerning the creation and development of school associated equestrian sport programs, to generally promote the common interests of safe riding instruction and competition and education on matters related to equestrian competition at the middle and secondary school levels. For more information, please view the IEA website at: www.rideiea.org.