NCEA v IHSA
- Klarissa Barley
- Dec 3, 2019
- 3 min read
When it comes to colligate equestrian, there are two associations one can ride for. The National Collegiate Equestrian Association and The Intercollegiate Horse Show Association.
The West Texas A&M Equestrian competes in both, but currently the team is primarily competing in the IHSA.
Both associations compete in Western horsemanship, reining and Hunt-Seat equitation on the flat and over fences however the levels of competition differ.
Which one is a varsity sport?
The NCEA is a varsity sport. In other words this means that members of the team are student-athletes and can receive scholarships. Typically teams that compete in the IHSA are considered club-sport team and do not receive any type of financial aid.
This is were WTAMU differs from other IHSA teams. The WT Equestrian Team is governed by NCAA rules because the university funds and recognizes equestrian as a varsity sport. Other IHSA varsity teams include: Cornell, Brown and Scared Heart.
What are the levels of competition offered?
The NCEA is only offered to female athletes who represent a high skill level in equestrian. For hunt-seat these are the Maclay Medal riders and the 3'6 Junior Eq/Hunter riders. For western these riders are the AQHA Level 3 and NRHA World Champions.
(Below is an example of an NCEA Reining Pattern ridden by Kendall Woellmer)
video
The IHSA is offered to all levels of riders from the Maclay (Open) riders to the riders who have sat on a horse once. IHSA is also open to both males and females.
How do the competition formats differ?
The NCEA competition format is very different from that of the IHSA. In the NCEA, the top 5 riders from each school go head to head against each other on the same horse. The riders complete the same pattern on the same horse and whoever gets the higher score wins the point for their team. There is no induvial competition in the NCEA, every rider competes for their team. Before riders complete their pattern, they are allowed to work and get a feel of their horse for 5 minutes. Riders competing over fences are allowed to take 4 fences. In the NCEA riders are in the ring completely alone even for horsemanship and hunt-seat flat. There is no rail-work in horsemanship, instead the riders will execute a pattern that is given to them about a week prior to the show. Riders competing in hunt-seat flat will also execute a pattern in a dressage ring. In the hunt seat flat there are ten different movements that the riders are asked to show and they are scored out of 100. At the end of the day, the coaches are allowed to take home their riders score cards and read the judges comments.
(Below is an example of a flat pattern ridden by Klarissa Barley)
In the IHSA, riders are not allowed any time to warm up even in fences and reining. Riders must show in a class, similar to regular shows where they are placed 1st-6th. In each class there is one "point-rider" from each team whose point will add to their teams overall score. Riders have the chance to gain points and advance as induvial. The only time a rider is in the ring alone is in a reining pattern or jumping course. In horsemanship riders will first work on the rail, then they will be asked to complete a pattern. In hunt-seat on the flat riders work on the rail and are sometimes asked for additional testing. At the end by the day, expediters are usually allowed to ask the judge for comments on their ride.
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