MARYLAND

UMET competes within the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) Hunter Seat Division. While IHSA also has a Western division, the University of Maryland does not currently have a competitive team in this discipline. 

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You do not need your own horse to compete in IHSA. IHSA operates under the idea of catch riding and the rider's ability to adapt to an unfamiliar horse. At each show, riders randomly "draw" a horse and will compete on that animal, given only a limited amount of information on it. For flat classes, there is no prep time other than adjusting stirrups/walking around outside the ring, and for over fences classes there are no warm up jumps. You are, however, able to watch the horse school and read the provided horse descriptions list to get a better idea of what your ride will or should be like.

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IHSA History

The Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association was established in 1967 by Robert Cacchione while he was an 18-year-old sophomore attending Farleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey. Cacchione developed the prototype competition program with the help of his professor and renowned horseman Jack Fritz.

 

IHSA now encompasses 40 Regions in 8 Zones with over 400 member colleges in 45 states and Canada and represents 10,000 members in hunter seat equitation, Western horsemanship, and reining. 

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For more information on IHSA, visit http://www.ihsainc.com