What is IHSA?
IHSA stands for Intercollegiate Horse Show Association. You do not have to have a horse to show!
CWU is unique in that we have the Equestrian Club and the team. The team competes in IHSA and is a subsection of the club. The club is part of the CWU Collegiate Sports Clubs which are sports that all students can participate in (if they are at least 1/2 time students with a 2.0 or above GPA). CWU has about 30 sports clubs from Archery to Wrestling.
Our team competes against other schools in Zone 8 Region 4. Zone 8 region 4 is a fancy term for the pacific north west. Other schools in our region are: Oregon State University, Washington State University, Linn Benton Community College, University of Oregon, University of Washington, Western Washington University, University of Victoria, University of British Columbia and Eastern Washington University.
Our riders compete in Western Horsemanship (equitation), Reining, Hunt Seat Equitation and Equitation Over Fences.
Just as other sports we have a regular season. Unlike other sports our season is mainly over Fall and Winter quarters, with our regional events taking place in spring when other clubs are just getting started with competitions.
IHSA horse shows are not like other horse shows.
Riders from various schools come and horses are provided by the hosting school. The horses are then drawn by the coach and this is the horse the rider will show. Riders do not warm up the horses; however, they can watch the horses being warmed up by the host school in the morning. When called to the mounting area, riders are then allowed to mount the horses and adjust their stirrups. When it's time for their class to enter the ring, horses are led into the show arena and riders show the strange (to them) horse to the best of their ability. This form of horse showing truly tests ones riding ability.
