Intercollegiate Horse Show Association - Divisions

Divisions

Within the IHSA, riders can compete in English riding ("hunt seat"), Western riding ("stock seat"), or both. There are 8 different levels within the English division and a total of 9 competition classes including: walk-trot; beginner and advanced walk-trot-canter; novice, intermediate, and open over fences (jumping); and novice, intermediate, and open on the flat. In English shows, the riders may choose to ride in an over fences class, a flat class, or both. In Western riding there are 6 different levels including Walk-jog, Intermediate A and B, Novice, Advanced, Open and Open Reining. Open riders can choose to do one or two classes.

The many divisions available allow riders of all levels to compete as part of an intercollegiate equestrian team. The most basic division, walk-trot/jog, is reserved for riders who have not ridden in more than 24 weeks of lessons and who have never cantered, jumped or competed in a horse show. The next division is walk-trot-canter/Intermediate A, which is further divided into a beginner and more advanced. Riders who have been riding longer than 24 weeks of lesson but who have not competed in any horse show competition or has jumped more than 18", start in beginner walk-trot-canter. Once the rider has accumulated 18 points, the rider moves on to advanced walk-trot-canter/Intermediate B. Walk-trot and walk-trot-canter are the only divisions that do not include a jumping phase for English riding.

For the English riding divisions, the novice, intermediate, and open divisions have both flat work and work over fences. Novice division jumps are set at 2’-2’3”, intermediate jumps at 2’6”-2’9”, and open jumps at 2’9”-3’. The novice courses tend to be very straight forward while the open courses require more challenging patterns such as bending lines or rollback turns.

There are 6 levels of competition for Western riders. The various level of classes range from walk-jog horsemanship to reining (a special class where the rider completes a specific pattern made up of skills such as flying lead changes, rollbacks, and a sliding stop). An Open Western rider may compete in both a horsemanship class and a reining class if one chooses, but to compete in a reining class the rider must be in the open division, or be in the Alumni division and have 6 months professional training prior to competitions.