Bringing Collegiate Competition to British Columbia and Alberta Founded in 2015, the UBC TSC Equestrian Team is a student-led, competitive hunt seat/equitation team for undergraduates at the University of British Columbia (UBC) that competes down in the United States in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA). Never heard of us?
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hat may be because we are one of only 7 Canadian universities in the IHSA, which consists of a total of 419 teams across North America and we are the only team in Western Canada. PreCOVID, we competed in Washington and Oregon State as part of Zone 8, Region 4. Simply put, the IHSA allows riders to continue their passion for the equestrian sport while at university or college. Since it is not always feasible to own a horse while at school, the IHSA supports the ability to compete by providing horses at the competitions and the competition format follows a ‘catch-riding’ system, where riders are drawn a horse, get to watch it warm up by another rider, and then will get on and walk into the show ring. The IHSA is also quite inclusive on rider ability, with the lowest level being a walk-trot class for riders who have less than 24 weeks of riding experience and with the highest level (‘Open’) for riders who have won 10 or more hunt seat equitation classes on the flat and/or 3’6” or higher at
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recognized competitions. Riders compete as an individual and as a team through a point system and schools are grouped into regions based on location. Though the IHSA offers competitions for both equitation and western disciplines, the UBC team only competes in the equitation. Because of COVID, the UBC team has been unable to compete due to travel restrictions and we are therefore hoping to establish a collegiate competition circuit for universities and colleges here in British Columbia and Alberta! This format of competition has already proven to be successful in other parts of Canada under the Ontario Collegiate Equestrian Association (OCEA) and the Atlantic Intercollegiate Equestrian League (AIEL), which combined host competitions for 24 equestrian teams! Inspired by their success and the success of the IHSA, we are hoping to establish a Western Canada Collegiate Equestrian Association (WCCEA) that will be a horse show management organization supporting undergraduate teams across British Columbia and Alberta. Horse Council British Columbia and the Alberta Equestrian Federation have already expressed their support for the organization. Collegiate riding is not only a great way to further develop and test one’s riding skills and abilities and an amazing way to meet friends, but it is also a unique way to offer a more affordable and accessible way to learn and continue to ride and compete while pursuing post-secondary education. It also is a great way to bring the riding community together across barns, schools, regions, and the larger equestrian community as a whole. The UBC team is looking for undergraduate riders who are motivated to start an equestrian team at their university/college. If you or someone you know is an equestrian attending university/ college in British Columbia or Alberta, please email wccea@outlook. com to find out more and get in touch. Or see us on Facebook and Instagram (@wcceaeq)
