Start an IHSA Team at Your College or University

How Three Teams Were Born and Reborn

Gladys, VA – Sept. 4, 2026 – The school year is kicking off, and it is not too late to start an Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) program at your college or university. Starting an IHSA program provides any college student the opportunity to compete on a hunter seat or Western team. All genders and riding levels can participate. Most importantly, being a member of IHSA is a way to connect to other students through your love of horses while building friendships that last a lifetime.

The first steps to starting an IHSA team are to locate your IHSA Zone and contact the Zone Chair to determine which Region you would join. The Regional President is the greatest resource for learning about the IHSA and how to get a team up and running. You should contact your college or university and inform them of your intentions. Depending on your college or university, you may work through the school’s athletic department, recreation/club sports or equine-related academic department. Find an adviser, a coach and a facility. Then, recruit team members.

“I was heartbroken from selling my horse when I left for college,” said Melisse Mossy, founder of the University of Southern California (USC) IHSA team. “I sent away for information (before the Internet) and waited anxiously for the packet that would tell me how to start a team to be part of the IHSA.”

Mossy set up a table at the USC mall and recruited enough members at every level for hunter seat and Western teams. She approached a well-known facility and found a coach. They agreed and offered to discount the lessons. The USC Team now competes in IHSA Zone 8, Region 2 out of Sunset Equine Farms, coached by Kathryn Griffiths.

“To me, being a part of USC Equestrian was being a part of something bigger,” Mossy said. “It’s a team at all different levels, all with different gifts – a diversity that makes you strong. It’s about friendships and memories, trying something new and working hard to achieve the results. Founding the USC Equestrian Team changed my life.”

The Mount Holyoke College Equestrian Program has long been known for its legendary Intercollegiate Coaching and Varsity Hunter Seat Team Coach C.J. Law, its impressive equestrian facilities with three IHSA Hunter Seat team national championships and numerous individual national titles.

In 2007, a group of Mount Holyoke students formed an informal Western club, working out of Heritage Farm with David Raucher. As the club grew, Mount Holyoke recognized its potential and, in 2010, invested in the program by hiring coach Kelli Wainscott. The team began cross-training some of Mount Holyoke’s existing horses and sought out new Western horse donations to build out the program.

“I would call myself a member of the first official year of the club,” said Haley Nemeth, a 2012 graduate who now works in the aerospace industry. “I came in before there were any tryouts. You could just sign up and start participating. That was the first year that Mount Holyoke hired Kelli Wainscott.”

Nemeth had been riding dressage at Mount Holyoke, but had grown up competing in both English and Western divisions at local county fairs.

“I decided to go into the Western team,” Nemeth said. “It was like going back into old roots, and it was just very, very fun. It started as a fun little club and grew very quickly into a very well-established team. During my time there, we competed at Western Semi-Finals. In my final year, the Mount Holyoke Western team had become a real force to be reckoned with.”

Looking back, Nemeth counts her years on the Mount Holyoke Western Team among the best times of her life. “It started out as the alternative team, and then we got pretty darn good,” she said. ”It’s the underdog story that I got to actually live. I’ll be forever grateful for it. I can’t say enough positive things about my experience.”

A more recent example shows that starting an IHSA team is just as achievable today as in years past. At Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, students Reilly Clapper, Ava Escobar and Emma Hatfield resurrected the school’s Covid-halted equestrian program, rebuilding it from scratch during the 2023-24 academic year into a thriving IHSA team.

“We all filled out a form before we came, and it was supposed to help group us with people who had similar interests,” Escobar said. “I guess we all wrote something about horses.”

The idea took root during the trio’s first week of freshman year, and their persistence turned it into a reality. Within a short time, the reformed team grew to 14 riders with access to more than a half dozen horses and joined IHSA competition in Zone 4, facing schools such as Liberty University, Sweet Briar College and The College of William & Mary.

Escobar, whose parents met as members of the Longwood equestrian team, helped lead the push to relaunch the program’s hunter-jumper tradition, while the founding trio navigated the same fundamentals recommended to any group starting a team: finding an adviser, securing a coach and facility, and recruiting riders across skill levels. In its second year of competition under coach Ella Eavers, several Longwood riders qualified for IHSA Regionals — proof that a small, determined student group can build a competitive program in a short amount of time.

LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW TO START AN IHSA TEAM

ABOUT IHSA
The Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) welcomes all genders at a range of riding levels and offers individual and team competition in hunter seat equitation, Western horsemanship, ranch riding and reining at more than 360 member colleges and universities. Membership in IHSA allows college students to participate in horse shows regardless of their experience or financial status. Students compete from beginner through advanced with suitable, provided horses, eliminating the expense of horse ownership.

Founded in 1967 by Bob Cacchione, it is the oldest and largest intercollegiate equestrian organization with 7,500 members in 47 states and Canada. IHSA college and university team participation is represented through a variety of programs, including varsity athletics, academic departments and club sports. IHSA offers valuable hands-on experience and professional development in multiple facets of the equine industry. Many IHSA teams participate in service projects, giving back to their communities. Through the IHSA, students enhance their college experience and develop the tools that help build successful careers.

For more information, go to RideIHSA.org or contact media@RideIHSA.org.