Interscholastic Equestrian Association

Mission

To introduce students in private and public middle and secondary schools to equestrian sports, to develop understanding and appreciation of equestrian sports through organized student competitions, to provide students with organized competitive events and to provide additional equine educational opportunities. Through the IEA, students may also have the opportunity to earn scholarships towards their college education.

Who

This opportunity is available to students in grades 6 - 12.

Classes range from walk/trot/canter for first year students to the Open Division for the more experienced riders.

The IEA was founded on the principle that any middle school or high school student should be able to participate in horse shows, regardless of their financial status or riding level.

The IEA attempts to eliminate the expenses of students owning horses and allows more students to compete. Students ride horses that are furnished by the host barns.

Many school teams offer their students an opportunity to earn letter jackets and achieve other types of school recognition. In addition, last year's IEA riders were offered over $125,000 in college scholarships

This program is available to the public. Meaning, those who ride with us at Fairwin, riders from other farms in the area and even those who have never ridden before are welcomed.

More Information

For more information, membership forms and to sign up for our IEA team contact:

Shanon Bejarano at 941-234-6830 or fairwin2@msn.com.

Membership

To join the IEA the membership fee is $90.00 for the year, this is inclusive of the team and individual membership fees.

There will be 2 team lessons a month where everyone will get together and work on their riding skills as a team and meet to work on fundraising for the team members. In addition to the 2 team lessons monthly riders will either lesson 1 time per week with us at Fairwin or be required to have 1 lesson per week with the farm they are currently affiliated with.

Riding lessons at Fairwin are $65.00 for 1 lesson per week or $100.00 for 2 lessons per week. The team lessons will be $50.00 each.

Shows

We will attend 4 weekends which includes 8 shows in total between October and February 5th 2013. This allows 8 chances for the team and individuals to accumulate points toward Regionals. Each individual rider is allowed to participate in up to 5 shows but in no less than 3 shows. So each rider will show 3 times and if they have not accumulated their 15 points toward Regionals they will have the opportunity to attend 2 additional shows to try. So it is probable that each rider will only attend 2 weekends and be qualified for Regionals.

The cost for each show will total $210.00 per student. This amount is for the total cost of the show, horse use and training. Over night accommodations are in addition to the show cost. The cost for overnight stay during the horse shows will be split between team members. The team will room together at the shows when it is too far to drive back and forth. The cost for the accommodations will be no more than $30.00 per rider per evening spent. Parents are encouraged to attend the shows as a positive support system for the riders but they are not required to do so.