BRISTOL, Va. – The Intermont Equestrian at Emory & Henry College IDA and IHSA Teams will have their first competition of the 2015-16 season this weekend. The Intercollegiate Horse Show Association team is scheduled to compete at Randolph College on Saturday while the Intercollegiate Dressage Association team will show on Sunday at Virginia Tech.
The IHSA team has four competitions scheduled for this fall, including at Hollins University (Sept., Oct. 17), at Bridgewater College (Sept., Oct. 31) and the fall finale at Emory & Henry on Saturday, November 14.
IHSA is comprised of four disciplines separated into nine different levels: Walk/Trot; Beginner and Advanced Walk/Trot/Canter; Novice, Intermediate and Open Equitation on the Flat; and Novice, Intermediate and Open Equitation Over Fences.
Last year, Emory & Henry senior Morgan Sollenberger (Concord, N.C.) won the individual national championship for Novice Equitation on the Flat and was presented with the Cramer Trophy. As a team, E&H finished 9th out of 13 teams at the Zone 4-Region 2 Championships.
This fall, the IDA team will also compete in four shows, traveling to Wake Forest University (Sat., Oct. 3), Appalachian State University (Sat., Oct. 25) and hosting the final show of the fall at the Emory & Henry Equestrian Center on Saturday, November 21.
The IDA team looks to defend its back-to-back National Championships, winning the 2014 title as Virginia Intermont and the 2015 championship as Emory & Henry. IDA competitions are broken down into four levels: First, Upper Training, Lower Training and Introductory.
A year ago, Emory & Henry won all seven IDA Region H shows in which it competed and claimed the fifth IDA National Championship in program history. Junior Nick Martino (Bel Air, Md.), senior Bailey Halverson (Concord, N.C.), senior Karissa Donohue (Benson, N.C.) and sophomore Eli Worth-Jones (Abingdon, Va.) combined to win the show by one-point over Region H rival Virginia Tech. During the individual competition at IDA Nationals last spring, Halverson was the reserve champion in the Upper Training Level.
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