<p>IHSA is the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association. I think that the IHSA has more teams and riders. IHSA is made up mainly of club teams, I believe, but there are varsity teams that compete in the IHSA. NCAA is varsity, So you can have a varsity team that competes NCAA or (like my school) a varsity team that competes IHSA or a club team that competes IHSA. </p>
<p>The main difference other than the varsity thing is how the shows are run. In both NCAA and IHSA, you are not riding your own horse, the horse is randomly selected. In NCAA, riders are allowed a timed warm up while in IHSA you get no warm up at all. In NCAA you are only riding for the team, while in IHSA you can ride for the team and as an individual.</p>
<p>NCAA is all the same level. The jumps are (supposed to be) 3’6". At NCAA shows, there are only two teams competing. You have both over fences and flat. Riders from each team are paired up and compete against each other on the same horse. So the rider from one team will go in, do the jumping course, and receive a numerical score. The rider from the other team paired with that rider will ride that same horse over the same jumping course and will also receive a numerical score. The team whose rider receives the higher numerical score will receive a point. It’s the same format for flat. Instead of a flat class like you would have at an equitation/hunter show, you do a flat test that would be more like something you would do at a dressage show. So, same format. The riders are paired up and ride the same horse. Rider from team one goes in and does the test, receives a numerical score. Rider from team two does the same test on the same horse and receives a score. The team with the higher score gets a point. At the end of the day, the team with the most “wins” or “points” wins the show. There’s a Varsity Equestrian Championships…I don’t know much about them or qualifying for them since my team doesn’t do NCAA.</p>
<p>In IHSA, all the teams in a specific region (the country is split in different zones, which is then split into different regions) will compete all together at the shows. There are all different levels. There’s walk-trot, walk-trot-canter (both beginner and advanced), novice, intermediate, and open. Classes are run more like a regular hunter/eq show. Regular flat classes where everyone in the class goes in at the same time and competes against each other and regular over/fences classes where everyone is judged against each other. Walk-trot and walk-trot-canter only have flat classes, novice, intermediate, and open all have both jumping classes and flat classes. Novice fences are about 2’3"-2’6"ish, intermediate 2’6"-2’9"ish, and open 2’9-3’ but it really varies based on the show and the zone and the barn and how high the donated horses can jump. Generally you’ll really only see the jumps “up to height” at zone finals and national finals. In IHSA, you can ride for the team and as an individual. </p>
<p>The coach will choose a “point rider” for each class - one for walk-trot-, one for w-t-c, one for novice flat, one for novice fences, etc. The points that rider earns go towards the team totals for the day. First place gets 7, second gets 5, third gets 4, fourth gets 3, fifth gets 2, and sixth gets 1. Riders can also compete individually - so even though only eight riders are getting points for the team, other riders can be competing at the show just as individuals. Riders are placed in a division by their coach and by placement forms when they first join the team. When you compete, you are competing to qualify individually for Regional Finals. In order to qualify for Regionals in your class, you have to earn 35 points. In every division except for open, your points carry over each year. So, for me, I have 5 points in novice flat so when I start showing again in the fall, I’ll be working towards getting 30 more points to point out. In open, you need 28 points to qualify for Regionals and your points start over every year because in open there’s no division to point out into. If you qualify for Regionals, you’ll go to Regionals and compete against the other riders in your region who qualified and the top placing riders at Regionals (in my region it’s the top two) qualify for Zone Finals. At Zone Finals, the top placing riders (again, in my zone it’s top two) qualify to go on to Nationals as an individual. </p>
<p>Team wise, your team will earn points all year at the regular shows through point riders. At the end of the regular season, the team in your region with the highest total number of points will be declared Regional Champion and that qualifies them for Zones as a team. At Zones there are separate classes for team riders and individual riders and the riders your coach chooses to ride in the team classes will be competing against the riders from all the other teams in your zone that got the regional championships. Then at the end of Zones, the top placing teams (in my zone it’s top two…there are others where it’s one or three, I think) go on to Nationals as a team.</p>
<p>To do NCAA, you pretty much need to be showing in the 3’6 or higher. Kids are definitely getting recruited more and more and it’s becoming harder to get on teams. On a recent discussion on another forum I go on, someone mentioned that when they talked to the coach at an NCAA school, the coach told her that she could try out if she wanted but she wouldn’t make it because they’d be filling the empty team slots with recruits. NCAA will also have more commitment such as team workouts. But the bonus to NCAA is that the school generally pays. My team is varsity at my school (even though we compete IHSA) so the school pays for almost everything - shows, transportation, food at shows, hotel if we have to stay overnight, most of the care of the horses. We pay a lesson fee each semester…last year it was 300 in the fall and 150 in the spring, which isn’t bad at all for the horse world.</p>
<p>IHSA is going to depend. There probably isn’t as much commitment, though it really depends on the specific team. Generally you’re going to paying for shows and lessons and everything. </p>
<p>Quality of horses is really going to vary from school to school. Some IHSA schools have amazing facilities and horses, some ride at local barns and just ride the lesson horses. Some NCAA schools have really nice horses, some don’t. It really depends on the specific school and program.</p>