There’s plenty of good news about intercollegiate equestrian programs, with new teams getting involved and national championship season now underway.

In California, UC Davis added a National Collegiate Athletic Association equestrian team to its already strong roster of women’s sports. The UC Davis Aggies will compete under the governance of the National Collegiate Equestrian Association.

“A unique aspect of the equestrian team will be its partnership with the School of Veterinary Medicine and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences – both regarded as world-leaders in teaching and research in their respective fields,” UC Davis’s release noted. The university is home to world-renowned veterinary and agricultural schools and is currently conducting a capital campaign to build a state-of-the-art equine performance center.

“The equestrian center has been part of UC Davis since 1962, and the addition of a varsity equestrian team will further enhance what the program and facility are able to offer to our students,” said Deb Johnson, the director of Campus Recreation, the organization that manages the UC Davis Equestrian Center.

The NCEA also welcomed three new teams at its 2018 National Championship, which took place in Waco, Tex., April 18-21. Sweet Briar College, West Texas A&M, and University of Minnesota-Crookston competed in the equitation on the flat and equitation over fences divisions, while Minnesota Crookston and West Texas A&M also fielded riders for horsemanship and reining.

Meanwhile, the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association is gearing up for the 2018 IHSA National Championships on May 3-6 in Harrisburg, Penn., where teams will compete in hunter seat equitation on the flat and over fences, as well as Western horsemanship and reining. The event will draw 450 young equestrians from all divisions, from walk-trot to open competition, who have qualified to reach Nationals. The championships include team, individual, and alumni championship titles and feature the USEF/Cacchione Cup and the American Quarter Horse Association Western High Point Rider trophies.

At the American National Riding Commission National Intercollegiate Equitation Championship, which took place April 13-15 at the Frying Pan Farm Park Equestrian Center in Herndon, Va., Savannah College of Art and Design’s equestrian team won the national team division for the fourth time in five years. In the novice division, the University of Virginia was tops, with SCAD—the only equestrian team of its kind at an art and design university—a close second for reserve championship honors. The SCAD team now heads to the 2018 IHSA National Championships, where they are three-time champions and will attempt to defend their 2017 team title.