Varsity Equestrian is pleased to announce the inaugural Collegiate Equitation Challenge to be held at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL, on Friday, February 26, 2010, at 7 p.m. in the International Arena.

The tournament will be run in the Varsity Equestrian head-to-head format. Equitation and sale horses will be on loan from local professionals. Sixteen riders, 14 from NCAA schools and two from Florida schools, were invited to compete with selections based upon individual national rankings from the Fall 2009 season. The event will consist of eight head-to-head brackets with single elimination leading to an exciting head-to-head final. The course will be set at 3'6" with the riders competing on unfamiliar horses. Riders will have four minutes to school, two on the flat and two over fences with a maximum of four warm-up jumps. The 16 riders will compete on eight horses with the highest score of each match-up proceeding to the next round. Tournament will be single elimination.

This tournament will lead to some exciting match ups. Last year, the University of Georgia had both the leading Individual Over Fences Rider and won the Overall Varsity Equestrian National Championships. However, Maggie McAlary who will be competing on behalf of Auburn again, was determined by the judges to be the Most Valuable Rider of the Competition in April of 2009. Many riders, some new to their teams and some seasoned veterans, will be making their way to south Florida for this exciting tournament, each looking for a chance to be crowned as the first WEF Collegiate Invitational Equitation Challenge Champion.

In true collegiate spirit, bracket sheets will be available in the horse show office and at Exhibitor Services on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of Week VII, WEF Fidelity Investments Week. See if you can predict the winner.

Special thanks to Jill Townsend, Bobby Murphy, Patrick Duncan, David Burton, Michael Stone and Katherine Bellissimo.

Participating Schools
— Auburn University
— Baylor University
— Delaware State University
— Florida State University
— Kansas State University
— New Mexico State University
— Oklahoma State University
— Sacred Heart University
— South Dakota State University
— Southern Methodist University
— Texas A&M University
— Texas Christian University
— University of Georgia
— University of Miami
— University of South Carolina
— University of Tennessee Martin

For more information and to sponsor or lend a horse, please contact Jill Townsend at (561) 818-0049.