HUET is a member of IHSA (Intercollegiate Horse Show Association), and competes against other schools in the region. IHSA promotes competition for riders of all skill levels, who compete individually and as teams at Regional, Zone, and National levels. HUET is the president school for Zone 2, Region 4 and carries a great leadership role within the region. HUET practices/lessons take place at Count
ry Farms, in Medford New York. Coach Debbie Ritt gives the team weekly lessons and instructs them at their collegiate shows. HUET participates in around 9 shows a year on the collegiate level. Some of the members continue on to Regionals, Zones and even Nationals. When Joining HUET, the Coach will first evaluate prospective members and will discuss with them what is an appropriate competing level for them. These will be based off of Show history, ability, experience, and class standing. There is a show class for everyone ( Who have basic riding skills) since the classes that students are eligible to compete in range from Walk/trot all the way up to Open fences and Open Flat. There is also an Alumni division that is open to anyone who competed at least one year as an undergrad in college. HUET has many Alumni who currently come support HUET at shows and events and who continue to compete in Hofstra's name. All of the riders on the team are required to come to shows and compete at some point. Even if a Rider is not ready to compete, they are required to support the rest of the team. However, We do not force our riders to do anything they are not comfortable with. In IHSA, every school hosts or co-hosts a show and the host school will provide horses and the facilities for the show. At college shows, names are basically picked out of a hat and the horses that students compete on, are completely random. With out a warm up, Students than compete in their divisions and when placing 6th or higher, they will receive individual points and High point riders will receive team points for their school. When students accumulate 35 points they will then place out of their class into a higher class and qualify for regionals. IHSA is different from the typical Hunter/ Equation show, in that everything is completely random and riders do not use a familiar horse.
