IHSA
The mission of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) is to provide equestrian competition for all college and university students regardless of riding level, gender, race, sexual orientation or financial status. The IHSA is dedicated to promoting sportsmanship, horsemanship and academic excellence.
IHSA welcomes beginners through advanced riders in the hunter and Western disciplines to compete individually or on a team. Men and women compete with and against each other.
IHSA eliminates the expenses of horse ownership. Horses are furnished by host colleges and are chosen by drawing lots. The use of personal tack is not allowed and schooling is not permitted. The format fairly tests the horsemanship of the athletes. Divisions range from Beginner to the Open Division for the more experienced riders.
More information can be found at https://www.ihsainc.com
JMU IHSA:
Zone IV, Region II
Coach: Carly Stirewalt
Carly grew up in New Paltz, NY. The majority of her riding and horsemanship instruction came from Susan and Gary Clark of Lucky C Stables. At Lucky C, she had many successes with her personal horses as well as success on the IEA team, where she competed at nationals every year of high school both on the team and as an individual finalist. She was the recipient of the Victor Hugo-Vidal Sportsmanship award in 2017.
After high school, Carly attended Randolph College where she competed on the IHSA team. She was also a member of the winning ODAC Conference Team in 2018, and was named Randolph College’s Rookie of the Year. After the unfortunate closure of the Randolph College Riding Center, she attended Skidmore College and was a member of the IHSA team under head coach, Belinda Colgan.
While COVID-19 cut her college riding career very short, she is excited to be back in IHSA shows as an assistant coach. Aside from collegiate riding, Carly has worked for professionals such as Jennifer Alfano, The Willard Family, and Timothy Hooker.
She is thrilled to be back at JBS (where she also spent two summers as a working student) full-time and enjoys working with all of the JMU students!
2023-2024 IHSA Team
