About Us

The Equestrian Team at USC is dedicated to achieving the highest standards in traditional equitation as well as leadership and responsibility. Our mission is to provide opportunities for students from all backgrounds to participate in riding competitions and training throughout their college experience. While everyone has different levels of experience, we are defined by our love of horses, our passion for riding, and our dedication to the team.

The team trains at Sunset Equine Farms in Shadow Hills, CA. Read more about our coach, Kathryn Burdett-Griffiths, here.

The Equestrian at USC Team has won seven Regional Championships in the last ten years and placed 11th overall at the 2009 IHSA National Finals. We have sent many riders to Regional, Zone, and National Finals individually over the years as well. Last season, we took our sixth Regional Championship and placed fourth overall at Zone Finals. Two riders went to nationals individually, one placing second overall in her division.

We compete in Zone 8 Region 2 of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association. In IHSA shows, we compete in an offshoot of the show jumping discipline called equitation, which is judged solely on the rider and how he or she navigates a technical course of jumps while maintaining a perfect position. Equitation is part of the famous American Riding System that prepares riders to compete in the highest levels of our sport such as the Olympics or International Hunter Derby Finals. What’s unique about the IHSA format is that we “catch-ride,” meaning we ride an unfamiliar horse and don’t have any warm up. This tests the rider’s ability to adapt to different types of horses and also levels the playing field so rider’s competing in IHSA don’t need to own their own horse.

IHSA Levels:

Open Fences/Flat – 2’9″ to 3′ in height, typically riders with previous experience in medals, hunters, or jumpers 3’6″ or higher.
Intermediate Fences/Flat – 2’6″ to 2’9″ in height, typically riders who have experience in the 3′ to 3’6″ hunters, jumpers, or equitation.
Novice Fences/Flat – 2′ to 2’3″ in height, any rider who has competed in a rated show but hasn’t won 6 equitation classes at 3′ is eligible for novice.
Walk Trot Canter – typically riders who have a few years of riding experience, but have never competed in a rated horse show.
Walk Trot – typically beginner riders with no more than six weeks of previous instruction.

Every year we travel the venues across Southern California and Arizona to compete against up to ten other schools which include Arizona State University, Cal Poly Pomona, University of Arizona, Cal State Fullerton, Mt. St. Antonio College, the Claremont Colleges, Chapman, University of San Diego, UCSD, UCSB and UCLA. In IHSA competition, a Walk Trot rider’s points are just as valuable as an Open rider’s points which makes IHSA team’s very encouraging groups with lots of team spirit!

Our goal every year is to qualify for IHSA National Finals as a team so we strive to support each other to be the best riders and students we can be.