IHSA Featured Riders

Victoria DeFeo graduated in the fall of 2024 from UCF with her bachelor's in biomedical sciences. She competed in Limit Equitation on the Flat and Over Fences while on the hunter seat team and qualified for Regionals in March 2025.

“My favorite aspects about IHSA are undeniably my coach, the lifelong equestrian friends I have made, and of course getting the experience to ride new horses every show!” De Feo said.

“I cannot remember a time in my life without horses, having ridden since I was 5,” she said.

De Feo competed in IEA throughout middle and high school. So, when she learned University of Central Florida had an IHSA team, she knew she had to try out.

“That decision ended up being one of the best choices of my college career," she said. "IHSA not only let me return to something I loved, but it also introduced me to Lesli Isaacson, our incredible coach and Region 5 president, as well as the amazing teammates I ride and compete with. There is no better feeling than being surrounded by people that continuously support you while pursuing something you are passionate about and having a coach who teaches invaluable lessons both in and out of the saddle"

DeFeo says that most importantly, IHSA has taught her that it is not the ribbon’s color that matters, but the experiences, horses and people you meet along the way that make the journey so meaningful.

“I truly would not be the confident and resilient person I am today without this program.”

Kenleigh Davis is an Equine Science major who has competed in the IHSA for all four years at Murray State University. This year, she is serving as Murray State University Western Team captain while competing in Level Two Horsemanship and Ranch Riding. She is also a four-year Murray State University Hunter Seat Team member. Kenleigh works at the University barn caring for the horses and just completed an internship with a well-known reining trainer. Kenleigh says, “I like to tell people not to be afraid of putting in the work to get what they want. The world is tough; you just have to learn and work every day to be tougher!“

I am a Junior animal science pre-vet major at West Texas A&M University. Growing up, I had lots of experience working with horses but never much in the show world. The opportunities that the IHSA gives to students is extremely worthwhile. It has opened doors for me that I didn’t think were possible before entering the collegiate show world. The connections and friendships made are something that I will take with me forever.

Radha Shinde is from Edison, N.J., majoring in Finance and Business Analytics and Information Technology at Rutgers University. She will graduate in May 2022. She competes in the Novice classes.  

“IHSA has given me a sense of leadership and community. Since freshman year, I have been on my executive board, so I have been dedicated to our team since the beginning. My favorite part of IHSA has been meeting all the amazing riders that I now call my best friends and my coach, Kelly Francfort that has helped me build confidence in the show ring. I have learned a lot during my time on my team and I am forever grateful."

My name is Kaylee Tingle and I am a junior at Midway University. I plan to graduate in the spring of 2023. I grew up in Henry County, Kentucky, where I participated in a variety of sports during high school. I have been riding Quarter Horses and showing competively in the AQHA circuit since I was 9 years old. I joined the Midway University Equestrian Western team as a freshman and have gained lots of diverse riding experiences.

Showing in the IHSA has helped me become the rider I am today. IHSA has given me the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends. I have made so many memories and I have been very successful competing in IHSA, but none of this would be possible without the help and support from my teammates and my coach, Conner Smith. My favorite IHSA memory was being apart of Midway’s Western team region win in 2019-2020. Although every IHSA show with my team is very memorable, winning the region has to be my favorite! 

Favorite Thing about the IHSA
Catch riding all types of horses—you never know what horse you'll get! Discussing how to best ride each horse and getting advice from all my teammates early in the morning of a show always leaves me feeling reassured and ready. Also having my teammates and coaches cheer ringside as placings are called makes me feel like a valued member of our team and IHSA as a whole.

How has IHSA enhanced your college experience?
I have been on the Wisconsin Equestrian Team since my first semester of freshman year. I have served on the executive board since then and loved it—I am dedicated to my teammates, coaches, and horses. College would be a much tougher experience if I did not have the barn and horses to escape to on a weekly basis. IHSA has let me be a part of a group of people that are constantly encouraging growth and supporting me inside and outside of the ring, and I am so grateful for that.

Hannah Jones is from New Castle, Pennsylvania, and competes on the Hollins University team in the Novice division. A member of the class of 2022, she is majoring in biology with a chemistry minor.

“I love being able to ride all kinds of really well-trained horses and being able to show them in an environment that encourages the growth of all levels of rider.

“Being a part of a team has introduced me to a new community of like-minded people from all over the country that have become some of my closest friends. Together we support each other and bond over our shared love of horses.”

I’m a sophomore at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. I compete in Intermediate Western Horsemanship and World Equestrian Center Limit Hunter on the Flat and Over Fences. I am the Team Secretary for our school. OSU is located in Zone 8 on the West Coast in region 4, where we compete against schools from Washington and British Columbia. I’m originally from Gresham, Oregon, which is just outside Portland, where I grew up riding Western. I’m majoring in Animal Science with an Equine and Beef Production option and I’m expecting to graduate spring of 2022. 

My favorite thing about IHSA is all the lifelong connections I’ve made in the horse world with equine professionals across the country and also the friends I’ve made from many different schools. It’s a wonderful showing experience that pulls in people from all walks of life whether they’ve been showing forever or just started in college. It also is a wonderful way to gain experience riding many different horses of different breeds. If it were not for the IHSA, I wouldn’t have otherwise had the opportunity. IHSA has enhanced my college experience immensely due to the head start of my career in the horse world and the relationships I have made. I want to thank IHSA because I have become a more confident rider and student because of this experience. 

I’m a senior biology major, minoring in recreation at Georgia Southern University, graduating spring 2020. I’m from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, where I grew up riding in IEA and not really ever having a horse of my own. I love the challenge of riding new horses and feel like it is a true test of horsemanship. I found out about Georgia Southern while competing at their farm for IEA and fell in love with the school. I compete in Limit Over Fences and Intermediate on the Flat. My favorite part of IHSA is the family I found. I can always depend on my teammates, in and out of the barn. I also love seeing my friends from different schools at competitions and cheering them on. IHSA has given me so many opportunities from simply continuing my riding career, to being a team officer, to being on the region ethics board. I am so grateful for this organization.

I am from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and I am studying biochemistry and math on a pre-med track. I brought my personal horses with me to school to balance studying and my love of horses. My riding background is mostly in starting young horses under saddle or riding problem horses for people, which worked well because the show ring gave me severe anxiety. Regretfully, I waited until my senior year to join the IHSA team. I love everything about it. My team is an amazing group of people who love and support me. The show environment is competitive but in a very fun and encouraging kind of way. I cannot believe how much my confidence in the ring grew through this experience. I competed in the novice hunter seat division, and I jocularly became known as the rider who looked for tight inside turns as a way to spice up the course. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it backfired, but I always had fun trying. I even made friends from other schools and looked forward to seeing them at the shows. I am overall just very thankful to all who make IHSA possible because I will never forget my season on the University of Scranton Equestrian Team.   

I am currently a Sophomore at Bloomsburg University studying Medical Laboratory Science. I am also the equestrian team’s hunter seat co-captain. I am from Benton, Pennsylvania, and I have been riding since I was 8 years old.

Before IHSA, most of my experience was in the hunter ring, however, I do enjoy dressage and cross country. When I was asked why I love IHSA, I could think of million reasons why, but it’s harder to explain your love for showing in one paragraph. I love riding in the IHSA, not only because I am able to continue riding throughout my academic career in college, but because you can learn so much about yourself as a rider. Each show and class presents a new horse and a new challenge. You learn your strengths, how to improve upon your weaknesses and even learn something you have never known. And even when you are cheering your teammates on from outside the ring, you are watching other riders with such a wide range of skills. You can never stop learning.

I am from Farmington Hills, Michigan, and I study Human Performance and Exercise Science and compete in the IHSA Open Flat and Open Fences divisions. My favorite thing about the IHSA is that I get to compete at the collegiate level and be surrounded by a team and coach that are encouraging and motivational. I think competing for the IHSA is unique because we draw a horse that we may have never ridden before. Then we compete on that horse, for the opportunity to earn points for ourselves and our team. I am also grateful for the leadership, communication and management skills that I have acquired from the collegiate riding environment. These are skills that I can use in my career.