Fairfield, CT (December 2, 2016) The Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA), the oldest and largest collegiate riding organization in North America, will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its 1967 founding with special events (to be announced soon) that will be part of the 2017 IHSA National Championships, May 4-7, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. Judging the 2017 IHSA Nationals hunt seat classes are Linda Andrisani and Steve Wall.
Andrisani is USEF 'R' rated, with more than two decades of experience in the judge's stand, and is one of the best known and respected hunter judges in the country. Her horses have won numerous national titles and her sterling reputation helped produce The Judge's Eye DVD. Today she winters in Wellington, Florida and spends summers traveling and judging many of the major horse shows in North America, including the National Horse Show, Harrisburg, Washington International and Royal Winter Fair.
Wall is a USEF 'R' judge who has been involved in the horse industry for over 40 years, showing first as Junior rider in the hunter and equitation divisions. He graduated from Averett College with a BS in Horsemanship and earned a BHS Assistant Instructor degree. For three decades he operated Harmony Farms in Wisconsin and now resides in California. As a USEF R judge, he estimates that he officiates at 25 shows annually including the Penn National, Washington International and Devon. He has served on the USEF Zone 6 board for the National Hunter Jumper Council and brings to the judge's stand his perspective as a rider, trainer, owner, exhibitor, clinician and parent.
Over the next two years the IHSA and its organizing committees plan to mark both its first 50 years -- starting out as a handful of northeast teams brought together by Fairleigh-Dickinson University sophomore Bob Cacchione -- and its next 50 years as an organization annually serving more than 400 educational institutions and 10,000 college riders. The 2018 IHSA Nationals are scheduled for May 3-6 at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg.
IHSA promotes competition for full time student riders of all skill levels, who compete individually and as teams at regional to national levels based on the principle that any college student should be able to participate in horse shows regardless of financial status, gender or riding level. In 2017 IHSA celebrates the Golden 50th Anniversary of its 1967 founding by Fairleigh-Dickinson University sophomore Robert E. 'Bob' Cacchione and today serves more than 400 member institutions and 10,000 riders annually. Visit www.ihsainc.com and follow IHSA on Facebook and Instagram for more about Bob's 50th Anniversary Tour, IHSA teams, scholarships and alumni riding programs.