LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College equestrian squad will host its first home show with the FSC IHSA Hunt Seat Show Saturday, Feb. 18, at the English Oaks Equestrian Center in Lakeland, Fla.
FSC IHSA Hunt Seat Show
Date – Feb. 18
Times – The show will begin at 9 a.m. and extend throughout the day
Location – English Oaks Equestrian Center, 4815 Medulla Rd, Lakeland, Fla. 33811
Spectator Note – Admission is free with on-site parking available. Concessions will be available for purchasing meals, snacks, and drinks. Bring your own lawn chair to relax during the day's rides.
Florida Southern equestrian will host its first show and feature 13 teams and 182 rides throughout the day's events. The Mocs finished a two-day show at SCAD last weekend in which they finished fourth out of 13 teams, the best finish in the club's history. Another first for the Mocs is a full roster this year that has contributed to great finishes this season throughout the show's divisions and classes.
"We are excited to host the team's first IHSA show here in Lakeland," said head coach
Shannon Morrell and owner of the English Oaks Equestrian Center. "We have a great lineup on our roster, and we continue to improve each show. With Regionals and Zone Championships soon, we hope to qualify more riders over our next few shows."
Event Divisions
Riders compete in different divisions that are assigned to a horse that they have never ridden before. With no warmup, the riders will take part of different disciplines such as Flat and over Fences in their respective experience division. The divisions include introductory, novice, Limit, Intermediate, Open, and Alumni.
The events and rides at FSC's show this weekend will help earn points for riders in an effort to qualify for IHSA post-season competition.
Participating Teams
FSC's show will feature 182 rides from 13 teams: Ava Maria, Florida Atlantic, SCAD, Florida Southern, Florida State, Keiser, Palm Beach Atlantic, Tampa, South Florida, Florida, Miami, UCF, and Stetson.
Program History
Florida Southern is a school club with membership to the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) with show season from August through May, culminating in regional, zone, and national championship competitions. Mocs debuted the club sport on October 22, 2016, under coach Morrell, and are part of Zone 5/Region 5 featuring schools such as the University of Florida, University of Central Florida, and SCAD. The Mocs have continued to build their roster over the last few years and improved each season. In its second year of existence, Mocs sent EmilyShoaff and Shona Whitfield to the program's first appearance at the 2018 Zone 5 Championships in a year where Equestrian was sixth of 15 teams at regionals. During the 2021-22 season, Florida Southern had one of its best years yet, sending
Kailey Fuchs and
Katie Portu to the IHSA Zone 5 Championship after ninth place overall out of 13 teams in the IHSA Regional Championships.
About English Oaks
The English Oaks Equestrian Center is home to Florida Southern College equestrian club. The center has boarding, leasing, lessons, and sales specializing in Hunter/Jumper and Dressage. For prospective athletes interested in joining Florida Southern Equestrian or in lessons, please contact head coach
Shannon Morrell.
About the IHSA
The mission of the 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 format fairly tests the horsemanship of the athletes. Divisions range from Beginner to the Open Division for the more experienced riders.
For more information about the IHSA, please visit
https://www.ihsainc.com/home
