MEDIA ALERT: IHSA National Championship Action Returns to Tryon International
MEDIA ALERT:
IHSA National Championship Action Returns to Tryon International
Purdue University will return to defend their 2025 IHSA Hunter Seat Team Championship. Photo by Winslow Photography
North America's top collegiate equestrians to compete for championship honors.
Gladys, Va. – April 29, 2026 – The 2026 Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association (IHSA) National Championship will be held May 1-3 at Tryon International’s expansive indoor complex in Mill Spring, North Carolina. The IHSA National Championship will feature hundreds of riders from across the U.S. and Canada competing at all levels of hunter seat equitation on the flat and over fences and Western divisions, including horsemanship, ranch riding and reining.
"There is nothing quite like the atmosphere at the IHSA National Championship, and Tryon is the perfect stage for it," said IHSA Executive Director Peter Cashman. "We look forward to celebrating the incredible talent of our collegiate athletes and extending our sincerest gratitude to the sponsors, volunteers, and horse providers whose generosity and dedication make this championship possible."
The IHSA athletes competed at hundreds of regular-season events, 39 Regional events, eight Zone Finals and three NRHA Western Semi-Finals to qualify for the IHSA National Championship. Riders will vie for team and individual championships, including the coveted USHJA (United States Hunter Jumper Association) / IHSA Hunter Seat High-Point Rider, Presenting the Cacchione Cup, and the Back on Track Western High-Point Rider honors.
Both the 2025 Hunter Seat Champion Team, Purdue University, and the 2025 Horse & Rider Western Champion Team, Black Hawk College, have qualified to defend their titles. In addition, Alex Alston from Savannah College of Art and Design returns for his second chance to hoist the Cacchione Cup in the coveted USHJA-sponsored Hunter Seat High-Point Rider class after his win in 2025.
Black Hawk College will return to defend their 2025 IHSA Horse & Rider Western Team Championship, presented by APHA. Photo by Winslow Photography
IHSA will be making history with Mississippi State’s Western Team making its first-ever appearance at the IHSA National Championship. Colorado State University’s Hunter Seat Team qualified for the first time in eight years, and the University of Rhode Island’s Hunter Seat Team qualified for the first time since 2017 after winning their debut championship of Zone 1. Miami University (Ohio) qualified both its hunter seat and Western squads, with the Western team qualifying after a 20-year absence. The Stanford University Team qualified again after 19 consecutive Zone Championships.
All participating IHSA teams will march in the IHSA Parade of Teams at around 6 p.m. before the Tryon Spring IHSA National Grand Prix on Saturday, May 2 at 7 p.m. in Tryon Stadium Ring 5.
Alex Alston, Savannah College of Art and Design, will try for a second championship of the USHJA Hunter Seat High-Point Rider, presenting the Cacchione Cup. A top national U25 rider, Alston will also compete in the Tryon Spring $75,000 IHSA National Grand Prix on Saturday night. Photo by Winslow Photography
Esteemed judges to officiate.
The hunter seat judges include Heide Bossow-Casciaro, from Woodstock, Illinois, and Kat Demas Mulkey, from Talking Rock, Georgia. A two-time Cacchione Cup champion at Hollins College (now University) in 1985 and 1987, Bossow-Casciaro won the Illinois Hunter Jumper Association Junior Medal Finals at just 10 years old. She headed to Hollins after her junior years, served as riding club president and competed at IHSA Nationals all four years.
After graduating, she returned to the Midwest to establish Tievoli Farm in Woodstock, Illinois. An “R”- rated USEF judge in Hunters, Equitation and Jumpers, she has officiated at USEF Pony Finals, HITS Ocala, Pin Oak and many other prestigious events. She remains active in the industry as a past president and current board member of the Illinois Hunter Jumper Association and serves on the advisory board of the U.S. Equestrian Trainers Association.
Mulkey is an “R” judge with USEF in Hunters/Hunter Seat Equitation/ Hunter Breeding and Jumpers, and she judges 30+ weeks per year across the country. She owned, managed and trained out of Four Seasons Farm in Madison, Georgia, from 2000 to 2021. She has been a professional trainer for 31 years and continues to develop many students and horses who successfully compete at the National, Zone and Regional levels. She coached the nationally-ranked University of Georgia Equestrian Team from 1995 to 1999. She has been a USHJA Certified Trainer since 2009 and an ASEA Senior Certified Equine Appraiser since 1995.
Since 2021, Mulkey has shifted her career to judging, giving clinics and volunteering in the industry. Mulkey is active in governance and giving back to the sport. For the USHJA, Mulkey is Chair of the Zone 4 Committee and is a member of the Emerging Athletes Program Committee, the Zone Council and the Affiliate Council. She is on the newly formed Advisory Board of the United States Equestrian Trainers Association, and she serves locally on the Georgia Hunter Jumper Association Board.
Hunter seat judges are Heide Bossow-Casciaro (photo courtesy of Bossow-Casciaro)
Kat Demas Mulkey, (photo by Alison Hartwell)
The 2026 IHSA Nationals Western judges are Gretchen Mathes from Harwinton, Connecticut, and Holly Hover from Cave Creek, Arizona. Mathes is the owner and manager of Powder Brook Farm and holds judging cards with AQHA (American Quarter Horse Association), NSBA (National Snaffle Bit Association) and WCHA (World Cutting Horse Association). She has judged at every major show in the country, including numerous overseas assignments. In 2007, Mathes was named AQHA Professional Horsewoman of the Year, and in 2017, she was named Most Valuable Professional by the Professional Horseman’s Committee. Mathes serves on the Judges Committee and Professional Horseman’s Committee for AQHA and is the Director Emeritus for Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Hover is an AQHA judge and a multiple World and Congress Champion trainer. In 2015, AQHA named Hover the Most Valuable Professional, and in 2017, she was named Professional Horsewoman of the Year. She has more than three decades of judging experience, including officiating at multiple AQHA World Shows and holds cards with AQHA, APHA (American Paint Horse Association), NSBA and NRHA (National Reining Horse Association). Hover serves on several AQHA committees. She conducts clinics around the globe and served as the Western head coach for the Arizona State University Equestrian Team.
Western judges are Gretchen Mathes (photo courtesy of Mathes)
Holly Hover (photo courtesy of Hover)
Additional honors to be presented.
In addition to the prestigious competition, on Friday, May 1 at 8:15 a.m., the IHSA will induct eight new members into its Hall of Fame, comprised of founders, coaches, riders and horses. The Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Bryan Bradley, will be honored, and a Pioneer Award recipient will be announced. On Saturday, May 2, two inaugural IHSA Coach Education Grant winners will be named. On Sunday, May 3, at 8:15 a.m., the AQHA-sponsored Trot to Tryon program winners will be announced, followed by the announcement of the winners of the IHSA Team Challenge, sponsored by USHJA. Then, for the Inaugural Quiet Champion Award, presented by B.J. Ehrhardt, honorees will be named.
The 2026 IHSA National Championship will take place May 1-3 at Tryon International in Mill Spring, North Carolina. For more information on schedules, results, and live coverage, visit RIDEIHSA.org or check the links below.
Watch the Livestream on Horse & Country:
For those unable to attend in person, IHSA's Official Media Partner, Horse & Country TV, will capture all the action. Watch it here.
FAST FACTS
What: Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association National Championship, including individual and team championships.
When: May 1-3
Time: 8 a.m.- 6 p.m.
Where: Tryon International Indoor Complex
Address: 25 International Blvd, Mill Spring, North Carolina 28756
Media Contact: Carrie Wirth, EQ Media, 612-209-0310, carrie@EQmedia.agency
