The NCAA sport of equestrian would like to announce the Second Varsity Equestrian Championship to be held Friday, April 18, at Texas A & M University's Dick Freeman Arena in College Station, TX.

Female student-athletes from NCAA Division I and II equestrian programs have qualified to compete in Hunter Seat Over Fences, Hunter Seat Under Saddle, Western Horsemanship and Reining classes at the Varsity Equestrian Championship. Riders from Kansas State University, Auburn University, Texas A & M University, University of South Carolina, Stonehill College, Brown University, West Texas A & M University, California State University - Fresno State, Sacred Heart University, Pace University and Oklahoma State University will compete for the Hunt Seat Team Championship, the Western Team Championship and the Overall Team Championship. Please contact the Texas A & M Equestrian Team coach at 979-845-1094 for more information on attending the event.

Currently, Equestrian is a NCAA emerging sport. The NCAA defines an emerging sport as; "a sport recognized by the NCAA that is intended to provide additional athletics opportunities to female student-athletes." For more information about equestrian and the NCAA please contact Andrea Ice, Assistant Director, NGB Services, at 859-225-6977 or via email at aice@equestrian.org.

For more information, please contact Sarah Holt, Public Relations on (859) 225 6974 or via email at sholt@equestrian.org. USA Equestrian press releases are available on our web site - http://www.equestrian.org/ .

USA Equestrian Inc., as the National Equestrian Federation of the U.S., is the regulatory body for the Olympic and World Championship sports of dressage, driving, endurance, eventing, reining, show jumping, and vaulting, as well as 19 other breeds and disciplines of equestrian competition. As the country's largest multi-breed organization, the Federation has over 80,000 members and recognizes more than 2,800 competitions nationwide each year. It governs all aspects of competition, including educating and licensing all judges, stewards, and technical delegates who officiate at these shows.

VISION STATEMENT
The vision of USA Equestrian is to provide leadership for equestrian sport in the United States of America, promoting the pursuit of excellence from the grass roots to the Olympic Games, based on a foundation of fair, safe competition and the welfare of its horses, and embracing this vision, to be the best national equestrian federation in the world.