The Ontario University Equestrian Association

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The Ontario University Equestrian Association (OUEA) was officially founded in 2007 by a group of dedicated and hardworking university students.  The original goal of the organization was to offer students a way to continue riding and competing without the same financial and time commitments traditionally associated with the sport.  The OUEA was originally structured based on the Intercollegiate Horse Show Associate (IHSA) in the USA, but over time has evolved into something truly its own. Like the IHSA, the OUEA offers hunter equitation classes to riders ranging in ability, and riders compete on donated horses that they have not previously ridden. 

 

The OUEA started out with only seven member universities from south-central Ontario (Brock, McMaster, Guelph, Waterloo, Western, Laurier and Trent) and over just a few short years has grown to include schools from across Ontario and Quebec.  We currently have 19 schools involved with the OUEA, and as such have divided the organization into East, Central and West Zones.  By dividing into zones, travel times will be reduced, but more importantly, this will allow for each school to send more riders to every show.

 

Despite the organization’s rapid growth, it is still entirely run by students and relies on the kind donations from those involved in the equestrian industry.  Several students from many different member universities make up the OUEA Executive Team, and they are responsible for the overall management of the organization.  Individual shows are run by member teams, and the majority of teams each host at least one show per season. For more information on each individual team, please find their team information under our East Zone, Central Zone or West Zone pages. For more information on the students running the OUEA, please look to our Execuive Team page for individual biographies.