In only its second year of existence, UW-RF's IHSA is the largest in its region, with 102 members. This year it's settled down. Senior marketing communications major Lucy Kolba agrees that things are much different this year. In fact, teams are very friendly with one another. She said students at UW-RF made arrangements to have IHSA members from Iowa State University stay in residence halls to eliminate hotel costs.
Students compete in three types of classes.
The majority of classes are flat classes, in which competitors ride horses around the arena at various speeds and are judged on their ability as a rider. In hunter over fences, riders must jump horses over a course set up by the host school. Riders in each class do not know what horse they will ride until a few minutes before they enter the arena. A show official holds a lottery, where each competitor draws a poker chip out of a box. A horse's name is written on the chip and that is the horse the riders gets.