Junior Equestrian Festival Oct 9-11, 2015, Westport, Connecticut

The inaugural Junior Equestrian Festival (JEF) Hunt Seat Horse Show will be held October 9-11, 2015 at the Fairfield County Hunt Club in Westport, Connecticut.

Have you heard of the College Preparatory Invitational (CPI) Horse Show held every spring in Wellington, Florida that gives high school equestrians an opportunity to compete in front of collegiate coaches? Well now the northern area of the country has its own version of this competition: the Junior Equestrian Festival (JEF) in Westport, Connecticut.

JEF Horse Show
The Junior Equestrian Festival is a two-day event organized to provide riders in grades 9-12 the opportunity to compete in front of college coaches and representatives. Competitors will draw a horse at random to compete in equitation on the flat and equitation over fences against other riders at a similar skill level.

JEF College Fair
Colleges and Universities nationwide will be invited to the JEF Horse Show to watch the riders compete. Riders will also be able to meet with college coaches one on one to discuss equestrian team and scholarship opportunities.

JEF Scholarships
A wide variety of scholarships will be available to JEF participants.  As an affiliate of the College Preparatory Invitational Horse Show (CPI), all scholarships provided at JEF will be administered and distributed by CPI. Here are the scholarships that JEF participants can apply for:

• CPI High Point Hunt Seat Rider
• CPI Essay Award
• The CPI Written Horsemanship Test Award
• CPI Journalistic Photo Contest
• CPI Champion of Service Award

JEF Mounted Clinic
If you think you're done once the competition is over, you've spoken with the college reps, and the scholarships have been awarded, you're sadly mistaken, because JEF is also offering a mounted clinic to a limited number of JEF participants!

The Details
The JEF Horse Show will be held in October 9-11, 2015 (that's Columbus Day weekend so it may be a school holiday for some of you) at the Fairfield County Hunt Club in Westport, Connecticut.

For more information, competition and scholarship applications, and travel details, visit the official JEF website: www.juniorequestrianfestival.com. And keep checking back as the show date approaches for updated information.

And why am I advertising the Junior Equestrian Festival on my blog you ask? Because just yesterday I signed on to be one of two stewards for this amazing event! What can I say? When my good friend, USHJA certified instructor, IEA coach, and JEF Program Director Jane DaCosta asked me to be part of this incredible opportunity for young riders, I couldn't resist.

Other members of the show committee include IEA National Steward Sue Wentzel as my stewarding partner and United States Military Academy coach Peter Cashman as JEF Horse Show Coordinator. We'll be working hard to produce an event that showcases young rider talent to college recruiters and coaches, provides scholarships, and is tons of fun! I invite all my blog reader to join us this October for the inaugural Junior Equestrian Festival.

Amanda Garner is an Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA), Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA), and Georgia Hunter Jumper Association (GHJA) steward, schooling show judge, head coach of the University of North Georgia IHSA Equestrian Team, and owner of Epiphany Farm, LLC in Dahlonega, Georgia. She is also a member of the IEA Board of Directors and the author of "A Parent's Guide to the Interscholastic Equestrian Association."

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Thanks!  --Amanda