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“He held these truths to be self-evident: that any college student should be able to participate in horse shows regardless of his or her fnancial status or riding level. So in 1967, Fairleigh Dickinson University (NJ) sophomore Robert E. “Bob” Cacchione selfessly proposed the idea of making the sport he loved available to his peers, launching the creation of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA). In 2011, by unanimous decision, the lasting impact of Cacchione’s vision has been recognized through the USEF/EQUUS Foundation Humanitarian Award.”

Quoted from IHSA press release by L.A. Pomeroy

Like many other young riders, college brought Bob Cacchione’s equestrian life to a screeching halt. His parents had one son already in college, Bob was just starting, and they still had another daughter and son at home. Bob had grown up riding with annual trips to the Garden even though his parents couldn’t afford the Medal/ Maclays. He couldn’t imagine being without horses, and the solution hit him like a bolt of lightning: a college riding club.

Bob’s brainchild resulted in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association. Over the years the IHSA would impact not just the course of his life, but also many thousands of college students.

“I started a college riding club and it was so successful,” recalls Bob. “The frst year it had 40 members, and I became the youngest faculty member in the history of the university at 18, a sophomore. I called Jack Fritz, who had a club down at the Fairleigh Dickinson, Madison campus. I said, ‘Jack, come on up – let’s compete against each other, but don’t bring horses. Just bring riders. We’ll rent horses up here by charging a small entry fee.’ That made it fair, because anyone who had a big expensive show horse at the time would automatically win. This made the playing feld a lot fairer for everybody.”

Fritz and his riders came up, the show offered six different classes and proved to be a roaring success. After a little four-inch story appeared in the Chronicle of the Horse, six colleges called Bob and said, ‘If you have another show in the spring, we’ll come.’ Several college clubs competed in Bob’s spring show and afterwards he outlined his master plan: “I told them ‘next year, you do one, you do one, you do one and I’ll do the championship show’ and the IHSA was born.”

In addition to the USEF/EQUUS Foundation Humanitarian Award, Bob was nominated for the 10th Annual Equine Industry Award, sponsored by American Horse Publications and Pfzer Animal Health. The four fnalists from the original group of 13 include: Michael Blowan of Old Friends, Certifed Horsemanship Association, Equine Land Conservation Resource, and Robert E. Cacchione, IHSA co-founder

and director. The presentation takes place at the Equine Industry Vision Award breakfast on June 17 during the AHP seminar in San Diego.

“I can’t believe the company I’m in for this Vision Award, not only the company I’m in, but also the past winners – I’m totally honored. It’s been an incredible journey,” states Bob.

The Intercollegiate Horse Show Association provides an opportunity for college students to ride, take lessons, and compete affordably, whatever their riding ability and skill level. It didn’t matter whether you’re a walk-trot, walk-trot-canter, or a Medal/ Maclay rider or even how much money you have. Bob’s vision was that everyone who had the desire to learn how to ride would be able to go into the show ring at their own level and demonstrate what they learned.

“That was my dream back then. Did I ever expect it would go coast-to-coast or international into Canada? Did I expect 370 colleges and 8,700 riders a year and still growing? No, I never expected this. I’m just mesmerized by it,” admits Bob with his usual candor.

He credits all the great people who supported IHSA and made it happen. Jack Fritz jumped into it from the beginning. Today, the board of directors includes mostly professional horse people in their own right: Cindy Ford (Skidmore), Naomi Blumenthal (Syracuse) and Peter Cashman (West Point) who earned the IHSA Lifetime Achievement Award last year. On the western side, IHSA has Ollie and Debbie Griffth at Ohio State.

For the 27th annual IHSA National Championships, 400 riders qualifed through regional, zones and semi-fnals: they will compete as individuals and on teams in Western horsemanship and reining, as well as the traditional hunter seat. The fnals took place May 5-8 at the Kentucky Horse Park, after this issue went

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