CANTON — Fourteen riders from the Evermore Farm Interscholastic Equestrian team competed in their first Interscholastic Equestrian Association horse show hosted by St. Francis High School and held at Sonora Farm in Canton.

Coaches Elise Wolpert, Lynn Beasley and Eleanor Ellis were pleased with the performance put forth by their students.

The IEA format is based on the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association model and tests rider’s skills by providing them with a horse at the horse show. Riders have never ridden the horse before and choose their horse in a draw.

The IEA splits students into two divisions based on age and experience. The first division is the Futures division and is made up of students in middle school. The second division is the high school division which is further split based on rider experience into junior varsity and varsity divisions.

The Evermore Farm Futures team placed second overall out of ten teams competing. Lauren Thompson from Guyton took second in future novice on the flat. The Evermore Farm high school team placed third overall out of 10 teams competing.

“We are very pleased with this first outing,” said IEA coach Elise Wolpert. “Evermore Farm is able to offer over 30 school horses for team practice. This enables us to have our team well prepared to meet the unique challenge of riding new horses by providing students with a variety of riding experiences before the horse show,” Wolpert said.

The arrangement of the IEA show fosters more of a team atmosphere than a regular horse show. Riders were cheering on their teammates all day and were enthusiastic about the team’s performance.

“This is awesome,” said Future team member Lauren Thompson of Guyton.

Tryouts were held in the fall and there are 18 members of the team from area middle and high schools. New riders are still being accepted. For more information, visit www.evermorefarm.net.

Evermore Farm will be hosting an IEA Horse on Jan. 26.