IEA: Pros and cons for barn?

[ChristinaClarLuisa]

Apologies if there’s a thread, could not find it.

The barn where I ride is planning to start an IEA team. I’m just an interested bystander, but wonder about the experience of others

1. from the perspective of barn management (effort, profitability, visibility, et cetera);
2. from the perspective of boarders and other riders (who are not on the team); and
3. from the perspective of potential new riders or parental units looking for a barn.

If I was 15 I would definitely be all for it! But I am about four times that age, and do mostly dressage now (and worry about ring time:winkgrin:)

[Outdoorz]

My barn has an IEA team - a lot of girls from other barns ride in it because it’s one of only a couple in the area.

From perspective #2: I think it’s an awesome program from the just looking at it as an outsider (too old…hehehe). It has good intentions. However, it does bring a TON of people to the barn when they have practice. The lesson horses get used (don’t want to ride your own horse in practice!!) so that usually means on a Saturday or Sunday I can’t have lessons.

It’s a great way for kids without a lot of money to participate in showing and earn scholarships. You don’t need a horse, tack, etc. Just some nice clothes and some skills.

I will say, I had an assistant trainer that didn’t really like the program because she felt it was dangerous. Just the whole - getting on a horse you’ve never been on and, well, showing it. But it’s also important to not over estimate your skills. Personally, I don’t have a problem with it as long as you stay reasonable with yourself. But at the same time, I never did an IEA show, so I can’t tell you how dangerous it really is.

EDIT: Sounds like I’ve lucked out at the fact my barn doesn’t host a show. It’s hosted else where for kind of a regional show, I guess. BUT the lesson horses did attend, which was another day I couldn’t have a lesson. This would be a MUCH bigger deal if I leased a schoolie, or rode more. LUCKILY, I do not.

[hightide]

I’m an eventer, but I did do 2 years of IEA. I also was at a barn that considered IEA, so I guess I can speak from the perspective of 1 and 2.
It is a great program for the kids and can bring in some great people who might be interested in a more serious program of their own outside of IEA. But, if you’re not enjoying the program, there are definitely some cons I experienced.

It can make barns and rings CRAZY. There’s a good range of levels in IEA (which is a great thing!), but it means you’ll have anywhere from iffy w/t/c kids to solid 2’6 courses, and lessons are usually taught in groups, which gets a little crazy. At the barn I did IEA at, the team was large enough that there were 2-3 IEA lessons of 3-4 kids every night, during after work hours since kids were at school. Ring could be pretty hectic with so many people. At my IEA barn, there were also some … not so great people, which then again can happen with any horse program (it was mostly girls who were VERY competitive about IEA and could be downright nasty to others— as a boarder, this probably wouldn’t affect you).
When an IEA program came up at my boarding barn (a dressage/HJ barn with mostly older women, I was one of the few older teens), people REALLY didn’t want it. They mostly were worried about the ring being too busy, having too many people in and out of the barn (people were worried about theft, which I never really thought would be an issue). Hosting IEA shows especially pretty much shuts down the barn for the day with that number of people and the level of activity, which is unfortunate as a boarder. For my trainer, I know one issue standing in her way was the school horses. It takes a good amount of school horses and good management to run an IEA program — having horses suited to different riders, etc.

After I left that barn, I did try to look for barns without IEA programs or school horse lesson programs, but that’s all up to personal preference. I have friends who compete in AA hunter/eq all summer and still participate in IEA during the winter, because they do enjoy the program.

[jenm]

I used to board at a facility that had an IEA team and pretty much very boarder disliked it. Even though we had a large covered arena, the team would take up the entire arena during lessons but some of that was because the coach was somewhat of an asshat and many of the riders weren’t that good. Pretty much any time I dared brave the disorganization in that arena, it was a guarantee that at least one rider would come off during the lesson.

It was also a pain when they hosted shows because it took up arena space all day on weekends. It’s a big deal for us working folks who look forward to lessons on weekends.

[ChristinaClarLuisa]

Thank you jenm, hightide and Outdoorz for sharing your experiences! I am pretty much braced for more time pressure on the rings, although not looking forward to it:no:
The barn folk are very nice and I want to be supportive if I can be. I am also just interested from a business perspective. Maybe you will know the answers to some further outsider questions (I’ve looked at the IEA website.)
Do team riders HAVE to ride school horses? Is there a prohibition against riding their own?
Do team riders HAVE to take “team” lessons? So, for example, if they already lesson with the barn instructors, do they need to do more?
Is there a minimum requirement for the number of shows the team goes to?
If you host a show, is there a minimum number of school horses that have to be supplied?
Does this end up being a good source of revenue for barns, or is it mostly seen as a way to increase traffic and get one’s name out there?
Do I read correctly that the only “English” classes are Equitation? There is a note in the rulebook that the IEA Eq standards “differ” from USEF standards–what does that mean?
And finally, if you were a BM or rider involved in IEA, are there ways that the local boarders can help out (aside from staying out of the way:winkgrin:)?

Mostly none of my business, I guess it’s just my management consultant side getting engaged. Thanks for any additional info!

[BergenCtyRider]

Large Public H/J and Dressage Barn with 30ish school horses - NNJ

The barn I lesson at hosts an IEA team, and as someone who can only lesson on Saturday mornings (no exceptions), it stresses me out way more than it should, and I’m not even a boarder. They take up 3/4 of our ring, leaving me and sometimes 2-3 other lesson riders to a space about 1/2 of the size of your standard dressage arena. This doesn’t leave much room for creativity or complicated patterns for our lessons and has us constantly focused on not running into each other. As someone who pays a LOT of money for my little half an hour of therapy, it does bother me and I’m actually barn-shopping at the moment because of it.

Every now and then (and admittedly, this is really rare but it DOES happen), one of the less-experienced IEA riders will lose control of their horse or perhaps forget where their boundaries lie, and will come careening into our little space at a fast canter. I know this happens with all lessons, no matter what, but it’s specific to IEA only because there are just SO MANY people and horses of varying degrees of experience in the ring.

My barn does host one show per season and they do use almost all of our schoolies that day. I was pretty peeved when I showed up for my lesson and they had to put me on a horse that wasn’t even allowed to trot for any period of time (due to old injuries) because all of the more advanced lesson horses were in the show. Admittedly, that is MY BARN’S mess-up and not IEA’s, but just trying to give some perspective on the kinds of issues to be aware of.

Otherwise, it does seem to be a pretty cool thing to do! I’m jealous that my university didn’t take part.

[ChristinaClarLuisa]

Thanks Bergen!
One more question–I know IHSA is strictly school-affiliated (as in the college or university “owns” the program)–but it seems like IEA does not REQUIRE an affiliation with a specific high school/middle school. Is it advantageous to have formalized links with schools, or are IEA programs more successful if they draw from multiple schools?

[Outdoorz]

I don’t think IEA has ANY school affiliation, nor is there any advantage. The girls on my barns team come from MANY different ISDs, and schools within those districts so I doubt there is anything close to an affiliation with schools.

In regards to the schoolie for shows things - If you have a team and host a show you MUST provide “x number” of horses. From what I read, MANY of the teams can’t do that, so they’ll contact other barns to provide horses. Obviously, no one is going to provide their super awesome show horses so it’s really questionable as to the quality/temperament of the horse that is provided…THAT is where the dangerous part comes in.

Someone please correct me on this if I’m wrong: But I think each horse has a caregiver that is from the host team. Only they can adjust tack, warm up the horse, etc. As a competitor you only get on to show ( I think there is a short practice time allotted).

I don’t know if participation in practices is mandatory from the IEA or Barn level…same with show attendance. I doubt any student would volunteer their show horses to be used at one of these events, and during practices it’s advantageous to use a new horse, as that is the situation you’d come across at the shows.

[trubandloki]

From what I understand from the people I know that do this what you are required to attend as far as lessons depends on the team. Each team sets up their own rules for mandatory team lessons. Some teams/barns have them far more frequently than others.

I believe some barn look at having a team not so much as a way to get more revenue but a way to keep the revenue they have. If their lesson kids want to ride on a team and they do not offer one they are going to go to a different barn to join their team. A certain percentage will then leave their first barn’s lesson program and simply join the lesson program where their team is located.

[hj0519]

[QUOTE=Outdoorz;7901514]

Someone please correct me on this if I’m wrong: But I think each horse has a caregiver that is from the host team. Only they can adjust tack, warm up the horse, etc. As a competitor you only get on to show ( I think there is a short practice time allotted).
.[/QUOTE]

Each horse has a “horse holder” that holds them during the day, they may or may not be the morning warm up rider. Generally only the show stewards can adjust tack - rider/coach can only adjust stirrup length. In IEA, riders do get a 2 jump/2 lead change warm up for their over fences classes, but no warm up for flat classes.

[Jelleigh]

It’s a great way for kids without a lot of money to participate
We have an IEA team at our barn. I don’t think it is inexpensive-and I am someone who can afford it fairly comfortably. There are no fees for the horses themselves, so that is less, but the cost per class is $4 (what it costs at an AA rated show at KHP). If you go to a show on a weekend, each day counts as a separate show. If you do 2 classes each day it adds up. Some trainers charge the cost of their meals as well as their hotel (if you are traveling, which many times you are). Depending on where they stay, or you, or if the team gets rooms together…that adds up because it’s 2 nights if you’re traveling a good distance. There are meals then too. And if your team wants to do matching “team” jackets, which many do, then that can run upwards of $100. In IEA you have to do a minimum of 3 shows, max of 5 in a season. If you haven’t shown before, there are the “start up costs” of clothing…will be a few hundred dollars. It all depends on what you are looking for…I thought it would be less $ per class…there is also an initial $50 per rider to “join” I believe. There was some fee I paid to cover the trainer’s cost of joining as well, and a $15 back number fee. Practice for us was once/week for 2 hrs and yes, it tied up the barn completely!
The kids do have a lot of fun. There is a lot of comaraderie; a true team feeling though. So it just depends on what you are looking for. But I do think you need to have an understanding of the costs-because many people in our barn did not quite figure it all in…

[findeight]

My barn had a team for a season. Although all the barn team members owned their own, it was decided they should ride unfamiliar horses only since that’s all you get to compete on. It put boarders on the spot constantly having to respond to requests to loan their personal, successful local and AA level 3’+ show horses so the IEA kids could draw for them like they do at the competitions. It did tie up the school horses they ended up using for the day at the expense of non owning lesson clients.

When we hosted a show, we did not really have enough horses and, again, were put on the spot for not donating our show horses to unknown riders. When the team showed elsewhere, the shows were too far and required hotels. And, yeah, barn full of strangers when we hosted that show, most non horsey family members accompanying the riders.

I think, in some areas, it’s a great program for kids that cannot afford to own…but that’s a negative if you are thinking it would bring in more business to a barn. If you have an already existing lower level lesson barn catering to non owners with a large school program and plenty of schoolies? Yes it may well get you more lesson business on schoolies.

If you are more of a private, show oriented barn with few or no schoolies concentrating on owners or lease clients? Not likely going to drive additional business. My barn did not even pick up non owning clients for the school program as a result of having the team.

Thats just my experience as a boarder and training client in a host barn. BTW, team folded after that year, too much travel to get to shows and had to get to shows to qualify for higher level shows and awards.

YMMV.

[findeight]

[QUOTE=Jelleigh;7901574]
It’s a great way for kids without a lot of money to participate
We have an IEA team at our barn. I don’t think it is inexpensive-and I am someone who can afford it fairly comfortably. There are no fees for the horses themselves, so that is less, but the cost per class is $4 (what it costs at an AA rated show at KHP)…
.[/QUOTE]

What? Did you forget the zero for classes at a AA the KHP? $40 not $4.

[Jelleigh]

[QUOTE=findeight;7901663]
What? Did you forget the zero for classes at a AA the KHP? $40 not $4.[/QUOTE]
Haha…sorry-initially added too many zeros…then got backspace happy!
Thanks for catching it!

[Jsalem]

We have had both school teams and a farm IEA team at my farm. My experience was mixed. From a business perspective, the IEA is a big cash cow for a lesson program. When we hosted a school team, we had a nice big group of great riding kids come for lessons. Instead of adding a student here and there, you get a big group. Many of these riders rode at other local farms (even owning horses) and they were quite good. In our area, the farm can set whatever rules they wish in terms of lessons requirements, so we got a big influx of lessons into the Academy. We also hosted an IEA camp for these kids as well at the beginning of the year.

So yes, in terms of lesson business it was great. On the other hand, it puts a strain on your lesson horses. You need a certain type of horse. The team that we had needed solid 2’6" type machines for the advanced riders. I just didn’t have access to those types. Those horses are worth their weight in gold and I wasn’t comfortable with the number of miles it would put on them.

The other negative is that the schedule is tough when you already have a busy show schedule with owner clients. I didn’t make money taking these kids to the IEA shows because I was too busy with rated shows. I sent my assistant. I did not allow the team to take my lesson horses away to the shows unless they hosted. No way was I going to subject my lesson horses to that. My team (and many others in my area) rented horses.

Ultimately, I decided to focus my lesson program more on the beginner types and not try to field an IEA team. My lesson horses have what I think is a better schedule that way. They do some lunge line beginners, some walk trot lessons, a few crossrail, even fewer 2’ lessons and some hippo therapy.

I get a few of those phone calls from career once a weekers looking to “do more” and jump higher but I have a hard time providing horses for that. In my book, if you want to advance beyond the basic level, you need to have your own horse. I certainly didn’t have 3-5 of them for a big IEA team.

The IEA programs I hosted did not bring me the type of clients that I want. Ultimately, I want owners or leasers. The burden of trying to provide show quality horses for people that can’t afford more than a weekly riding lesson was too much for me.

So from my experience, it depends on what you want. If you want a big lesson program and you don’t like “owner” types, then yes, IEA is the way to go. If you’re hoping to graduate people from the lesson program into the owner program, it actually hurts your cause. Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free? If you want to, you could stay very busy teaching people who never want to own a horse. They want to jump, show, the whole nine yards- all without committing to owning.

[ChristinaClarLuisa]

Thanks for all of the insights, guys. JSalem and findeight, I now understand the business perspective better.
The “donating” boarder horses thing is definitely a nonstarter for me and, I think, most of my barn buddies…anyway, the idea of putting innocent students on my dressage ponies (and their jumpers) probably wouldn’t be too well received :winkgrin:!!
So, hmmm…the stock issue might be an issue. We are close to a few other teams so maybe travel would not be a big deal.
Not completely sure why this would be a better deal for students than going to local shows with a school horse, though.
Well, it will be interesting to see how it works out!