ABOUT
The Queen’s Equestrian Team was officially founded in 2008, and operates under Queen’s University Athletics and Recreation Clubs.
The OCEA competitions operate under a “catch riding” format, in which you will be assigned a horse provided by the hosting school by random draw. You watch the horse warm up on the flat and over fences, then the competition starts and you simply get on and go! The over fences portion is a typical hunter course (eight jumps), set at various heights for each division, then there is a flat class, with both being judged based on hunter equitation.
The OCEA comprises four divisions - Entry, Novice, Intermediate and Open, all of which are based on riding and showing experience. Riders will accumulate points in their respective divisions for both individual and team standings. To find out which division you qualify for, please check out the 'OCEA Divisons' page on our website.
We compete in the East Zone throughout the school year, with 3-4 shows per season (fall and winter semester). The competitions are a single day, typically on a Sunday. We may travel the day of the competition, or stay in a hotel the night before. The year concludes with the OCEA Finals held in March, in which the top riders from the zones are invited to compete for their division titles.
Our team consists of twenty talented riders, with five riders for each division (two CORE riders, three ALTERNATE riders). The core riders are guaranteed a ride at each competition, and the alternates are expected to fill in if a core rider cannot attend a competition, or if the competition allows for the alternate to compete. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that an alternate rider will compete during the season.
Our tryouts are hosted virtually from August to early September via Google Forms. We would prefer to see a show video and a short flatwork video if possible. We will email each individual with our final decisions in mid-September. We welcome everyone with all levels of experience to try out for the team!
