TEAM BAHAMAS, the first official international IEA Team traveled to Conyers, Georgia on February 15th to participate in the first ever IEA International Invitational in conjunction with the IEA Hunt Seat Zone 4/Region 1 Regional Finals at the Georgia International Horse Park. Five riders were selected to represent Team Bahamas (a division of Equestrian Bahamasand the Bahamas Interschool Equestrian League) based on the results of Selection Trials back in December in Nassau attended by IEA Executive Director, Roxane Durant and IEA Zone Captain, Simon Towns. The five upper school riders showed off their impressive skills to the following results:Class 1i: Varsity Open Equitation O/F 2’6″ – Elle O’Brien – 6th placeClass 4i: Varsity Intermediate Equitation on the flat – Peyton Wong – 1st placeClass 2i: Varsity Open Equitation on the flat – Elle O’Brien – DNPClass 3i: Varsity Intermediate Equitation O/F 2′ – Peyton Wong – 3rd placeClass 5i: Individual JV Novice Equitation O/F – Mila Sands – 1st placeClass 6i: Individual JV Novice Equitation Flat – Mila Sands – 2nd placeClass 7i: Individual JV Beginner Equitation WTC – Maya Tilberg – 1st placeClass 8i: Individual JV Beginner Equitation Flat W/T – Nicholas Astwood – 1st place “The experience at Conyers was truly wonderful,” said Equestrian Bahamas President Catherine Ramsingh-Pierre. “On behalf of Equestrian Bahamas I would like to thank the Zone 4 Administrator, Simon Towns; Region 1 Co-Presidents Allison Gresham and Leslie Williams, and all the teams, riders and coaches who made us feel so very welcome. The entire experience was one of learning and team-building and exemplified the underlying ethos of horsemanship, sportsmanship, and the joy of riding! We hope that Equestrian Bahamas and the IEA can continue to engage in a way that will encourage the young riders of both organizations to broaden their equestrian horizons!”  IEA is grateful for our new partnership with Equestrian Bahamas and looks forward to opening up more opportunties for international teams to participate in the future.

ABOUT EQUESTRIAN BAHAMAS and BAHAMAS INTERSCHOOL EQUESTRIAN LEAGUE (BIEL)The development of BIEL by Equestrian Bahamas was officially launched in 2016 and is intended to diversify the athletic opportunities available in Bahamian schools; to act as a springboard to increase national interest in equestrian sport; and to encourage inclusive participation from young athletes in all schools, both public and private. The program is open to riders 18 years and under and is intended to introduce and expose riders to a college competition format and opportunities for college scholarships. For more information, please visit www.EquestrianBahamas.org