As the 7th annual Varsity Equestrian National Championship (VENC) quickly approaches, this becomes a great opportunity to look back at the development of the VENC championship and how quickly the sport of equestrian has grown. VENC has been held in six different locations throughout five states. Sponsorship, team involvement and format have also dramatically evolved throughout the past seven years.

The first ever VENC was hosted by the University of Florida at Fuller Partners Farm in Newberry, Fl in 2002. The format included western riders from the Open, Advanced and Intermediate Horsemanship Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) divisions and one reiner and hunter seat riders from Open, Intermediate and Novice flat and over fences IHSA divisions. Each rider competed in their respective class on a different mount, similar to the current IHSA format. With a total of 13 schools participating, champions included Hunter Seat: Georgia, Western: West Texas A&M and Overall: Texas A&M.

From Florida, VENC moved to Texas A&M in 2003. VENC progressed towards it current format with no divisions requirements on riders.  However, teams still competed on different mounts. Teams brought their three most talented riders for each of the four events: equitation over fences, equitation on the flat, horsemanship and reining classes. This was the start of VENC being double judged to ensure fairness. With 12 schools competing, winners included; Overall: Georgia, Hunter Seat: Georgia/Stonehill and Western: Oklahoma State.

In 2004, VENC was hosted by the South Eastern Conference schools of Auburn, Georgia and University of South Carolina at the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers, Ga, also the site of the 1996 Centennial Olympics.  The format remained unchanged from 2003 with 12 schools returning for competition.  However, the participant numbers for each team were increased from three to four riders for each of the events. Winners included; Overall- Georgia, Western-Oklahoma State and Hunter Seat-Georgia.

The year of 2005 moved the VENC west to the Santa Fe Horse Park in Santa Fe, New Mexico hosted by New Mexico State University. This would be the last year in which the above format would be used before moving towards the head to head, bracket format.   National Champions included Overall and Hunter Seat- South Carolina and Texas A&M for Western.

The Varsity Equestrian Steering Committee worked hard in between the 2005 and 2006 seasons to revamp the championship format. There was a strong need for teams to compete against each other on the same set of horses, allowing the judge to eliminate the horse as a factor. Scores could then be compared across horses and a point given to the higher score. As a result, a bracket format was needed along with rankings prior to championship. With this, the Varsity Equestrian developed a selection committee with appointed coaches and administrators from various university sizes and conferences as well as representation from the United States Equestrian Federation and American Quarter Horse Association. Since its induction, this committee has been charged with the dueling task of selecting and ranking teams to the VENC.

With the new format in place, New Mexico State University again hosted the 2006 VENC but this time at the Albuquerque Fair Grounds in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Approximately 40 horses were required to put on VENC with a budget nearing $40,000.  National Champions included: Western- Oklahoma State University, Hunter Seat- South Carolina and Overall: Auburn.

In 2007, the VENC moved to its current home at the Heart of Texas Fair Complex in Waco, TX and was hosted by Baylor. Because schools were required to now participate in at least 5 regular season head to head competitions to be considered for selection and many new schools had added equestrian in the previous year, there were several new teams than in previous years. Such teams making their debut included South Dakota State, Texas Christian University and University of Tennessee Martin.  This was also the first year in which 12 western teams competed for the championship.  Because of the tremendous growth the sport had experienced, VENC grew as well with 110 horses used and a budget close to $70,000. Many sponsors such as USEF, AQHA, NRHA, Adequan, Nutrena and Horse Trends helped offset the cost of the event. National championships went home with South Carolina (Hunter Seat and Overall) and Texas A&M (Western)

This year VENC will again be hosted by Baylor University at the Heart of Texas Fair Complex. New for 2008 are individual championships in each of the four events: Equitation over Fences, Equitation on the Flat, Horsemanship and Reining. The selection committee reviewed many individual statistics when selecting the top four individuals for each event. The 7th annual VENC will be held April 17-19th, 2008.

Since its induction in 2002, the VENC has evolved to an equitable and fan friendly format allowing for the best teams to advance towards a national championship.  The VENC has visited Florida, Texas, Georgia and New Mexico throughout the past 7 years. As the sport continues to grow, VENC participation numbers have increased to allow inclusion of as many participants as possible while still hosting a first class national championship event.