The Team was started as a general club in the Fall of 2002 as the first Canadian intercollegiate team to join the IHSA in over a decade. It was created by then student Henna Hussain and coach Simone Williams. What started as a four member team has now grown to an average of twenty riders.

Since the Fall of 2003, the team has been a University of Ottawa Competitive Sport Club and can now use the Gee Gees name to represent it. This means that we are governed and recognized by the University's Sports Services and are able to use many of their resources, however we receive minimal funding. Most costs are covered by Player Fees and fundraising.

The Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) was developed to allow student riders of any skill level or economic background to be able to compete and succeed at their own levels of skill and experience. There are classes for everyone, from Beginner Walk-Trot to Open, in hunter equitation on the flat and over fences.

Horses
All competitors ride horses provided by the host university. This eliminates the need for competitors to have their own horses and for universities to have to ship their own horses. There is no schooling time; riders mount, adjust stirrups, and ride in before the judge. Horses are also provided for the Team's lessons by their host barn.

Proper Riding Attire
All team members are repsonsible for providing proper competition attire - tall field boots, approved helmet, black gloves, show shirt, greenish-beige breeches and a navy blue show jacket.

Points System - Team and Individual

Each ribbon is worth a point value. When a rider scores enough points to qualify for the regional championships, he/she moves to the next higher level for the remainder of the year, returning to compete at the lower level at Regionals. Top riders at Regionals advance to the Zone Championships, and top riders at Zones advance to the IHSA National Championships at each year-end.

At each show, coaches select a rider from each division to compete on behalf of their school. Those scores are totaled to select a Champion Team each show. The scores are cumulative throughout the year, and the High Point Team at the end of the last show is named the Regional Champion Team. Regional Champions advance to the Zone Championships and the top teams from Zones advanced to Nationals. Each Zone is invited to send a different number of teams to Nationals, based on the number of individual members in the Zone. Therefore, the bigger Zones enter more teams at Nationals. National team competition follows the same format, with one rider from each division representing each team against the other Zone Champion teams.

Levels of Riding