This year’s IHSA National Championship welcomed two highly-respected hunter seat judges, Michael Tokaruk and Joyce Przebowski, to the Horseware Ireland Hunter Seat Arena. While both are familiar with the IHSA format, 2025 marks their first time judging the National Championship. We caught up with them during the competition at Tryon International Equestrian Center to get their impressions of the event, their thoughts on the level of competition, and what makes judging IHSA so unique.
Is this your first time judging the IHSA National Championship?
JP: I judge IHSA a lot. But this is the first time I've done the Nationals.
MT: I rode in the IHSA when I went to Drew University during my first two years of school. So, I am familiar with the IHSA. Over the years, I've taught a few of my students who have competed in IHSA. It's come a long way from when I was in school to now, and I'm very impressed. I think it's a credit to the organization and a lot of hard work that a lot of people have put into it. It just shows the demand for riding at an accessible level, in college, and to bring people in who are beginners or maybe don't have the means to show at the A-circuit level. Being part of a team and coming to the Nationals is a pretty awesome thing.
What do you think of the show so far?
JP: The riders are very good. They're very comparable. The horses have been wonderful.
MT: Yeah. I think it's been a very strong competition overall. I agree with Joyce. I think the divisions are very fairly matched. There's not, uh, a lot to separate them. That's why you've seen us testing a lot to sort through the subtle differences between some of the riders and the placings. The courses have been very fair. The riders have answered the questions and it's a strong group of horses. So, it's made our jobs difficult as judges, but that's a good thing.
Hats off to the IHSA for putting on such a wonderful event. We've been very impressed.
Have you judged at this venue before?
JP: I have not.
MT: I haven't either. I've shown here in Tryon, but I've never actually judged at Tryon before. What a perfect spot to do it (the IHSA National Championship)! What a great facility.
It's great to have the Western and the English under one roof. It seems like a rain shower blows through every day, but we can keep going and stay nice and dry in here. Billy (Yeager) and his crew are putting on a top-notch event, and I'm happy to be a part of it.
Are there any challenges to judging this format compared to a typical horse show
MT: You have to take into consideration that the riders don't ride these horses. But for the most part, the horses have been wonderful. I have to tell you, I'm very impressed.
JP: This is a group I can't say I've ever seen or judged. So in a lot of ways that's good because we're a fresh set of eyes.
MT: It's as impartial as it gets with the IHSA. They don't announce the riders' names, just their numbers. So, I can't say I've got any idea who's who and which school they go to. We're just judging the rounds. It makes it as fair as it possibly can be. Some riders may be the only representatives from their school, and then there could be riders on a huge, strong, established team, and we have no idea. But we're just scoring the rounds, and it's kind of interesting when you hear we throw out a good score, and there's a huge round of applause from, from a big team. or we throw out a big score, and there's crickets, and it's most likely a rider here by themselves and came from wherever in the country, to be here. Everybody has a chance, and that's the great thing about the IHSA.