IEA Youth Art & Literary Contest Entry Form

Proudly Sponsored by Susan Wentzel

Contest Topic:

The knots and tangles found in a horse’s mane and tail are known as Fairy Knots. According to folklore, elves and fairies search for horses suitable to ride throughout the night on grand adventures. Before departing, they tie knots and tangles in the horses’ manes and tails to use as stirrups and reins. After a night of mischief, the horses are returned home safely but the knots and tangles are left for the next time the naughty sprites return to ride at night.

Share your vision of a Fairy Knot Adventure through a short essay, poem, black & white illustration, or black & white photograph.

Prizes:

Cash Awards: $3,200 Total Awarded.

Best Overall Entry Winner - $800 (any category from any age group)

Short Essay Winners - $400 Upper School & $200 Futures

Poetry Winners - $400 Upper School & $200 Futures

Illustration Winners - $400 Upper School & $200 Futures

Photograph Winners - $400 Upper School & $200 Futures

Best Overall Entry Winner and First-place winners will receive a cash award in the amount noted above, publication in a booklet of the top submissions, and a free copy of the booklet.

Honorable Mentions will receive recognition in press releases and social media, publication in the booklet of top submissions, and a free copy.

Eligibility:

Contestants must be in 4th - 12th grade and an IEA Youth Member (Rider or Junior Education Member) in good standing for the current competition season (2026-2027).

General Rules:

• Contestants may submit original literary pieces (essay or poem) or create original black & white art (illustration or photograph) with limited guidance from others. Use of AI tools (such as ChatGPT adn DaVini) are prohibited and will not be considered. 

• Contestants are limited to one entry per category.

• All literary and/or art submissions become the property of the Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA) once submitted and will not be returned.

• IEA has rights to all literary and art submitted to be used for publication, promotion, and/or social media communication, including cropping and overlay of text/logos.

• Due to the number of entries received, only winners will be contacted with the results.

• Contestants must enter using the online registration form provided. All fields on the online form are required, including uploading literary entries in PDF files and art entries in high resolution (minimum 300 PPI) JPG or PNG files.

• Literary and art submissions must address the official contest topic of Fairy Knot Adventures.

Contest Entry Rules:

Literary Contest (Essay or Poem):

Upper School Essay (Grades 9-12) must be a minimum of 550 words and no longer than 1,500 words.

Futures Essay (Grades 4-8) must be a minimum of 250 words and no longer than 750 words.

Upper School Poetry (Grades 9-12) must be a minimum of 10 lines and no longer than 50 lines, using any poetry format.

Futures Poetry (Grades 4-8) must be a minimum of 4 lines and no longer than 20 lines, using any poetry format.

• Essays and Poems must be typed and double-spaced in a 12-point font with a one-inch margin on all sides of the page.
• Any quotations or copyrighted material used in an essay must be identified properly.
• Student registration forms must have a parent or sponsoring coach name. That person may review the submitted literary work. It is to the student’s advantage to have a coordinator review their literary work to make sure it is complete, contains the necessary forms, is free from typographical and grammatical errors, and addresses the theme prior to submitting an entry.
• Please include your first and last name as a byline on essay and poem submissions.

Art Contest (Black & White Illustration or Photograph):

Upper School Original Illustration (Grades 9-12)

Futures Original Illustration (Grades 4-8)

Upper School Photograph (Grades 4-12)

Futures Photograph Grades 4-8)

• Hand-crafted images are requested - Digitally crafted or AI generated images will not be considered.
• Mediums may include pencil, marker, crayon, charcoal, watercolor, acrylic, pastel, ink, collage, linocut, scratchboard, or oil paint.
• Illustrations and photographs can be any size up to 8.5” x 11” using vertical orientation.
• Illustrations and photographs must be submitted as a black & white 1-D or 2-D image in any medium.
• Illustrations should be scanned in high resolution (300ppi or higher).

Contest Deadline:

The deadline for all art and literary submissions is 11:59 pm (EST) on Friday, October 30, 2026.

Entries not meeting contest requirements or submitted after the deadline for submission will not be considered.

Judging:

Judging will be conducted by panels of authors, publishers, artists, educators, and equine enthusiasts based upon the following criteria:

• Interpretation and clarity of the theme.
• Creativity, imagination and whimsy related to the theme.
• Skill and original voice.

For more information or questions please email Kathryn Dando at kdando@rideiea.org.

Entry Submissions: