United States Eventing Association

After the success of the first annual USEA Intercollegiate & Interscholastic Eventing Championships at Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina, members are not going to want to miss the second edition in 2025! Barry and Cyndy Olliff, owners of Stable View, and their team are gearing up for an even bigger and better event in the coming year. If you are a current or prospective member of the Intercollegiate Eventing Program or the Interscholastic Eventing League, be sure to block off the weekend of May 3-4, 2025 to attend these exciting Championships.

With longtime Rule Change Open Forum moderator Malcolm Hook unable to attend this year’s USEA Annual Meeting & Convention, Alison Lloyd with the U.S. Equestrian Federation (USEF) took over the forum on Saturday.

United States Eventing Association (USEA) members from all over the country gathered on Friday afternoon for the 2024 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention Year End Awards Ceremony. The afternoon’s ceremony was led by Master of Ceremonies Jim Wolf and recognized riders, horses, and game-changers in the sport of eventing with multiple awards and grants.

As the curtains close on the 2024 competition season, the USEA is looking back at an incredibly busy fall season. With the MARS Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill, two Dutta. Corp USEA Young Event Horse Championships, Area Championships in all 10 sections of the country, and more, there was no shortage of excitement, but the rise in IEL Team Challenges was certainly a highlight of the year for the USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL). Since we last reported in October, 13 additional IEL Team Challenges were hosted at events across Areas II, III, IV, VI, and VIII, to bring the grand total for the year to 44 challenges.

As 2024 draws to a close, we would be remiss not to recognize the many volunteers who dedicate countless hours of their free time to the success of our sport. There were 72,374 hours logged in the USEA’s Volunteer Incentive Program (VIP) this year across the 171 events that utilized the eventingvolunteers.com platform to log volunteer time. This impressive amount of volunteer time was contributed by 4,378 amazing VIP volunteers.

The Southern Arizona Eventing Association (SAzEA) Fall Horse Trials in Tucson, Arizona, was the host to the final USEA Area Championship of the 2024 season. The Area X Championship offered four divisions at the Training, Novice, Beginner Novice, and Starter levels. Get to know each of the horse and rider pairs who rose to the challenge in Arizona this year below!

The Godshall Accessibility Report, created by the United States Eventing Association’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee, aims to honor Christopher Godshall’s legacy by addressing accessibility challenges within the sport of eventing. Inspired by Godshall’s own struggles with mobility due to Myasthenia Gravis, the report underscores the importance of creating inclusive environments for riders, spectators, volunteers, and others involved in the sport.

The USEA is honored to carry forward the legacy of the traditional long-format, three-day event through the USEA Classic Series. These events celebrate the roots of our sport, offering riders a chance to step back in time and experience the original format that shaped the sport we enjoy today. From the excitement of steeplechase to the strategic demands of roads and tracks, endurance day serves as a true test of the preparation and partnership between horse and rider. In addition, horse inspections and educational opportunities add to the depth of these competitions, making them an unforgettable milestone, particularly for those experiencing the long-format for the first time.

The final USEA Classic Series event took place at Ram Tap Horse Park Horse Trials from Nov. 15-17 in Fresno, California. Read on to learn more about the winners!

Last month, readers met VIP Volunteer Rebecca Proetto, who volunteered at the MARS Maryland 5 Star horse inspection. This month, the focus turns to husband and wife Ed and Leanne Barnett who introduced Proetto to the art of running an efficient horse inspection at Maryland. Ed and Leanne undertake a 12-hour drive from their home in Indiana to Maryland just to volunteer at the event.