United States Eventing Association

Cross-country course designer Morgan Rowsell led a session on Friday evening at the 2019 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention about best practices for maintaining a cross-country schooling course.

We all have that "aha" moment when we see THAT HORSE. You know the one; the horse that shows off three lovely gaits in the dressage ring and demonstrates scope and a big ground-covering gallop as it smoothly and eagerly jumps its show jumping and cross-country courses. THAT HORSE takes our breath away; reminding us why we love horses and the sport of three-day eventing.

The USEA Training Program for Eventing Officials (TPEO) educates the next generation of officials and encourages members of the community to give back to the sport by becoming licensed officials, including judges, technical delegates, and course designers. Quality officials are vital to the safe running of competitions and ensure that all safety rules and precautions are followed to the letter. You can be a part of the next generation of officials!

I was very excited that the final exam for licensed officials would be held at the Kentucky Horse Park. Having never been to one of our sport's most important venues, I was eager to get on grounds and check everything out. The first morning we were required to go out and walk cross-country and give an evaluation of the Preliminary cross-country course. The courses were designed very smartly, taking into consideration that the courses needed to ask championship level questions per level.

The final exam for licensed officials is right around the corner! In preparation for the final exam during the USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) in Lexington, Kentucky, I have been reviewing all information received from our training sessions as well as all of the rules that officials are required to be familiar with.

A panel of officials, including Cindy Deporter, Tim Murray, Wayne Quarles, John Michael Durr, and Marilyn Payne led a presentation at the 2018 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention about how to be a preceptor. Preceptors provide a vital part of the education process for those pursuing their eventing officials license.

Show Jumping Course Designer Richard Jeffery will be conducting two free show jumping clinics at the 2019 USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky.

Cindy Deporter led a session at the 2018 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention focused on providing problem-solving tools for officials. A varied panel of speakers helped to answer questions about specific scenarios and engaged in short role-playing sessions to demonstrate potential scenarios and how best to respond.

The next step for potential judges after attending the training sessions is your apprentice judging. Apprentice judging takes all of the important information learned during the training session and shows how to apply it in real-world situations. While shadowing licensed officials, you get a much better understanding of how to apply the rules and what circumstances to take into consideration.

Tasked with designing 10 separate courses for the nearly 500 competitors in attendance at Twin Rivers as well as riding a horse in the Intermediate division and coaching several students, James Atkinson has his hands full this weekend. Still, he took time out of his busy schedule to talk about course design, which he confessed, “I could talk about all day long!”