United States Eventing Association

Max Corcoran

Max Corcoran has been grooming at the highest level for over 14 years for some of the best in the world. She worked for the O'Connor Event Team (OCET) for 11 years (2001-2012) managing the barn for most of those years and traveling everywhere with Karen; Olympics (2008, 2012), World Championships (2006, 2010), Pan American Games (2003, 2007) and numerous CCI's all over the US and Europe. Since leaving the OCET, Max now free lances, continuing to travel around the world and the US - she most recently served as stable manager for the Canadian Team at the WEG in 2014 and at Pan American Games in Toronto summer 2015. She also teaches horsemanship clinics for the USEA, and the USEF developing programs. Additionally, Max is a Board Member of the Professional Riders Organization (PRO).

Max is originally from northeast Massachusetts and graduated from Northeastern University. She now lives in Ocala, Florida with her partner Scott who trains and competes Grand Prix show jumpers.

Max Corcoran Seminar: Understanding Alternative Therapies

We need to make our horses the most functional athletes - like humans, all horses have imbalances, strengths, weaknesses, aches and pains. It is important to think about how to prevent an injury from happening. With technology and research, there are many ways we can proactively keep our four legged athletes stay sound and healthy. However, there are so many out there and its confusing to keep them all straight and what actually works and what doesn't. The goal of this lecture is to help better understand what is out there, what works and what doesn't and what is the best for your horse and your budget.

Jacob Fletcher

Jacob Fletcher has taken several classes on Turf Grass Management and Soil Composition at the University of Arkansas. He has conducted research at the University of Arkansas Turf Grass Research Center on Bermudagrass and Kentucky Bluegrass cultivars with improving footing conditions at eventing venues across the country at the forethought of his research. Jacob has competed at a large variety of venues across two continents. Jacob has also spectated across the world including Blenheim, Tattersalls, Richland, Burghley, Badminton, Rolex, and many more. He is hoping to bring insight from both his educational background and experience in eventing to influence a positive change in the turf and footing of eventing venues across the country.

Jacob Fletcher Seminar: Turf Grass Management

The goal of the Turf Grass Management Seminar is to cover basic information and management skills over turf grass management to improve the footing across our nation's eventing competitions. We will touch upon which turf grasses work best in the variety of climates in the US and how to manage each one best and cost-effectively. This discussion includes mowing heights and frequency, soil testing, fertilizing, and aeration/drainage. We will also discuss turf grass management variations dependent upon the native soil, and also how to improve the native soil. For the few competitions in the country that run on just soil, we will cover a few artificial products that will help maintain the naked soil more effectively.