United States Eventing Association

2024 ECP Open Forum and 2025 USEA Educational Symposium Head to New Territory

The interactive, educational Eventing Coaches Program Open Forum promises to be one of the highlights of the 2024 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention, held Dec. 12-15 in Seattle, Washington, at the Westin Seattle hotel.

Coaches, riders, officials, and supporters are all invited to join in the activity in the Grand Ballroom II on Saturday, Dec. 14, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

A new format for the ECP Forum was introduced at last year’s USEA Convention in St. Louis, where the attendees contribute to the main event. The participants are randomly divided into round table groups. There will be several videos of individual dressage and show jumping rounds in competition at various levels. The groups are asked to discuss what they saw in the video, with the following considerations:

1. What are the strengths of this rider and this horse?
2. What weaknesses or issues are evident?
3. What are the underlying root causes or missing foundational skills that are contributing to the weaknesses or issues?
4. Are there any “non-negotiables” that need immediate attention? Think safety issues or glaring missing skills.
5. What would be the order of priority for moving this horse/rider combination forward? List the specific steps in order of importance.
6. What exercises or skill-building practice would support those priorities?
7. What would the expected outcome of each progressive step be? What would indicate confirmation of the successful understanding and execution of the desired skill?

Each round table group discusses and answers these questions within their group, and then the groups are asked to present their findings. Differences and commonalities are highlighted and discussed in an entertaining, moderated session.

Everyone can participate! If you are a rider, put your thinking cap on and tell us how you would solve or have solved various problems. If you are a parent, get a rare and detailed view of how coaches and riders break down problems into manageable increments to keep horses and riders safe. If you are a coach, at any level, hone your eye, and potentially glean ideas from your peers as you discuss each horse and rider in depth. There will be several ECP Faculty present to help stimulate the discussion and provide expert guidance where needed.

At the 2023 Open Forum in St. Louis, it was a standing room only crowd, and the discussion was both lively and informative. We are aiming to create an even more interesting and educational event this year in Seattle, so mark your day timer. Don’t miss it!

January: The 2025 Educational Symposium Moves to the West Coast

The ECP Educational Program is excited to be hosted this year by Galway Downs in Temecula, California, Jan. 14-16, 2025. This facility is the perfect venue for this wildly popular, immersive, interactive, three-day educational event, the USEA/ECP Educational Symposium.

Here coaches, riders, officials, and support teams will meet to collaborate in support of safe, principled, and detailed education for horses and riders in the sport of eventing. All three phases will be examined with live horse and rider combinations, through multiple, progressive levels from Starter on up. While December’s Open Forum is sometimes referred to as the “mini-symposium,” the actual Symposium creates an even more enriching experience where the results of the coaching can be seen in real time. The interactive, group format creates a safe space for discussing different techniques and methods, identifying the required foundational skills, and then agreeing on the “non-negotiables” of safety, horse welfare, and positive progression.

Participants work in groups, evaluating the live demo riders with a similar structure as mentioned above in the Open Forum, with the overarching goal of identifying key best practices. Expert coaches from the ECP Faculty will be attending to help guide the dialogue in a positive direction and to reinforce the importance of correct increments and thorough comprehension from both rider and horse. This year’s experts include David O’Connor and Phyllis Dawson, among others.

Add to that line-up some important virtual presentations from supporting experts in sport psychology, business and insurance, media relations, and some additional discipline specific expertise, and this event has the makings of an epic three days!

The role of correct training and coaching in the future of eventing cannot be underestimated. Creating common ground, built on the pillars and principles of correct, effective training with the horse’s welfare as the highest priority, is a key component in the longevity of our sport as we know it today. Now, more than ever, we need to demonstrate a united front not only in words, but through our techniques and daily practice.

The educational symposium shines a spotlight on those foundational pillars and best practices and fosters a deeper understanding of why and how they are so important. Furthermore, the coaching sessions focus on the resulting effect on a rider’s safety, confidence, progression, and decision making. The desired, deliverable result of correct coaching, riding, and training must always be horse-centric, revolving around the development of sane, sound, willing, and enthusiastic equine partners for all three phases.

Come and learn, share your viewpoint, ask questions, challenge the norms, and celebrate the sport with us as we examine the most important and influential aspect of competition, the coaching, under the microscope.

Register now.

If you have any questions about the ECP Symposium, hosted by Galways Downs or the ECP, please contact Nancy Knight, Senior Director of Education, at [email protected].

About the USEA Eventing Coaches Program (ECP)

Coaches are essential to the training of riders and horses for safe and educated participation in the sport of eventing. The USEA Eventing Coaches Program (ECP), formerly known as the Instructors’ Certification Program (ICP), was initiated in 2002 to educate all levels of eventing coaches with crucial training principles upon which they can continue to build throughout their teaching careers. ECP offers educational workshops and assessments by which both regular coaches, Level I through Level V, Young Event Horse (YEH) coaches, and Young Event Horse professional horse trainers can become ECP certified. Additional information about ECP’s goals, benefits, workshops, and assessments as well as names and contact information for current ECP certified coaches, YEH coaches, and YEH professional horse trainers are available on the USEA website. Click here to learn more about the USEA Eventing Coaches Program.

The USEA would like to thank Galway Downs, Parker Equine Insurance, the United States Pony Clubs, and Strider for their support of the Eventing Coaches Program.