United States Eventing Association

Bec Braitling is passionate about continuing education in the sport of eventing— not just for riders, but for coaches as well.

The United States Eventing Associations’ (USEA) Eventing Coaches Program (ECP) is pleased to announce the dates and location of the upcoming 2025 USEA ECP Symposium, hosted by Galway Downs. The annual ECP Symposium, which is typically held in the southeast U.S., will be moving West next year to further open the door to education to a wider audience of interested candidates. The symposium will now be hosted on Jan. 14-16, at Galway Downs in Temecula, California.

The USEA Foundation encourages USEA members to consider applying for one of the many grant options available for the 2025 season. The application for many of these grants close in early to mid October, so it is important to apply soon for consideration.

Group rides are an important tool to include in the education of both riders and horses to give them a well-rounded education, enhance the rider’s skills, and give confidence to both horses and riders. Managed well, group rides also add to the enjoyment of our sport.

The United States Eventing Association (USEA) Foundation serves as the administrator for numerous grants and scholarships, including the Rebecca Broussard Developing Rider Grant. On the evening of Saturday, September 7, 2024, the USEA Foundation was made aware of allegations of equine abuse, which included links to videos which appear to show a recipient of a Rebecca Broussard Developing Rider Grant striking a horse.

Rebecca Farm and the Broussard Family have been made aware of allegations of horse abuse regarding one of the 2023 Rebecca Broussard Developing Rider Grant recipients.

You wouldn’t have to do an extensive search to find many ways to utilize pole exercises to benefit horses in training and development, so this article is going to look at pole exercises in a different way—how can we use them to benefit rider development and in all three phases.

“Nobody in their right mind would start coaching riders again after enjoying such a nice, long career away,” said Cass Kordecki with a laugh as she helped pack her 12-year-old daughter Rachel Strong up to attend the Catalpa Corner Charity Horse Trials (Iowa City, Iowa). Kordecki, who is in her mid-50s now, began her eventing journey in the ‘80s, but life took her away from the sport for a while until her daughter showed a love for horses at a very early age.

Recently, while teaching the USEA EA21 Central Clinic in Kansas City, Missouri, I found myself reflecting on what it means to produce eventing horses all around this huge country where trainers, coaches, and athletes find themselves with vast differences in access to cross-country courses, schooling fields, or just open land.

I was lucky enough to receive the Wilton Fair Grant and the Essex Horse Trials Grant in the tail end of 2023 to put towards my 2024 adventures with my horses. I moved over to England with three horses in March 2023 and towards the end of the year I had decided I wasn’t quite ready to travel back home to America just yet. Receiving these grants has made staying over an additional year possible, and I couldn’t be more thankful!