United States Eventing Association

The United States Eventing Association (USEA) is thrilled to announce that world-renowned scientist and animal welfare activist, Dr. Temple Grandin, will be the keynote speaker at the 2023 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention in St. Louis, Missouri, this Dec. 6-10. Dr. Grandin has shaped her career around the research and understanding of animal behavior and stress through the lens of her own experiences navigating life with autism.

The U.S. Equestrian Federation (USEF) Board of Directors met in mid-April and approved proposed extraordinary rule changes which apply to the sport of eventing. These rule changes went into effect on May 1, 2023, and the official USEF Rules for Eventing has also been updated. In order to best help competitors prepare for these new updates, we have provided outlines below, specifically to the most highly-discussed rule change proposal surrounding falls on cross-country outlined in rule EV122.

Picture this: you've had a great competition weekend. You and your horse have put in three wonderful phases, only to find out that you and another horse and rider pair have finished on the same exact score! Now what? The rules on tie breaking are outlined very clearly in the USEF Rules for Eventing to help you better understand what processes will help break a tie should you ever encounter one. You can review the excerpt from the rulebook below.

It’s a new year and a new eventing season—time to go out and meet your eventing goals for the season! For some eventers, that goal is a move up to a new level. As you plan your season out around meeting the Minimum Eligibility Requirements (MER) to qualify for a move up, it's important that you are up to date on the most recent rules in the USEF Rules for Eventing.

An interesting addition to the Adult Rider Open Forum that took place during the 2022 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention was the Grooms panel featuring some of the grooms from the 2022 Eventing World Championships. Former USEA President and professional groom Max Corcoran sat down alongside Stephanie Simpson, groom for Boyd Martin, and Hailey Burlock, groom for Will Coleman, to chat about all things related to grooming.

One of the biggest highlights, undoubtedly, from the 2022 eventing season was Team USA’s performance at the 2022 FEI Eventing World Championships in Pratoni. The USEA was lucky enough to have all of the team riders for the U.S. in attendance for this year’s USEA Annual Meeting & Convention, and alongside Chef d’Equipe Bobby Costello and former USEA President and USEF Eventing Elite Program and Team Facilitator Max Corcoran, the team members came together for a review of the 2022 World Championships during this year’s annual gathering. Curious as to what each team member had to say relating to this year’s showdown? We’ve compiled a favorite quote from each member of the panel for your review here.

There are several rule change proposals being presented to the USEF that would go into effect on December 1, 2023 for the 2024 eventing season and it is now time for the membership to weigh in on these rule change proposals.

The meeting room was full of eventing enthusiasts for the Rule Change Open Forum that took place on Saturday, December 10 during the 2022 Annual Meeting & Convention in Savannah, Georgia. Moderator Malcolm Hook outlined the 12 eventing-specific proposed rule changes and clarifications and 15 general rule changes which would impact eventing competitors which have not yet been approved by the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF). Throughout the session, Hook welcomed questions and feedback from forum attendees and encouraged USEA members to continue to send in their feedback via the rules feedback portal which will go live on Wednesday, December 14th on the USEA website.

Each year, the USEA Annual Meeting & Convention comes to a close with a final meeting of the USEA Board of Governors (BOG). USEA President Lou Leslie kickstarted the meeting by officially calling to order her first USEA BOG meeting as USEA President.

This year’s USEA Annual Meeting & Convention was a special week in Savannah, Georgia. It included several days of celebration and education, including the year-end annual awards ceremony, as well as the USEA’s Hall of Fame Gala. This week and weekend would not have been possible without the support of the many loyal partners of the USEA and the Convention.