United States Eventing Association

While not an eventer himself, Jim Moyer has been involved in the eventing community for five decades through his late wife, instructor Jean Moyer. When Jean died in 2020, Jim continued volunteering in the sport to stay busy in retirement and stay connected to the community he loves.

There aren’t many riders who can say they competed at five of the world’s seven five-star events in 2023, but the 2023 World Equestrian Brands USEA Rider of the Year Boyd Martin can. With nine starts across the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event, Longines Luhmühlen Horse Trials (Germany), Defender Burghley Horse Trials (England), MARS Maryland 5 Star, and Pau (France), Martin earned five top-5 finishes.

Bethany Hutchins-Kristen headed into 2023 with hopes of earning the SmartPak USEA Stallion of the Year award for a second year in a row on her homebred Geluk HVF, and after a stellar season, including a top-10 finish at the TerraNova CCI2*-L (Myakka City, Florida), she took home the top prize with an 18-point lead.

Katie Crowley didn’t have intentions of breeding horses, but when her Hosteiner mare Travita proved to have a bit too much fire to handle, it was suggested that breeding her might settle her some.

The little gray Connemara cross gelding Delilah’s Boy has made quite a big name for himself in eventing. Since starting his eventing career in 2019, the now 13-year-old pony has celebrated 11 wins and countless top-3 finishes at the Novice and Beginner Novice levels, including a win at the U.S. Pony Club Championships in 2019 with former owner/rider Macie Sykes. It was his fabulous 2023 season, however, that earned Delilah’s Boy the title of the 2023 SmartPak USEA Pony of the Year with young rider Kendal Fansler of Clarksville, Maryland, in the irons.

Liz Halliday admits she’s not one to spend too much time in the past, but after a very “transitional” 2023, she’s taken the time to reflect on the changes in her life and the amazing horse power she has in her barn. Halliday topped the USEA leaderboard’s 2023 Bates USEA Lady Rider of the Year standings with results on 13 different horses from Novice to the CCI5*-L level.

It was 2017, and Christa Schmidt found herself in the market for a nice Preliminary/one-star horse to help her make some of her amateur aspirations come true when Karen O’Connor told her about a Holsteiner gelding by the name of Capitol H I M (Con Air x O-Heraldika).

The U.S. Equestrian Federation has announced the continuation of its Licensed Official Grant program for 2024, and applications are now open.

Members of the United States Eventing Association’s (USEA) Adult Rider Program are invited to a five-star experience at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event in 2023 by joining Derek di Grazia on a walk of the CCI5*-L cross-country course he’s designed. The USEA-hosted event will take place at 9 a.m. EST on Thursday, April 27.

From horse trials in her home state of California where she prepared herself and her horses to take on the best in the nation and around the world to five-star events overseas where she represented the United States on some of eventing’s biggest stages, Tamie Smith had a remarkable season and finished 2022 as the Bates USEA Lady Rider of the Year for the second year in a row.