United States Eventing Association

When Monbeg Zebedee came to Allison Springer’s barn nearly three years ago, she wasn’t sure where he might end up or how far his talent would take him. The Irish Sport Horse gelding (Dignifed van’t Zorgvliet x Bolacreane Dolly) had been purchased out of the Monart sale in Ireland by British five-star rider Kitty King as a sales prospect when he was 3, and King had started him but never competed him.

When asked if he could go back in time and give the younger version of himself one piece of advice, eight-time World Equestrian Brands USEA Rider of the Year Boyd Martin says he wouldn’t change a thing.

Area X may not be known as a hot spot for eventing—but there’s more than enough action to keep volunteer Brian Murphy busy. Murphy first started volunteering after he needed something to do while he supported his wife when she competed on the weekends.

Last year was a big one for USEA Young Event Horse program graduate Arden Augustus. He made a successful move-up to Modified with Sharon White in the tack, followed by a smooth transition to Preliminary, then went on to win two CCI2*-S divisions and ended the year with a CCI2*-L win.

Colorado-based upper-level eventer Dani Sussman has been sourcing horses from Argentina since 2019 thanks to the help of her show jumping coach, Mariano Bedoya. When Bedoya called her up about a then 8-year-old Hanoverian stallion who was showing on the show jumping circuit, Sussman hopped on a plane to check him out for herself.

Adult amateur Arden Wildasin’s 39-page long competition report with the USEA began in 2005 when she completed her first Beginner Novice with Mr. Fox. If you would have asked her then if she ever imagined she would be prepping for what she hopes to be her first five-star outing 20 years later, she wouldn’t have believed it was real.

Veterinary pathologist Susan Hart has been trapped in an “always the bridesmaid, never the bride” loop on the USEA Volunteer Incentive Program (VIP) Volunteer Leaderboard since 2022. After two years of chipping away at the leaderboard, 2024 was finally her year to proverbially walk down the aisle. With a total of 691 and a half hours, Hart topped the leaderboard to become the 2024 USEA Volunteer of the Year, sponsored by Mrs. Pastures, and win the first gold medal in USEA VIP history, which is awarded for achieving over 2,000 lifetime volunteer hours.

With a total of 382 volunteer hours in 2024, Catherine “Cathy” Hale not only topped the USEA Area III VIP Volunteer leaderboard, but she also ranked fourth out of all eventing volunteers across the country. Hale (The Villages, Florida) has worked as a travel agent for over 30 years, a career that suits her love of travel nicely. At the time of being interviewed for this article, Hale was passing the equator on a cruise to Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia.

United States Eventing Association (USEA) members from all over the country gathered on Friday afternoon for the 2024 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention Year End Awards Ceremony. The afternoon’s ceremony was led by Master of Ceremonies Jim Wolf and recognized riders, horses, and game-changers in the sport of eventing with multiple awards and grants.

As 2024 draws to a close, we would be remiss not to recognize the many volunteers who dedicate countless hours of their free time to the success of our sport. There were 72,374 hours logged in the USEA’s Volunteer Incentive Program (VIP) this year across the 171 events that utilized the eventingvolunteers.com platform to log volunteer time. This impressive amount of volunteer time was contributed by 4,378 amazing VIP volunteers.