United States Eventing Association

The gang's all here! Nicole Brown is joined this week by USEA CEO Rob Burk, USEA President Max Corcoran, and Diarm Byrne of EquiRatings to take a look at some of the upcoming highlights for 2021 and make some predictions about exciting things we might see this year.

Over the past few years, I have gotten to know McKenna Miller and her current horse, Bo Jango (or "Jimbo" as he is known around the barn). I want to share the story of how she got Jimbo, because it has made a positive impact on my life and has inspired me to be a better person and rider with my own horse.

The United States Eventing Association (USEA) is thrilled to welcome back longtime supporter World Equestrian Brands as the Title Sponsor of the USEA Rider of the Year Leaderboard and a Contributing Sponsor of the 2021 USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships.

I want to share a story about someone who inspires me and I believe deserves the recognition. I returned to riding four years ago after about a decade out of the saddle; moonlighting as a busy professional adult instead of the horse crazy child I really am internally. I returned to eventing this year, my first horse trials in 25 years, placing fourth at the Introductory level at the Maryland Horse Trials Starter Trials this October.

Happy New Year from the USEA Official Podcast! As we kick off 2021, Host Nicole Brown is joined by Tony Sandoval from Coach Sando Training and Diarm Byrne from EquiRatings to get some practical advice on top tips to get your New Year off to a strong start.

It’s probably not that surprising that David O’Connor’s career thrived throughout the era of long-format eventing, because if you’ve crossed the vast expanse of North America on horseback when you’re just 11 years old then going the distance is unlikely to be daunting at any stage of your life.

2020 was a year unlike any that the eventing community has experienced before. The COVID-19 pandemic caused competitions to halt for three months, and when we were able to resume events, the landscape looked quite different. While there were many aspects of 2020 that were challenging, we are so grateful that we still have the opportunity to participate in the sport we all love, and we want to take a moment to reflect on a few of the highlights from this year.

There are so many different sayings about horses. "Never look a gift horse in the mouth," "No horse is ever free," "If you want to be a millionaire with horses, start as a billionaire." Horses are incredibly forgiving and they fill in places we cannot fill ourselves. My dream horse came to me in the form of a malnourished, emaciated, just gelded, 6-year-old rescue. He was confiscated from his prior owner by our local regional animal protective services after he and several other animals were found in horrendous conditions.

Our last USEA Podcast episode of the year is a #TeamTalk for our listeners, checking in with USEF Eventing High Performance Director Erik Duvander and USEF Managing Director for Eventing Jenni Autry. In conversation with Nicole Brown, Autry and Duvander reflect back on 2020 and look ahead to what's to come in 2021 for the U.S. Eventing team.

Sixty-three-year-old Anne Burkhardt sat on a horse for the first time when she was 7 years old. “Our neighbors had horses, and it was a big thing for me as a kid but it was a backyard kind of situation,” she shared. “It wasn’t until later on in life that I got more involved and started going to sanctioned events. But it got me started!”