United States Eventing Association

The Godshall Accessibility Report, created by the United States Eventing Association’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee, aims to honor Christopher Godshall’s legacy by addressing accessibility challenges within the sport of eventing. Inspired by Godshall’s own struggles with mobility due to Myasthenia Gravis, the report underscores the importance of creating inclusive environments for riders, spectators, volunteers, and others involved in the sport.

There are 44 exciting horse and rider pairs entered in this year's $60,000 Adequan USEA Advanced Final which takes place during the 2024 USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) presented by Nutrena Feeds. The AEC kicks off on Tuesday, Aug. 27, and the Advanced Final gets underway on Wednesday, Aug. 28 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. With such a superstar lineup, it can be hard to decide who you are going to root for, which is why we pulled some details on each entry for your review. Check them out here and let us know who you will be cheering on!

Morgan Rowsell had just wrapped up organizing a successful Essex H.T. in Far Hills, New Jersey, on June 4, but as he turned his attention to his next show two weeks later, he was faced with challenges presented by the effects that wildfires from Canada are now having on equestrian sports in the Northeast. “The very next day, the smoke came in,” he said. “It looks like a warm, humid, hazy day, but it’s not humid, it’s not warm, it’s actually quite cool. There’s no air. There’s very little breeze. There’s a northeast wind coming out of Canada that is bringing all the Novia Scotia and Quebec smoke to us, and it smells like smoke.”

The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Eventing Watch List ("Watch List”) program has undergone a review and, as a result, the process has been updated. The Watch List is comprised of USEF and/or USEA members competing in the U.S. who have been identified as displaying potentially dangerous or unsafe riding during warm-up or any phase at a USEF Eventing Licensed Competition, received an FEI Eventing Recorded Warning or Yellow Card for Dangerous Riding at any FEI event, been penalized at a national competition for Dangerous Riding, or received a Yellow Warning card for Dangerous Riding at a national competition. The goal of the Watch List is to improve rider safety and provide licensed officials (Technical Delegates and Ground Jury) the opportunity to observe athletes at future events.

Daina Kaugars and her fiancé, James Kersey, have embraced the challenges of what goes into running a USEA-recognized horse trial on their farm in Fort Collins, Colorado. “I’ve always wanted to do it; that’s why we bought the farm [in 2017],” Kaugars. “We found this property and said, ‘Well, this one has the terrain to do it.’ So, we basically purpose-bought it to run a horse trial. Then, the boarding facility was my way of making it work.”

The United States Eventing Association’s Area X of Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico will kick off its 2023 calendar of USEA-recognized horse trials in March with the vision of growing the SAzEA Horse Trials and returning the Coconino Horse Trials to their profile as a destination event following the effects of COVID-19 and then wildfires in the area.

We are just days away from watching the first horse head down the centerline for the 2022 $60,000 Adequan® USEA Advanced Final which takes place during the 2022 USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds. Nine top-notch horse and rider pairs have their eyes set on the prize in hopes of bringing home the $30,000 check allocated to the winner of this prestigious event. Second place will receive $10,000 and the remainder of the prize funds will be distributed to the other finishers.

The key to eventing’s success lies heavily in the organizers who put on our events. The USEA is proud to recognize each year the organizers who have made contributions to the sport through their organizational efforts. For 2021, the USEA Organizers Appreciation Honor Roll of Names honors nearly 200 organizers for five to 25+ years of service. The Blue Ribbon is awarded to those organizers with five to nine years of service, the Bronze Medal recognizes organizers with 10-14 years of service, organizers who have contributed 15-19 years of service are awarded the Silver Medal, those with 20-24 years of service will receive the Gold Medal, and a select few with 25 years or more of service as organizers are bestowed the title of Platinum Medal organizers.

Boyd Martin came to the 2021 USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) presented by Nutrena Feeds looking to defend his 2019 $60,000 Adequan USEA Advanced Final title and while he succeeded at the goal it wasn’t with the same mount. However, Martin’s victory lands him in the history books as the first rider to win the AEC Advanced class two times on two different horses.

Derek di Grazia’s challenging cross-country course shuffled the leaderboard in the $60,000 Adequan® USEA Advanced Final, with Fylicia Barr emerging as the new leader Barr, a West Grove, Pa. resident, was one of the quickest rides on a day when no one made the time with her own Galloway Sunrise, a 13-year-old American Warmblood mare (Duty Officer x Coco Chanel), who she bought for $500 off Craigslist.