United States Eventing Association

The Dutta Corp. USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) Championships are just a few months away, and many horses are on track earning their qualifications for the fall. The Championships offer classes for qualified 4-year-olds and qualified 5-year-old horses on both the East and West Coasts, including a dressage test, a conformation test, and a jumping/galloping test.

In an effort to encourage a continuous educational and competitive upbringing for young event horses in North America, the United States Eventing Association (USEA) introduced the 6- and 7-year-old national leaderboards in 2019. The addition of these two leaderboards ensured the pathway for young event horse development was complete from yearling to 7-year-olds through programs associated with the USEA Future Event Horse (FEH) and USEA Young Event Horse (YEH).

A total of ten USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) graduates are now in the race to Le Lion! The 2021 FEI Eventing World Breeding Championships for Young Horses at Mondial du Lion in Le Lion d’Angers, France will be held on October 21-24. The 6-year-old Championship is a CCIYH2*-L and the 7-year-old Championship is a CCIYH3*-L.

The qualifying competitions for the USEA Future Event Horse (FEH) Championships have been taking place across the country all winter and spring, but there is still plenty of time this summer to qualify for the Championships in the fall. With more than a dozen qualifiers still left on the FEH calendar, owners and breeders should take advantage of the available opportunities.

The USEA Young Event Horse Program (YEH) continued with another successful year in 2012. For the eighth year in a row, the USEA YEH East Coast Championships were held at Fair Hill International in Elkton, Maryland. The USEA YEH West Coast Championships were held at Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles, California for the fourth year. Six of the top ten finishers on the East Coast and two of the top eight on the West Coast continued to have a successful career competing at the highest levels of the discipline.

“This is a quality sort,” Chris Ryan began when looking at this 4-year-old Thoroughbred. “The Thoroughbred is a renowned breed improver/refiner for all the sporthorse stud books, and the pure Thoroughbred has his own register. They are the elite of the species as regards to refinement.”

In 2015, Timothy and Cheryl Holekamp of New Spring Farm and Christine and T.J. Turner of Indian Creek Farm spearheaded a new grant to support the USEA Young Event Horse program and pipeline for U.S. team horses. The Holekamp/Turner Grant awards the highest scorer of The Dutta Corp. USEA Young Event Horse 5-year-old Championships, both East and West Coast Championships combined, with cash that enables them to travel to the FEI World Young Horse Championships at Mondial du Lion in Le Lion d’Angers, France, for the 7-year-old three-star Championships. Additionally, this year, the Dutta Corporation will award a round-trip flight to the Holekamp/Turner Grant recipient to further aid in the commitment of garnering a YEH horse for the World Young Horse Championships in France.

This year’s Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event CCI5*-L was on April 21-25 and was the first five-star event to take place in the U.S. since 2019. The entry list had the best riders in the world, previous Kentucky champions, Olympic hopefuls, and horses who have been eventing in the U.S. since they were 4 years old.

“This individual is all quality being full Thoroughbred,” Chris Ryan first observed about this 5-year-old off-the-track Thoroughbred gelding. “Some carry more refinement than others and this fellow is quite fine. He is short coupled. And, he is a lovely strong colour!”

It was another year of growth for the USEA Young Event Horse Program (YEH) in 2011. The USEA YEH East Coast Championships were in their seventh year and were held at Fair Hill International in Elkton, Maryland. The USEA YEH West Coast Championships were in their third year and were held at Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles, California. The results from the two championships correctly predicted the outcome for the future stars of the sport. Four out of the top six finishers on the East Coast, and two out of the top three finishers on the West Coast went on to compete at the highest levels of eventing.