United States Eventing Association

Over 88,000 spectators flocked to the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky April 27-May 1 for the 2022 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS Equestrian. Excitingly enough, at least one American-bred horse sat in the top three each day of the competition, with the ultimate treat on the final day when the USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) program graduate and American-bred Quantum Leap (Quite Capitol x Report to Sloopy) ridden by Doug Payne finished in third and was declared National Champion.

Did you know that the USEA Foundation currently administers 15 grants and scholarships designed to help event riders reach their goals? From funds used to assist juniors have access to additional training to aiding up-and-coming riders fund international competition to helping adult amateurs gain education, the current grant opportunities offered by the USEA Foundation has something for almost everyone.

The 2022 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event will take place April 27 to May 1, and this year has a star-studded entry list. The entries consist of the only two Rolex Grand Slam winners (Pippa Funnell and Michael Jung), the full U.S. Tokyo Olympic team riders, and 10 USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) graduate horses.

The United States Eventing Association (USEA) proudly offers three regional Future Event Horse (FEH) Championships and two regional Young Event Horse (YEH) Championships annually. Together, the FEH and YEH programs have created a pipeline for young horses to showcase their talent, while judges identify horses that will be successful at the four-star and five-star levels of eventing.

The USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) Program and the USEA Future Event Horse (FEH) Program evaluates the potential of young horses aged 5 and under. The YEH program is eligible for 4- and 5-year-old horses and the FEH program is eligible for yearlings through 4-year-olds. Purchasing a young horse can be challenging but, four eventing professionals, who specialize in young horse training, provide advice when shopping for a young event horse.

It was eight years ago when the O’Neals first started breeding event horses, and they have been hooked ever since. “The whole process of watching them grow from foals to taking them to their first event to competing internationally for the first time is hugely rewarding. It’s also interesting for us as professional riders because if we breed and produce a horse to four years old it is a fraction of the cost of importing a 4-year-old of the same quality and it's one that we have produced and know well,” said Ellie O’Neal.

The 2016 USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) 5-year-old Championships saw over 40 competitors between the East and West Coast Championships held at the Dutta Corp. Fair Hill International in Elkton, Maryland, and the Woodside International in Woodside, California. Following 2016’s YEH finale, many of the graduating class of the 2016 USEA Young Event Horse Championships have worked their way up through the rankings to leave a mark on upper-level eventing.

The USEA established the Young Event Horse (YEH) program in 2004 to identify young horses that possess the talent and disposition to, with proper training, excel at the uppermost levels of the sport. While the goal of the YEH program is to identify horses that will be successful at the four- and five-star levels, horses with the potential for lower-level success are also showcased by the program.

Earning national recognition in the sport is a victory that takes years of hard work, and for some, the hard work started with the USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) program. Increasing in popularity since its creation in 2004, the mission of the program is to identify upper-level event horses during their 4- and 5-year-old years. A true testament to the program’s success, this year, two YEH graduate horses represented the U.S. at the Tokyo Olympics, the historic winner of CHIO Aachen was a YEH graduate, the USET Connaught Grant Recipient was a YEH graduate, and almost every national year-end leaderboard has at least one YEH graduate ranked in the top 10.

Over 40 horses competed in the USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) 5-year-old East and West Coast Championships in 2015. The YEH East Coast Championships were held during the Dutta Corp. Fair Hill International in Elkton, Maryland, while the YEH West Coast Championships took place at Galway Downs in Temecula, California. Following 2015’s YEH finale, many of the graduating class of the 2015 USEA Young Event Horse Championships have gone on to make their mark on the upper levels of eventing.