United States Eventing Association

The first day of competition in the 2021 Dutta Corp. USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) East Coast Championships concluded with the crowning of the champion in the 4-year-old division. After contesting the dressage and conformation phases, Caroline Martin’s Irish Sport Horse gelding HSH Best Kept Secret (Adieu Z x Ringwood Sunny Clover) rocketed to the top of the 32 horse field following the jumping and galloping phases to earn the division champion title with a cumulative score of 90.20. It was a repeat affair for Martin, who won both the 4- and 5-year-old YEH East Coast Championships in 2020.

While five-star horses battle it out for bragging rights in the first-ever CCI5*-L Maryland 5 Star Event at Fair Hill, five star hopefuls will put their hard work to the test at the 2021 Dutta Corp. USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) East Coast Championships on the same show grounds. Running concurrently with the Maryland 5 Star, the YEH East Coast Championships will take place Thursday, October 14th and Friday, October 15th in Elkton, Maryland.

A total of 41 4-year-olds and 45 5-year-olds are set to compete this week at The Dutta Corp. USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) East Coast Championships which will take place alongside the inaugural Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill in Elkton, Md. Since the USEA YEH program has been running successfully for over 15 years, there are many graduates of the program that have gone on to compete at the highest levels of eventing, including seven horses who are entered to compete in the inaugural Maryland 5 Star.

The Dutta Corp. USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) Championships will kick off next week! The first of the two YEH Championships will be the East Coast Championships which takes place alongside the Maryland 5 Star in Elkton, Md. Then, the YEH West Coast Championships will be two weeks after the East Coast Championships, during the last week of October.

The United States Eventing Association (USEA) is pleased to announce that Cole Horn’s MBF Permission To Land is the 2021 recipient of the Holekamp/Turner Grant and The Dutta Corp. prize! MBF Cooley Permission To Land (Cobra x Deeply Dippy K) is a 7-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding ridden and owned by Cole Horn and bred by Knightfield Stud. The pair will represent the U.S. at the 2021 FEI Eventing World Breeding Championships for Young Horses in the 7-year-old CCIYH3*-L Championship. The Championship will take place at Mondial du Lion in Le Lion d’Angers, France on October 21-24, 2021.

With over 100 horses qualified for the USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) Championships, 2013 was a phenomenal year of growth for the YEH Program. Fair Hill International, held in Elkton, Maryland, was host to the ninth annual USEA YEH East Coast Championships while the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event and H.T. in Temecula, California served as the competition site for the fifth annual USEA YEH West Coast Championships.

Tamie Smith, the traveling reserve for the U.S. Eventing Olympic Tokyo team, is a five-star competitor and an active participant in the USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) program. Smith’s Olympic horse, Mai Baum (Loredano x Ramira), a 15-year-old German Sport Horse gelding owned by Alexandra Ahearn, Ellen Ahearn, and Eric Markell, was a graduate of the YEH program in 2011. In 2016, Smith and Judith McSwain’s American bred Holsteiner mare, Fleeceworks Royal (Riverman x Marisol), were the recipients of the Holekamp/Turner Le Lion d’Angers Grant. In 2018, Smith was the winner of the USEA YEH Championships riding the MB Group LLC’s Oldenburg gelding, MB Maistein (Rocky Lee x High Ovation).

The race to Le Lion continues with only three months to go! 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 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).