United States Eventing Association

Training would look like a conveyor belt if there was a cookie-cutter approach to developing young horses, but Tamie Smith reminds us that tailoring everything from groundwork to exercise is a case study of the individual horse. However, there are two ideals to keep in mind that can meld together and serve as a solid foundation on the way to achieving certain standards. For Smith, those standards focus on confidence, harmony, and mutual understanding between horse and rider—a premise that her training business Next Level Eventing stems from.

As the cutoff date to qualify for Le Lion inches closer, talented young horses and riders in contention for the The Holekamp/Turner YEH Lion d’Angers Grant are gearing up for the final push in hopes of being selected as the grant recipient. Grant funds will assist the selected pair with costs associated with competing at the FEI Eventing World Breeding Championships in the 7-year-old CCIYH3*-L Championship slated to be held later this fall. 2020 Dutta Corp. USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) Championships competitors and their respective owners and riders have paid careful attention to this summer’s schedule making sure that they would meet the necessary qualifications for La Mondial du Lion in Le Lion d’Angers, France.

The race to Mondial du Lion in Le Lion d’Angers, France is entering the final stretch and eager young mounts and their respective riders are giving it all they have in the final push for qualification. The horses, who all competed in the 2020 Dutta Corp. USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) Championships, have worked hard over the past two years to gather their final qualifications in hopes of representing the United States at the FEI Eventing World Breeding Championships in the 7-year-old CCIYH3*-L Championship.

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. The goal of the YEH program is to identify horses that will be successful at the four- and five-star levels of eventing, and create a pipeline for U.S. Team horses beginning in their early years of training and competition.

The marathon to Mondial du Lion is in the home stretch. For the past two years, horses competing in the USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) series are nearing the end of one of the most unique and trying qualifying periods in the sport’s history. Following the difficulties the COVID-19 pandemic presented to eventers and other equestrians alike during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, athletes and breeders are eager to jet off to the 2022 FEI Eventing World Breeding Championships for Young Horses at Mondial du Lion in Le Lion d’Angers, France.

There were 39 young horses contesting the 2017 USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) 5-year-old Championships between the East and West Coast Championships which were held in Elkton, Maryland and Woodside, California, respectively. Following 2017’s YEH finale, many of the graduating class of the 2017 USEA Young Event Horse Championships have worked their way up through the rankings to leave a mark on upper-level eventing.

The USEA offers many programs to help the development of upcoming event horses such as the Future Event Horse (FEH) program which focuses on yearlings, 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds, and 4-year-olds, the Young Event Horse (YEH) program which serves as an eventing talent search for 4-year-olds and 5-year-olds under saddle, and the New Event Horse program which is an adaption of the YEH program that was designed to serve as an introduction of the sport of eventing for horse and rider that provides a stepping stone to recognized eventing. For the first time ever, USEA Area IV will be hosting a competition that features all three of these programs at Woodloch Stable in Hugo, Minnesota on July 9, 2022.

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.