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.
In 2020, Eventing was going through its toughest year ever with events cancelled due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Very few grants requiring a current competition record were awarded. Enter Beth Lendrum, a Rebecca Chaney Broussard Grant Committee member. Beth wanted to keep USEA members involved and looking forward to all the ways they could be involved in the sport, and not necessarily on the back of a horse.
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.
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 race to Le Lion has officially begun! The 2022 FEI Eventing World Breeding Championships for Young Horses at Mondial du Lion in Le Lion d’Angers, France will be held on October 20-23. The 6-year-old Championship is a CCIYH2*-L and the 7-year-old Championship is a CCIYH3*-L. Founded in 2015, the Holekamp/Turner Grant has awarded significant funds that give a USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) competitor the opportunity to represent the United States in the 7-year-old Championship at Mondial du Lion.
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.
In 2021, Strides for Equality Equestrian (SEE) and the United States Eventing Association (USEA) established the Ever So Sweet Scholarship which provides a fully-funded opportunity for riders from diverse backgrounds to train with five-star eventing Sara Kozumplik Murphy for one season (winter or summer). The scholarship funds cover full board and training costs for one horse, several lessons per week, housing, a stipend for living expenses, competition fees, and coaching at competitions. During the duration of their working student opportunity, participants learn to manage, care for, and compete horses in an immersive program and will have the opportunity to work as part of the team in all aspects of running a large, competitive barn, in addition to making critical professional connections that would otherwise be unattainable.
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.
Strides for Equality Equestrians (SEE) is delighted to announce that Nora Huynh-Watkins of Oregon has been selected as the Summer 2022 recipient of the Ever So Sweet Scholarship. The education and network that Huynh-Watkins will develop over two months at Sara Kozumplik's Overlook Farm will be influential as she navigates her way in the horse industry. Huynh-Watkins is the third recipient of the scholarship which covers expenses for full board and training costs for Huynh-Watkins' horse, several lessons per week, housing, a stipend to cover living expenses, competition fees, and coaching at competitions.
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 recipients of the 2022 Ocala Horse Properties Rebecca Farm Flight Grant were chosen today in a drawing at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS Equestrian. Rob and Chris Desino from Ocala Horse Properties and Sarah and Rebecca Broussard from The Event at Rebecca Farm made the selections by randomly choosing miniature airplanes with the applicants’ names on them.