United States Eventing Association

If you’ve competed in an FEI event in recent years, there’s a good chance you’ve had the pleasure of riding a show jumping course designed by Chris Barnard or Marc Donovan. Collectively, the course designing duo has left their mark on dozens of venues throughout the U.S., with some of the most notable being The Event at Rebecca Farm (Kalispell, Montana), Tryon International Equestrian Center (Mill Spring, North Carolina), Stable View (Aiken, South Carolin), Carolina International (Raeford, North Carolina), Galway Downs (Temecula, California), and the USEA American Eventing Championships.

With the AEC in our rearview mirror, the United States Eventing Association (USEA) is officially starting the countdown to the 2024 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention in Seattle, Washington! On Dec. 12-15, the USEA invites its members to join us at The Westin Seattle hotel to discuss, learn, and enjoy being surrounded by fellow eventing enthusiasts.

The United States Eventing Association (USEA) is thrilled to announce that eventer and horseman Tik Maynard will give the keynote address at the 2024 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention, held Dec. 12-15 in Seattle, Washington.

On Dec. 12-15, the United States Eventing Association, Inc. (USEA) will be relocating to Area VII for the 2024 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention in Seattle, Washington! The Emerald City is known for its culture, cuisine, and coffee, as the birthplace of Starbucks, and it will serve as the perfect backdrop for a week centered around horse and rider safety. The USEA Annual Meeting & Convention is hosted annually to allow our dedicated USEA members and supporters to discuss, learn, and enjoy being surrounded likeminded individuals, and this year’s event is set to be another exciting opportunity to bond over the sport.

One of the hottest topics in any equestrian industry is gut health. Attendees of the 2023 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention were treated to a crash course in the equine digestive system led by Doug Leavitt and Alex Brannon with USEA sponsor Nutrena Feeds. Leavitt and Brannon talked in-depth about the role probiotics and calcite can play in gut and immune support in horses and how Nutrena’s newest proprietary blend, Digestive Shield, checks all of the boxes.

There are currently 48 states which are covered under the Equine Activity Liability Act. This act, which does not apply in the states of California or Maryland, shifts the burden of the risk involved in equine activities onto the participant. However, as USEA Board of Governor member and attorney Yvonne Ocrant pointed out during her seminar, “Equine Law 101: Understanding & Minimizing Risk of Liability in Equine Activities,” which took place during the 2023 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention, there are always exceptions to every rule.

In recent years, the importance of diversity in equestrian sport has taken the spotlight, and Strides For Equality Equestrians (SEE) is working towards making all disciplines, including eventing, a more friendly and welcoming place for Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC), as well as underrepresented groups.

The USEA Foundation’s mission is to “protect and preserve the sport of eventing for future generations and to provide support for the core educational, safety, and equine welfare programs of the USEA.” The Foundation also administers educational grants for riders with the intent of preparing them to reach their goals. There are a variety of grants available to USEA members of all ages and experiences and for those who aren’t riders as well. Most grants come through individual donors who have a passion for a specific area of the sport.

Attendees of the 2023 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention were in for a real treat with this year’s keynote speaker, Dr. Temple Grandin. Dr. Grandin is an icon in the worlds of agriculture and autism and is most notably known for applying her own experiences as an autistic individual to her studies on how stress impacts both humans and animals. In this year’s keynote address, Dr. Grandin shared several different scenarios encountered in both her studies and the studies of her animal science students at Colorado State University that apply to the equestrian community.

The last Olympic long-format was run in 2000 in Sydney, Australia, and the last Kentucky long-format was in 2005. After the transition to the current eventing format, the USEA Classic Three-Day Task Force was born in 2005 by supporters of the traditional format who felt that its influence on the sport was critical in the education of horses and riders.