United States Eventing Association

The final day of the 2022 EA21 Regional Clinics wrapped up on Thursday, August 18 at Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles, California. The second day of the west-coast-based clinic began with a short lecture from clinician Rebecca Brown who summed up show jumping in two simple quotes: “Show Jumping is dressage with speed bumps,” and “Have an organized stride and maintain it through the lines and turns.” Both were a continuation of the work that was done the day before in the dressage session.

The USEA Emerging Athlete (EA21) Regional Clinics continued farther down the West Coast yesterday to the picturesque town of Paso Robles, California. Nestled in the countryside between rolling hills and vineyards, the beautiful Twin Rivers Ranch played host to this invitational event.

Riders returned to Aspen Farms in Yelm, Washington for the final day of the USEA Emerging Athlete (EA21) Regional Clinic with USEA Instructor's Certification Program (ICP) Level IV Certified Instructors Rebecca Brown on Tuesday. Coming off of a solid first day focusing primarily on proper flatwork and dressage basics, the twelve young riders took to the outdoor arena for the show jumping portion of the clinic.

Twelve of the West Coast’s top young athletes descended upon the beautiful Aspen Farms in Yelm, Washington for the first of two USEA Emerging Athlete (EA21) Regional Clinics to be held on the west coast. As the sun rose over the pines and with misty Mt. Rainier in the background, USEA Instructor's Certification Program (ICP) Level IV Certified Instructor and co-founder of the EA21 clinic series, Rebecca Brown, sat down with the eager young riders for the opening discussion that kicked off the two-day clinic.

The EA21 Central Clinic held at Holly Hill Farm in Benton, Louisiana resumed August 2 with Coach Rebecca “Bec” Braitling. The participants put into practice step-by-step guided foundational work to assist them in developing successful eventing careers with a focus on show jumping.

The USEA Emerging Athlete (EA21) Central Clinic at Holly Hill Farm in Benton, Louisiana began on August 1. US-based Australian eventer and USEA ICP level V certified instructor Rebecca “Bec” Braitling and twelve pre-selected USEA eventers came together to utilize the power of coaching and a willingness of participants to learn and improve with the goal of progressing toward a promising future as event riders.

During day two of the USEA Emerging Athlete Clinic (EA21), Pan-Am gold medalist and ICP instructor Shannon Lilley connected the dressage work from Day One with a series of over-fences exercises. Their first exercise was two verticals set on a figure-eight. The goal of the exercise was to use the arena fenceline to get square to the verticals. This could be achieved by not overbending in the turns. Lilley suggested coming out of the figure-eight loop with slight flexion to the outside, which enabled the rider to get their hips and the horse's hips straight. She was looking for a balanced, rhythmical canter that stayed the same around the figure-eight.

Day two of the USEA Emerging Athlete 21 (EA21) regional clinic at Stable View built on the foundation laid on the flat during Monday’s lessons. Led by USEA Instructors’ Certification Program (ICP) Level 4 instructor Emily Beshear, the jumping lessons shared courses between each three-member group with takeaways tailoring each to each participant’s individual needs.

What are the six levels of the dressage training pyramid? This was the opening prompt to the riders on day one of the USEA Emerging Athlete 21 (EA21) clinic. Twelve athletes were selected out of 150 applicants to ride at Morven Park with Pan-American Games gold medalist and USEA Instructor's Certification Program (ICP) instructor Shannon Lilley. The USEA EA21 program's goal is to support an increased pipeline of young riders from the grassroots of eventing to the sport's top professionals.

Stiffness? Loss of balance? Reactivity? Emily Beshear has an exercise for that, and she unpacked many of these from her toolbox to share with twelve eager riders selected to participate in the 2022 USEA Emerging Athlete 21 (EA21) Program.