United States Eventing Association

The inaugural USEA Emerging Athletes 21 (EA21) program national camp wrapped up on Friday after a wonderful week of education and excitement. USEA Director of Coaching, David O’Connor led the camp with 19 selected athletes for the EA21 national program this year, which took place at Overlook Farm South, in Ocala, Florida.

It was back to show jumping for the final day of the 2023 USEA EA21 National Camp. This year’s participants kicked off the last day learning about course design and beneficial groundwork concepts.

The fourth day of the EA21 National Camp was all about everyone’s favorite phase: cross-country. The continuing themes of preparation and following the basic rules of riding as discussed throughout the week so far were applied as the riders traveled to the Florida Horse Park for a day of cross-country schooling following the morning lecture.

The third day of the 2023 USEA EA21 National Camp returned the focus back to dressage while still thinking about the general horsemanship necessary to be successful in every ride. Similar to what was discussed regarding jumping on the second day, the morning lecture touched on the importance of preparation in the dressage ring. EA21 Director of Coaching David O’Connor noted that riders should practice having maneuvers be visibly seen right at the letter, which means preparing before the letter and being finished with previous movements by the time the horse reaches the letter.

The EA21 National Camp continued on Tuesday for the second day of the five-day camp with a focus on show jumping. The day began once again with a lecture by EA21 Director of Coaching David O’Connor on the theory of jumping. The overarching theme was preparation: how to prepare the horse ahead of time to have the ability to solve a variety of puzzles, prepare before and during the approach to a fence, and prepare as a rider to execute the rider's responsibilities.

Starting off the year with the goal of improving themselves as equestrians, 19 young riders, selected from the five regional EA21 Clinics that took place in the summer of 2022, came together on Monday at Overlook Farm in Ocala, Florida, for the first day of the USEA Emerging Athlete 21 (EA21) National Camp. The weeklong camp which runs through January 6, 2023, got underway on Monday morning with an educational seminar led by EA21 Director of Coaching, Olympian, and U.S. eventing legend, David O’Connor.

This summer, five USEA Emerging Athlete 21 (EA21) Clinics took place across the country giving young riders the opportunity to hone in on their horsemanship skills, improve their consistency in the saddle and show ring, and create a pipeline for potential team riders by identifying and developing young talent. We caught up with many of the riders from the Central session to hear their takes on the USEA’s newest program.

The United States Eventing Association (USEA) is proud to announce the selected Young Rider athletes for the Emerging Athletes 21 Program (EA21) national camp, now that the EA21 regional clinics have concluded. Twelve riders were accepted into each of the five regional EA21 clinics, taught by USEA Eventing Coaches Program (ECP) instructors, and now riders have been selected from the regional clinics to participate in the inaugural EA21 national camp this winter.

This summer, five USEA Emerging Athlete 21 (EA21) Clinics took place across the country giving young riders the opportunity to hone in on their horsemanship skills, improve their consistency in the saddle and show ring, and create a pipeline for potential team riders by identifying and developing young talent. We caught up with many of the riders from the two East Coast sessions to hear their takes on the USEA’s newest program.

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.