United States Eventing Association

“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it,” says leadership expert and author Simon Sinek. As the equestrian industry is a passion-driven one, there is perhaps no quote better suited to eventing professionals. Driven by love for the horse and for the sport, finances can seem more of a necessary evil than a motivating factor for business owners and operators in the equestrian space.

The mere mention of the word “equitation” in eventing circles is often met with rolled eyes and raised hackles. No doubt for many eventers the word conjures up images of expensively clothed stick-people with overly arched backs posing as riders on their overly prepped mounts. Those images do not represent what the word describes, nor do those images represent how the discipline of correct and effective equitation has served the great icons of equestrian sports in all three disciplines (Think William Steinkraus, Reiner Klimke, and our own Jim Wofford).

While exercise off the horse is always useful to improve a rider’s cardio fitness, strength, and flexibility, there’s still no substitute for time spent in the saddle. If you’re looking for some variety in your training and have a safe, reliable horse, longing (also known as lunging) can be a useful tool to improve your seat, strength, and coordination in the saddle.

This month we’re going to talk about a subject you’re likely familiar with and a few others that might just surprise you a bit. We’re going to talk about the growth mindset: the belief that talent can grow with time and experience; that skills are just starting-points that can be enhanced with the right amount of effort and practice.

On July 24, the USEF Board of Directors convened for a special meeting. During the meeting, the Board approved an amendment to the protective headgear certification rule change, which was originally approved during the Mid-Year Board meeting in June.

I love homebred horses. In our Irish Event Programs, national and international, the breeder and breeding is listed. As a commentator, I always commend the breeder. Without the breeder putting the right horses on the ground, we are lost. Breeding is a real labor of love and involves a long wait. I love to see those homebreds getting into the best of hands and this 2-year-old, Redemption Storm, is beautifully handled and produced.

Wow, what an amazing experience and well worth the time, pressure, and nerves! As I sit down to write this article, I have just watched Kentucky with a new lens on rider, horse, position, questions, and quality of canter. I have also since coached at several events, and as I walked the courses with my students and watched riders go, I was doing so with a new perspective. I was reminded that I am more educated and better informed thanks to the Eventing Coaches Program (ECP).

First Say EPI is a quite tidy, lovely quality, blood-type filly. Of note, I normally see more quality showing in the Thoroughbred x Warmblood or Irish Sport Horse cross individual when the Thoroughbred is on the dam side, as in this case. I quote the great breeder Jan Greve who stood Quidam de Ravel and Voltaire, and the Thoroughbreds Mytens, Lauries Crusader, and Julio Mariner: ”If you want to see quality in the first cross to Thoroughbred bring it through the dam line." It’s not 100 percent, but it is way over the 50/50 that you would expect as it proposes that the individual can get more "get" from the dam line. Interesting and a bit worrying for us fellas!

The great football coach Vince Lombardi said, “We win our games in practice.” With the goal of having the most effective practices possible for horses, their riders, and their coaches, Cathy Wieschhoff explains some signs that can indicate when horse and rider should repeat an exercise, switch it up, or be done with that activity. Wieschhoff brings perspective as a five-star rider that has competed at the Kentucky Three-Day Event and Burghley Horse Trials, a USEF “R” Course Designer for eventing cross-country and show jumping, a former Area VIII chair and member of the USEA Board of Governors, and a Level V USEA ECP Certified Coach based out of Carriage Station Farm in Lexington, Kentucky.

USEA podcast host Nicole Brown is joined by Dr. Barry Miller of the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab and Catherine Winter of Ride EquiSafe for an important, informative, and engaging discussion about helmet safety. For more than a decade, the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab has investigated helmets in football, cycling, equestrian sports, and more, collecting more than 2 million data points related to injury and biomechanics research.