United States Eventing Association

"Pick your lane and stick with it; it's all building blocks in the training scale." This was coach Emily Mastervich Beshear's central message for each of the morning dressage sessions during day 1 of the USEA Emerging Athlete U21 (EA21) East Coast II Regional Clinic held at Stable View.

Did you miss our coverage of the USEA Emerging Athlete U21 (EA21) East Coast I Clinic held last month? Fear not, you can find that here, and scroll down to see a few more of our favorite moments from the two-day clinic, which was held at Morven Park in Leesburg, Virginia.

It was 1987 in southern Illinois when an eventing superstar was born. Lauren Nicholson’s parents were accustomed to seeing horses throughout their neighborhood, but they knew nothing about equestrian sport at the elite level. When Lauren was 6 years old, they helped her pursue lessons at a local stable in southern Illinois, but they had no idea how far those lessons would eventually take her. A passion was ignited that was so strong, it would drive her to help the United States claim the team gold medal at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada, and go on to compete at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.

"The riders are getting stronger every year, and you can see the kids that have been in the camp for several years," USEA Emerging Athlete U21 (EA21) Coach Rebecca Brown said of the EA21 athletes on the West Coast. Brown just wrapped up the EA21 West Coast I Regional Clinic last week at Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles, California, and will go on to coach the athletes named to the USEA West Coast II Regional Clinic at Aspen Farm in Yelm, Washington, on Aug. 13-14.

Claire Allen remembers when she was 11 years old, having just made the switch from the hunter/jumper ring to three-day eventing. She told her new eventing trainer that her goal was to one day compete in the United States Equestrian Federation’s Eventing Young Rider Championships.

The lesson plans for jumping day of the EA21 Regional Clinic West I proved to be just as consistent as day one. The moral of the day? Ride the line.

The goal versus the art was the theme of the day for the 2024 USEA Emerging Athletes U21 (EA21) West Coast I Regional Clinic. From green bean young horses to FEI veterans, the goal was the same for every rider: working the way up the pyramid of the German training scale. The art of riding was how they got there.

Flatwork is the foundation for jumping, as most eventers know. And today, on the first day of the USEA Emerging Athlete (EA21) East I Regional Clinic at Morven Park, coach Shannon Lilley got down to the nitty-gritty of the German Training Scale to help 12 riders with their own horses and on their briefly borrowed mounts at the end of each session when they swapped horses with their lesson partner.

The summer USEA Emerging Athletes U21 (EA21) Regional Clinics are officially in full swing with the completion of the EA21 Central Clinic last week and the EA21 East I (Leesburg, Virginia) and West I (Paso Robles, California) Clinics kicking off today. As we await the coverage from the East and West Clinics, led by EA21 Coaches Shannon Riley and Rebecca Brown respectively, we thought we would share some of our favorite moments from the EA21 Central Clinic which took place in Kansas City, Missouri last week.

Upon completion of the flatwork session during the first day of the USEA Emerging Athletes U21 (EA21) Central Clinic, EA21 coach Bec Braitling allowed the 12 participants to play a heavy hand in designing the show jumping course for day two.