United States Eventing Association

A Letter from Max Corcoran: Keeping The Glass Half-Full

And just like that the spring season was gone . . .

All the plans.

All the excitement.

All the goals. The calendar now has scratch marks on the days we were meant to travel and nothing more for the rest of the season can be filled in yet.

So here we sit – watching the news, looking at maps, happy we don’t live in the worst hit areas and empathizing with the people that do.

What to do now? We need to keep this glass half full.

Some barns are open and some are shut – hopefully we respect the farm owner’s wishes and take care of fellow boarders and ourselves and take all precautions.

If you are riding, this is a great time to practice the basics. How round can you make that circle? How straight can you get to the jump AND go away from it? How long can you go without stirrups? It’s also a great time to get outside as the weather gets better and go for a long walk. We have to remember that it is still five weeks (at best case scenario) before any horse goes out the start box. We need to pace ourselves – this virus, unfortunately, is a marathon, not a sprint.

Some have chosen this time to give their horses some time off. The crews that are lucky enough to be in California or South Carolina or Georgia or Florida have already had a mini season. These horses have earned a bit of downtime.

Some people have made the decision not to ride. Riding is dangerous and if we do fall off that could take up another hospital bed for someone that is sick, but those horses still need care and movement and turnout.

What is important for ANY of these horses is to make sure when the end is in sight, we are ready to roll. Horses and riders are fit enough, shoes are on schedule, vaccines are done, teeth are floated, trailers are checked, we have practiced, we start back at the right level, and we can do our best for our horses to be successful.

We can make the most of this mini break – without competition we now have time, if we choose, to tidy up all the details and be more than ready when we hear “3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . have a great ride!”

COVID-19 Updates from USEA

• Event Cancellations and Responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19)
• USEA Extends Suspension of Recognizing Events (March 27, 2020)
• Resources for Eventing Businesses and Non-Profits Impacted by COVID-19 (March 24, 2020)
• A Letter From USEA CEO Rob Burk (March 17, 2020)
• USEA Podcast #253: Coronavirus (COVID-19) and U.S. Eventing (March 16, 2020)
• USEA to Suspend Recognizing Events for Two Weeks (March 14, 2020)
• USEA Coronavirus News