United States Eventing Association

AEC Redemption: Giving Back to the Event that Gives Me Hope

A Texan born and raised, 19-year-old Kate Boggan moved to Leesburg, Virginia for a month to complete an internship with the USEA, focusing on preparation for the 2014 Nutrena USEA AEC presented by VTO Saddlery. She is a Sophomore at Texas A&M and plans to major in Animal Science. Here, she explains why the AEC holds a special place in her heart.

It’s almost impossible to explain to your non-horsey friends what your horses mean to you. I’ve come to realize that if they don’t get it, they probably never will. There’s nothing like the bond shared between horse and rider, and I shared that partnership with my horse Natural Disaster.

Nate was a bay 2001 16.1 Thoroughbred gelding with a baby face that could melt you, and a heart that gave everything on course. My sophomore year of high school was our first year of recognized competition, and the result of that first year was a qualification for the 2011 American Eventing Championships. In my mind, we had just made my Olympic dreams tangible. There was nothing like qualifying for the AEC. I’ve always felt that competition is a great way to showcase your partnership, and it was a concrete affirmation that Nate and I had done something special in the last year.

I was on cloud nine, but that cloud quickly turned into a storm. At the beginning of the summer our vet discovered that Nate had kidney disease. An extremely rare condition in horses, there is no known cure or treatment for the disease. My vet told me Nate was born this way and had probably been living with less than 100% kidney function for his entire life. The silver lining was that Nate’s disease wasn’t very aggressive. The ten-year-old would probably be just fine for the next two or three years and then he might start slowing down. He was perfectly healthy and strong enough to continue competing, and as long as things didn’t get worse there was no reason why he couldn’t compete at the AEC at Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia.

But it wasn’t meant to be.

In the last month leading up to the show, Nate took a turn for the worst. His condition deteriorated quickly, and three weeks before the AEC, Nate had to be put down. I said goodbye to my partner and best friend.

It seemed impossible to attend the AEC without Nate, but several riders from my show family had qualified, including my best friend at the time, Sarah Sprayberry. She had worked so hard to get there and overcome an extreme case of show anxiety so she deserved to have her best friend in her cheering squad.

I made the trip to Chattahoochee Hills in Georgia to support them and I was awestruck; eventers from all across the country were there to compete for the Champion title from Beginner Novice to Advanced. Everywhere I looked, there were horses and jumps and more horses and trailers and more horses and tack and still more horses! It was a crazy horse girl’s dream come true.

I helped braid, muck stalls, walk horses, tack up for rides and I cried a lot. I cried walking the cross country course, I cried watching Sarah in warm up, and I sobbed when Sarah dedicated her cross-country ride to me and Nate. She wrote, “We ride for Kate and Nate” on her pinny number and competed for us in the National Championship since we couldn’t.

It was an odd emotional experience for me as I grieved for Nate and simultaneously rejoiced in my friends’ successes. In the end, immersing myself in the horse community really was the best therapy.

A year later, I fell in love with and purchased my current horse, Louisianadecision – Louie. Then, college started and my competitive side had to take a back seat in my life, satisfying itself with local schooling shows.

Living in Texas means that horse trials are few and miles between. So when it was announced that the 2013 AEC would be held in Tyler at Texas Rose Horse Park, the entire Eventing community in the Lone Star State did a happy dance, myself included. When the much-anticipated week finally arrived, a friend of mine from college and I road-tripped to Tyler to be in the eventing buzz again. It’s a modern form of torture to go to a horse show and not have your own horse to ride, but it was worth it.

I was able to make the personal connection with the USEA staff and inquired about completing an internship with them over the summer for college credit. When I was offered the internship and learned that I would be working specifically on the AEC, I was elated. Since my first experience with the event in 2011, I have a sentimental spot in my heart for the AEC. Being able to work on preparation for the event from the other side feels like redemption and a hope for a return (with a horse) in the future.

In the month that I have been working here I’ve been blown away by all the work the organization pours into this event. As a competitor, you don’t realize to sheer amount of time that goes into planning a single event. Every day at the office was spent making reservations, contacting vendors, or handling sponsorships and prizes. I even spent an entire day polishing silver trophies to be awarded at the AEC. By the end of the day, my hands were black with polish!

The USEA and the eventing community have given me so much through the course of my riding career. Being able to work on the AEC and aid in the preparation for the event has been my way of giving back to the sport that has already given me so much.