Each year, every one of the 10 USEA Area programs hosts their own Championships where the best riders have the opportunity to be crowned the Area Champion at their level. Each Area maintains slightly different qualification requirements for their respective Championships and offers Championship classes through either Preliminary or Intermediate level. Those details can be found here. This year’s Area Championship season began with the Area III Championships at Chattahoochee Hills on July 8-9 and concluded with the Area II Championships at the Virginia Horse Trials and the Area V Championships at Holly Hill during the final weekend of October. Last month, we highlighted the winners of the Area Championships that took place in August and September, and as the 2017 competition season draws to a close, we’d like to take a moment to recognize the winners of the Area Championships that took place in October.
Area IV’s Championships took place at Heritage Park Horse Trials for Beginner Novice through Preliminary levels on October 6-8, as did the Area IX Championships for Beginner Novice through Preliminary levels at The Event at Skyline. Las Cruces Horse Trials hosted the Area X Championships for Beginner Novice through Preliminary on October 14-15. The Area VI Championships were hosted by Fresno County Horse Park for Beginner Novice through Intermediate on October 20-22. The USEA Area Championships wrapped up over the weekend of October 28-29 with the Beginner Novice through Intermediate Area II Championships at the Virginia Horse Trials and the Area V Training, Preliminary, and Intermediate Championships at Holly Hill Horse Trials.
Congratulations to these Area Championship winners!
Area II Championships – Virginia Horse Trials, October 26-29, 2017
Click here for Area II Championships complete results.
Area IV Championships – Heritage Park Horse Trials, October 6-8, 2017
Rebecca Hunt and Snowflake Lane, winner of the Area IV Adult Rider Low Score Award & the Novice Championship division at Heritage Park Horse Trials. Photo courtesy of the USEA Area IV Facebook page.
Click here for Area IV Championships complete results.
Area V Championships – Holly Hill Horse Trials, October 28-29, 2017
Click here for Area V Championships complete results.
Area VI Championships – Fresno County Horse Park Horse Trials, October 20-22, 2017
One of the many riders in the Area VI Championships taking their photo in front of the backdrop provided by Fresno County Horse Park. Photo courtesy of the Fresno County Horse Park Facebook page.
Area VI Intermediate Champions Hilary Niemann and Undercover's cross-country round. Video courtesy of Ride On Video.
Click here for Area VI Championships complete results.
Area IX Championships – The Event at Skyline, October 6-8, 2017
Click here for Area IX Championships complete results.
Area X Championships – Las Cruces Horse Trials, October 14-15, 2017
Karissa Oliver on FDF Recherche, winners of the Area X Training Championship at Las Cruces Horse Trials. Photo courtesy of the Las Cruces Horse Trials Facebook page.
Click here for Area X Championships complete results.
"Too plain" is not a description that fits today's wire-to-wire winner of the Twin Rivers Spring International's inaugural CCI4*-L. But that's what Amber Levine heard five years ago after importing the now 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding (Classe VDL x Walta) as a sales prospect. So, she kept him. His long-delayed debut at the CCI4*-L level proved the wisdom of that decision.
This year’s pre-Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event USEA Official Podcast isn’t a traditional preview show, but rather Host Nicole Brown and the team of Max Corcoran, Rob Burk, and Diarm Byrne are discussing their favorite Kentucky memories as everyone gets giddy for the 2021 event!
At the second-to-last of 40 efforts, "I thought, 'This is actually happening,'" said Amber Levine of a faultless finish with Cellar Farm's Cinzano today to stay on their 31.5 lead going into show jumping tomorrow morning in the Twin Rivers Spring International CCI4*-L. The Jeffs Hot Tub Waves complex at 19 a/b was the awkward exception to a Hugh Lochore-designed course that otherwise "rode great" for the 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding (Classe VDL x Walta) in his long-delayed debut at the level. An entirely new portion of the course around the racetrack featured a series of bright-white painted obstacles, but nothing distracted Cinzano's "tunnel vision for those flags." Levine expects a similar game attitude tomorrow and has a rail to spare.
Black stallion antics after the CCI4*-L jog inspection yesterday were not a preview of Cinzano's dressage test today. "When you are riding and working him, he's all into what you are doing," says Amber Levine, who owns the 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding (Classe VDL x Walta) through her Cellar Farm. A 31.5 dressage test puts them atop a field of four, three of which, including Cinzano, are first-timers in the division in Paso Robles, California.