United States Eventing Association

Since 2015, the Holekamp/Turner Grant has awarded significant funds each year that enable a USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) graduate the opportunity to represent the United States in the FEI World Breeding Eventing Championships 7-year-old CCIYH3*-L at Mondial du Lion in France. This year, the Championships will be held on October 15-18, 2020 in Le Lion d ’Angers, France.

In 1993, Stephen Bradley had something to prove. It was the year after the Barcelona Olympic Games where Bradley had two unexpected refusals at the water complex. “It was very disappointing and a huge learning curve for me,” said Bradley. Little did he know, his path to redemption would result in winning the Burghley Horse Trials CCI4* (now CCI5*-L) – a victory so great that only two Americans have achieved: Bruce Davidson Sr. in 1974 and Bradley in 1993.

“Everyone who is a student of mine has to go volunteer,” said veteran five-star rider Jane Sleeper. Sleeper, who has made over 10 trips to the Kentucky Three-Day Event and completed Burghley in 2007, is particularly proud of her working student program at Jane Sleeper Eventing.

Today would have been the final day of the 2020 USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships but, due to COVID-19, the Championships, much like many other sporting events around the world, were canceled. Although the Championships didn’t occur this year, memories from last year’s Championships still hold strong with the winning teams. Out of the four years of having a USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship, Auburn University has taken home the national title twice (in 2018 and 2019).

In honor of what would have been the fifth annual USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships, let’s celebrate the past and learn how the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program has evolved into what it is today. Over the past five years, the program has grown into a national program with unparalleled enthusiasm and it first started in 2014.

The phase that captures the heart of an eventer, cross-country, is not for the weak. A true test of speed, stamina, and power – the essentials of cross-country – can have an effect on the horse’s body regardless of their power and strength. This is where hot and cold therapy come into play. Fire and ice, or in this case ice boots and hot packs, can be seen in the corners of barn aisles, in tack stalls at events, and on horses after cross-country.

In 2006, the third year of the USEA Young Event Horse Program (YEH), there were 18 qualifiers on the YEH calendar and 20 horses that competed in the championships held at Morven Park in Leesburg, Virginia.

During this downtime, the USEA members have submitted their favorite horse tricks to be featured on the USEA social media. The tricks have consisted of horse kisses and horse smiles, but one trick that stood out was the synchronized dancing done by Haley Geraci and Winston.

“Correct movement is not the same as scopey or extravagant movement,” said Susan Graham White, who has years of experience judging international event horses as well as future event horses. White, a USEF ‘S’ Eventing Judge, a Level 3 FEI Eventing Judge, and the Co-Chair of the USEA Future Event Horse (FEH) Committee, explains correct and flashy movement in event horses.

Did you know that 80 percent of the attendance at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event comes from outside the state of Kentucky? Did you also know that Equestrian Events Inc. (EEI) is a nonprofit organization that has organized the event since the start in 1978? Learn more about the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event and the organization that puts it all together from Lee Carter and Vanessa Coleman of EEI.