United States Eventing Association

Here are the last few additions to this year’s Eventing Advent Calendar…hope everyone has a safe, restful, and joyous holiday!

Three quick, simple, but awesome little gifts today…consider it the Easy Mac day of this Advent Calendar. USEA Area Annual Meetings, darling ponies, and a horsemanship wishlist from a top eventer are the topics of the day.

Can you believe we only have a little more than a week before Christmas? Yikes. What happened to 2010? Although, with the sudden unexpected dumping of several inches of snow in our area today, the shimmering landscape is a bit more holiday-esque…rather than the permafrost, rock-hard “blah” we’ve had for weeks.

Well, somehow I missed out on a few more days of the advent calendar on the final days of the Convention…oops! Sorry about that – here are a few little tidbits to brighten your day…

I apologize for the delay in posting this week’s advent calendar “gifts” – with sole concentration on the USEA Annual Meeting and Convention in Scottsdale, Arizona, this little project was moved to the backburner. Rest assured, we have hours upon hours of video coverage for you all to enjoy, and will be posting these throughout the next several days, so be sure to check back.

The USEA Annual Meeting & Convention is always a homecoming of sorts for eventers across the country, and this year is proving to be no exception. USEA members from coast to coast gather together for a weekend free of daily horsey commitments to revel in brainstorming sessions, memories, and a chance to chitchat and catch up with friends.

The USEA crew has just arrived in Phoenix for the Annual Meeting & Convention, and let me tell you, this hotel is fantastic! I think the Convention attendees are going to absolutely love it. And of course, for those of you who weren’t able to attend the Meeting this year, we’ll be bringing you plenty of meeting coverage, photos, videos, and interviews throughout the weekend.

The post about tailgating at Rolex got me thinking about spectators at events. There are so many fabulous events across the country, and each one offers something special and unique to competitors as well as their supporter crew. I’m most familiar with events in Area II, but I’ve been lucky enough to scope out some winners from other locations as well.

TGIF! This weekend is calling for blue skies, but freezing temperatures in my neck of the woods – I think a final late-autumn trail ride might be in order. What are you doing this weekend? Shoveling snow in New York? Soaking up the sun in Florida? Giving your horse his second (or third…) clip of the season? Shaking the hibernating stinkbugs out of your heavy winter blankets?

This weekend is the annual Middleburg (Virginia) Christmas parade…always a popular event in the eventing-mecca of northern Virginia. If you’re in the area, be sure to swing by and check it out – the local hunt will be there (along with the hounds, of course), crowds of horsey folks, and herds of corgis and Jack Russells underfoot.