United States Eventing Association

“This is a lovely quality sort showing very good Thoroughbred refinement,” observed Chris Ryan of this 18-month old Irish Sport Horse/Thoroughbred gelding. “He is showing a good stance, though the off-hind could be slightly forward. It cannot be overstated that a photograph well taken like this helps hugely in the promotion of the horse."

After a spring season of uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, eventers were finally able to gallop out of the start box once again at the beginning of June, and the Plantation Field Horse Trials was one of the first events to take place after the suspension of competition was lifted.

“I think our bodies get used to riding and our overall fitness level just starts to plateau after a while. It gets to the point that it doesn’t matter how many horses we ride in a day, we just stay at the same level of fitness.”

For over 20 years the USEA Instructors’ Certification Program (ICP) has been educating all levels of eventing instructors to confirm their knowledge base, both theoretical and practical, upon which they will continue to build throughout their teaching lifetime. The USEA is now shining the spotlight each month on some of the 300 ICP Certified Instructors.

Overconditioned, obese, fat – all these terms can be used to describe an overweight horse. “Equine obesity is a term that we use to describe a horse that has gotten to the point where there’s so much fat accretion on their body that it’s going to cause health problems,” said Dr. Amy Burk, Associate Professor and Coordinator for the Equine Studies Program in the Animal and Avian Sciences Department at the University of Maryland.

The Grand Oaks Resort in Weirsdale, Florida (Area III) hosts the Grand Oaks Horse Trials in January and November, offering Beginner Novice through Preliminary levels. The Grand Oaks Resort also hosts equestrian events for dressage, hunter/jumpers, and driving.

Plantation Field Horse Trials was one of the first events back out of the gate when the competition suspension was lifted at the beginning of the month, and that meant they were the guinea pigs for seeing what the new USEF COVID-19 Action Plan looked like in practice.

Prior to starting a family, Adrienne Iorio of Apple Knoll Farm in Millis, Massachusetts used to make periodic trips to Scotland and England to shop for horses for clients. On one of those trips, she happened upon It’s Otto, an Irish Thoroughbred of unknown breeding, in a yard in Great Britain. “I walked into the yard where he lived, they pulled him out, and I loved him immediately,” Iorio recalled.

The Blue Ridge Mountain Horse Trials at Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC) in Mill Spring, North Carolina (Area II) are held yearly in September and offer Beginner Novice through Advanced horse trials divisions.

After nearly three long months of waiting, eventers were finally able to return to competition this past weekend with three events taking place at River Glen in New Market, Tennessee; Feather Creek in Norman, Oklahoma; and Plantation Field in Unionville, Pennsylvania. The USEA attended the Plantation Field Horse Trials on Friday to observe the return to competition amid new restrictions put in place by the USEF to protect all in attendance from COVID-19.