United States Eventing Association

Cohesion Comes First for the Randolph-Macon College Eventing Team

If you attended the USEA Intercollegiate & Interscholastic Eventing Championships this year at Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina, you would have been hard pressed to look anywhere on grounds without seeing Randolph-Macon College’s signature yellow and black school colors buzzing around. The college fielded a personal record-breaking five teams made up of 18 students at this year’s championship and brought a substantial entourage of grooms, supporters, and fans along for the ride as well.

Not only were the R-MC yellow jackets formidable in numbers, but they were loud and proud in their cheering of their fellow teammates as well. Whether they were dressed in bee antenna headbands and yellow tutus at the cross-country finish or tending to the team horses in their dedicated barn, it was clear that Randolph-Macon Eventing put an emphasis on camaraderie and team cohesion at the event.

“Winning the Spirit Award was definitely one of our biggest goals for the championship weekend,” said former team captain and recent R-MC graduate, Julia Fugate. “We have a really great team dynamic and think we are really deserving of the award, so we did a lot of planning decoration-wise and how we were going to dress the horses up. But how our team interacts and how well we work together, that’s just how our team is.”

It has been clear for several seasons that the R-MC Eventing Team was on the brink of a Spirit Award win. As recently as 2020, there were less than a dozen students on the school’s roster, which has now grown to over 30 members, but their presence was always felt at the championship regardless of their size. The team takes great pride in always stressing the importance of lending a helping hand, even going as far as having some of their supporter’s volunteer at this year’s championship when Stable View asked for extra help.

Coming off of such a monumental win may seem daunting for the executive board that just stepped up at the start of the 2024-2025 school year in August, but current team captain, Allison Carey, knows her experience over the last year has prepared her for the challenge at hand.

“Julia is one of my best friends, and I was the head of fundraising last year, so I got the opportunity to shadow her before taking over as captain,” explained Carey on transitioning to her new role. “A big thing is that we have a zero-tolerance policy for drama, and we do a lot of social activities to bring people together. The team moves onto campus early as athletes, so we do an orientation for everyone to get to know each other, 'speed dating' to allow the upper classmen and lower classmen to mingle, monthly team dinners to hang out in an informal setting, and team tailgates at football games for fun.”

In addition to their rigorous social calendar, R-MC Eventing Team members are expected to take weekly lessons with Craig Barr, R-MC’s Eventing Team coach, and the team offers several additional competitive and educational opportunities exclusively for their members throughout the year. Last semester, five-star eventer Emily Mastervich Beshear came to campus for a mini-clinic, and Barr intends to have her back soon to provide the students with additional access to top-level coaching.

Another perk of joining R-MC Eventing is that members in good standing can compete in two events each school year free of charge. This means that any team member that is qualified and interested in competing in the Virginia Horse Center Eventing Fall H.T., which hosts an Intercollegiate Team Challenge, or the Intercollegiate Eventing Championship in the spring, can have their entry completely covered by the team. This incentive encourages their members to keep up with their weekly lesson requirements and meeting schedule, which in turn, helps their bond with their teammates grow stronger.

Randolph-Macon Eventing credits one final piece of the puzzle to their success as a group, and that is the Randolph-Macon Equestrian Center, which is nestled just five minutes off campus and is home to most of the team’s horses. “We have a massive team spirit, and I think a lot of that stems from the fact that we have our own barn,” said Barr. “The students are all in there together every day, and they’re very supportive. They’re all there for the team, not just themselves. It’s an individual sport, but when we’re at these events, they all want everyone to do well. That team bond is massive for us.”

The school has clearly taken notice of the team’s dedication in recent years, as they were just promoted to an Intercollegiate Program this fall, a step up from their former “club” status, that allows them to access more funding and recognition for their members. Barr noted that this move was made with the help of the Director of Equestrian Programs, John West, to support the on-campus equestrian facilities, access to on-site training, and bring further cohesion to the multitude of students that share the center, including the Eventing Team and the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association team. While it is a new designation, Barr and Carey are excited at the prospect of having more investment from the college in the program and the chance to grow even further.

“Everyone is improving all the time. They’re a really good team, and all the students are there to learn and improve and do as well as they can,” Barr noted when asked about any overarching attributes that R-MC Eventing Team members share. “We only had three riders at the championship at in 2023, and I had 18 this year, which goes to show how much we’ve grown since I started here three years ago. Obviously, school comes first, but they all want to be better, and I just try to help them get there.”

Barr has an impressive resume in his own right that lends to the students continued success. Originally from Northern England, Barr worked for Dutch Olympian, Andrew Heffernan, for just short of a decade, gaining valuable experience grooming for him all the way up to the London Olympics in 2012 and training under his tutelage. Then, he went on to serve as the Head Rider for Dassett Eventing for nine years, producing young horses from their 4-year-old year all the way through the four-star level before making the move stateside for the eventing coach position at R-MC. His experience working with horses at every stage of their career now lends to his ability to help the team riders, who range in experience from the Starter through Preliminary level.

Carey noted while they don’t have any formal plans for the 2025 Championship just yet, the team is laser focused on continuing to grow and improve in the coming months to ensure their continued success. With over 20 of their members aiming for the Virginia Horse Center Fall H.T., there is no doubt that they are well on their way to another impressive showing at next years championship.

About the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program

The USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program was established in 2014 to provide a framework within which eventing teams and individual competitors could flourish at universities and colleges across the country. The USEA offers a discount of $25 on annual USEA memberships for current students at universities and colleges registered as Affiliates with the USEA. Many events across the country offer Intercollegiate Team Challenges where collegiate eventers can compete individually or on teams with their fellow students. In Intercollegiate Team Challenges, each rider’s score is multiplied by a coefficient appropriate for their level to account for differences in level difficulty, and then the individual scores are added together to determine the team score. The USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship is a capstone event for the program, which is held annually in the spring. The 2025 USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship will be held at Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina, on May 3-4. Click here to learn more about the Intercollegiate Eventing Program.

The USEA would like to thank Bates Saddles, Horse & Country, Kerrits, Nunn Finer, Sidelines, U.S. Equestrian, WeRideTogether, and World Equestrian Brands for sponsoring the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program.