United States Eventing Association

Demo Horses and Riders Needed for the 2020 USEA Educational Symposium with Andreas Dibowski

Ride with one of Germany’s top event riders and sign up as a demo rider or demo horse at the 2020 USEA Educational Symposium on February 17-20 at Barnstaple South in Ocala, Florida. The featured clinician for the ICP and YEH Symposia is Andreas Dibowski. The YEH Symposium will also have Marilyn Payne and Maren Engelhardt as clinicians. FEH Committee Chairs Susan Graham White and Robin Walker will be the featured clinicians for the FEH Symposium.

February 17-18: ICP Symposium

Riders with experience at the Beginner Novice through Advanced levels are welcome to apply to be a demo rider for the ICP Symposium held on Monday, February 17 and Tuesday, February 18. Dibowski will cover dressage on Monday with two riders per hour with the last 15 minutes devoted to Q&A. Tuesday morning from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. will be show jumping lessons and Tuesday afternoon from 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Dibowski will teach cross-country lessons with a focus on riding related fences and lines specific to the level of competition. Tuesday’s lesson groups will be small with four to five riders in each group and lessons will last approximately 75 minutes with the last 15 minutes devoted to Q&A.

The ICP demo rider fee is $125 per ride/lesson. After riders are selected, payment can be made. Discounted rates are available for ICP Instructors. All riders will be notified by email at the beginning of February 2020 if they were selected to ride in the Symposium.

For anyone interested in attending the ICP Symposium as a demo rider, please fill out an ICP Demo Rider Registration Form and send to Lauren Gash at [email protected].

February 19: YEH Symposium

This year, the YEH Symposium will be looking for a wide range of horses at any skill level and at any age (preferably 5 years old or older). The YEH Symposium will also be looking for proven Advanced/five-star horses to demonstrate a successful gallop.

The YEH symposium will be split into three portions: dressage, jumping, and gallop. For the dressage portion, a group of three horses will do dressage flatwork with a focus on evaluation of gaits, and a separate group of three horses will be asked to perform a dressage test. For the jumping portion, three horses will be used for a jump session with Dibowski evaluating their jumping ability and seven horses will be asked to jump a full course. For the gallop portion, six horses will be asked to demonstrate a gallop.

Whether it’s a lower level horse, upper level horse, amateur friendly horse, kid friendly horse, etc. – any type of horse is welcome to sign up for the YEH Symposium. The YEH demo horse might have the option to be picked for Dibowski to ride himself. For anyone interested, please fill out this form and send to Claire Kelley at [email protected].

There is no fee for YEH demo horses, but riders must register themselves for the Symposium here. Please specify on the registration form that you are registering as a demo rider. Payment will not be processed until the YEH demo riders have been selected (two weeks before symposium).

February 20: FEH Symposium

Susan Graham White and Robin Walker will be the lead clinicians for Thursday, February 20 with the main focus being on judge testing and the assessment of a future event horse. The FEH Symposium is looking for young horses (ages 1-4) to participate.

Thursday will consist of individual assessments of yearlings, 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds, and 4-year-olds as they demonstrate in hand presentations. A group of 4-year-olds will also be used for the under-saddle portion. There will be no jump chute featured during the FEH Symposium.

For anyone interested in signing up their young horse (ages 1-4) as a demo horse for the FEH Symposium, please fill out this form and send to Claire Kelley at [email protected].

There is no fee for FEH demo horses, but owners must register themselves for the symposium here. Please specify on the registration form that you are registering as a demo horse. Payment will not be processed until the FEH demo horses have been selected (two weeks before symposium).

The USEA will have waiting lists for both YEH and FEH and the selected demo horses will be notified two weeks before symposium.

The USEA has booked a hotel block at the Courtyard by Marriott in Ocala, Florida. Click here to receive the discounted rate or call (352) 237-8000. Make sure to book a room before Friday, January 24, 2020 to receive the special USEA discount.

About the USEA Instructors’ Certification Program

Instructors are essential to the training of riders and horses for safe and educated participation in the sport of eventing. The USEA Instructors’ Certification Program (ICP) was initiated in 2002 to educate all levels of eventing instructor with essential training principles upon which those instructors can continue to build throughout their teaching careers. ICP offers educational Workshops and Assessments by which both regular instructors, Level I through Level IV, Young Event Horse (YEH) instructors, and Young Event Horse professional horse trainers can become ICP certified. Additional Information about ICP’s goals, benefits, Workshops, and Assessments is available on the USEA website. Names and contact information for current ICP-certified instructors, YEH instructors, and YEH professional horse trainers are available on the USEA website as well, listed by ICP certificate level and type and by USEA Area. Click here to learn more about the Instructors’ Certification Program. The USEA would like to thank Stable Secretary, sponsor of the ICP program.

About the USEA Young Event Horse Program

The USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) Program was first established in 2004 as an eventing talent search. Much like similar programs in Europe, the YEH program was designed to identify young horses that possess the talent and disposition to, with proper training, excel at the uppermost levels of the sport. The ultimate goal of the program is to distinguish horses with the potential to compete at the four- and five-star levels, but many fine horses that excel at the lower levels are also showcased by the program.

The YEH program provides an opportunity for breeders and owners to exhibit the potential of their young horses while encouraging the breeding and development of top event horses for the future. The program rewards horses who are educated and prepared in a correct and progressive manner. At qualifying events, youngsters complete a dressage test and a jumping/galloping/general impression phase. At Championships, young horses are also evaluated on their conformation in addition to the dressage test and jumping/galloping/general impression phase. Click here to learn more about the Young Event Horse Program.

The USEA would like to thank Bates Saddles, SmartPak, Standlee Hay Company, C4 Belts and Etalon Diagnostics for sponsoring the Young Event Horse Program.

About the USEA Future Event Horse Program

The USEA introduced the Future Event Horse Program in 2007 in response to the popularity of the already established USEA Young Event Horse Program. Where the YEH program assesses 4- and 5-year-old prospective event horses based on their performance, the FEH program evaluates yearlings, 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds, and 4-year-olds for their potential for the sport based on conformation and type. Yearlings, 2-year-olds, and 3-year-olds are presented in-hand while 4-year-olds are presented under saddle at the walk, trot, and canter before being stripped of their tack and evaluated on their conformation. Divisions are separated by year and gender. At the Championships, 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds are also required to demonstrate their potential over fences in an additional free-jump division. Click here to learn more about the Future Event Horse Program.

The USEA would like to thank Bates Saddles, SmartPak, Standlee Hay Company, C4 Belts, Etalon Diagnostics and Guardian Horse Bedding for sponsoring the Future Event Horse Program.