The Old Tavern Horse Trials is an exciting new addition to the event season hosted at the Great Meadow Field Events Center in The Plains, Va. This year, the event takes place September 25-26, and will be run by Five Rings Eventing, the same organizer who puts on the Great Meadow International!
The Great Meadow Foundation, a 501(c)3 organization founded by philanthropist, Arthur “Nick” Arundel, was established in the 1980s with a mission to “preserve open space in service to the community and to advance equestrian sport.” Great Meadow has hosted numerous three-day events throughout the years attracting top riders to their elite events.
After a brief break, the purchase of additional property by the Great Meadow Foundation in 2014 allowed for eventing to return to the venue, in addition to several other equestrian disciplines including steeplechasing, polo, and show jumping. Also in 2014, Olympian David O’Connor created an Advanced-level Prep Trial to tune up the US Eventing Team for the 2014 World Equestrian Games which led to the start of the Great Meadow International. In 2016, Great Meadow acquired more land to double the size of their property, installed a world-class equestrian arena, and hosted the first FEI Eventing Nations Cup™ ever held in North America.
Five Rings Eventing is a high-performance event organizer and management company founded by Darrin Mollett and David O’Connor. They have big plans for incorporating the Old Tavern Horse Trials into their event schedule. Organizer Darrin Mollett shared, “We are so excited about Old Tavern Horse Trials at Great Meadow. We are thrilled to be able to offer levels up to Intermediate to our competitors. Great Meadow is a top-notch facility that is very historic and special to the equestrian community.”
The Old Tavern Horse Trials cross-country course has been installed on the Fleming Farm parcel owned by the Great Meadow Foundation. It has been created by course designer David O’Connor and course builder and designer Jon Wells. Competitors will also have access to a state-of-the-art oval show jumping arena and warm-up arena containing Atwood footing.
Old Tavern Horse Trials will run Beginner Novice, Novice, Training, Preliminary, and Intermediate divisions.
Additionally, Old Tavern Horse Trials is one of six options to choose to compete in the Waredaca Classic Road to the Three-Day Challenge. To be eligible for the Challenge, competitors complete a minimum of three of six possible events in addition to the Waredaca Classic Three-Day on October 21-24, 2021. Points are awarded based on placing in the events with points for the Three-day awarded at double value. For more information visit Waredaca Challenge.
The USEA profiles the history behind each USEA recognized event in the USEA Events A-Z series.
Being spontaneous has paid off for Kevin Keane and Sportsfield Candy. “I bought him on a Wednesday and showed him on a Thursday,” Keane recalls about his first event with his Irish Sport Horse gelding, then 9 years old, at Plantation Field Horse Trials (Unionville, Pennsylvania) in September 2016. “I owned him for part of a day, and the next morning I showed up at a CCI and jogged him up for a two-star, and we went clean and clean and clean.”
THANK YOU to everyone who has already entered the USEF/USEA Recognized CDCTA Spring Horse Trials scheduled for Sunday, April 9 in Berryville, VA. We will continue to take late entries through Friday, March 24 using USEA’s Xentry system. If you still want to come compete, please enter! The late fee has been waived through Friday, March 24.
The U.S. Equestrian Federation announces the appointment of long-term US Equestrian employee Hallye Griffin as Director of FEI Sport. Griffin will assume the duties of former Director of FEI/High-Performance Sport, Graeme Thom, who has chosen to step away from his role to attend to personal matters.
The United States Eventing Association, Inc. (USEA) is thrilled to announce that Sidelines Magazine will not only be returning as a “Media Partner of U.S. Eventing,” but they will also be supporting the Association as a “Contributing Level Sponsor of the USEA Emerging Athletes U21 Program” and a “Prize Level Sponsor of the USEA American Eventing Championships.” Sidelines Magazine will give the USEA additional promotion and exposure through their printed and digital media products, while also providing prizes for participants at the AEC and EA21 clinics.