United States Eventing Association

Everything You Need to Know for The Dutta Corp. USEA YEH Championships

The Dutta Corp. USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) Championships will kick off next week! The first of the two YEH Championships will be the East Coast Championships which takes place alongside the Maryland 5 Star in Elkton, Md. Then, the YEH West Coast Championships will be two weeks after the East Coast Championships, during the last week of October.

To qualify, horses must earn one score of 75% or higher at one qualifier for the East Coast Championships. Horses must earn one score of 70% or higher at one qualifier for the West Coast Championships. YEH qualified horses will be allowed to participate in one championship only.

The USEA manages a running leaderboard with YEH horses that are qualified for the 2021 Championships, and the list of those horses may be found here. The YEH horses are listed in ranking based on the highest scores. The leaderboard is updated twice monthly after the USEA receives scores from each event.

The YEH Championships will be composed of three sections: the conformation phase (10%), the dressage phase (20%), and the jumping test/gallop (70%).

The Dutta Corp. USEA YEH East Coast Championships is on October 14-15, 2021 during the Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill in Elkton, Maryland. The Championship judges for the 2021 YEH Championships are Chris Ryan (IRL) and Debbie Adams (USA). **The East Coast Championships will bring on four additional judges for the 4-year-old division: Linda Zang (dressage), Cathy Tucker-Slaterbeck (conformation), and Peter Gray and Phyllis Dawson (jumping/gallop)

The YEH East Coast Championships will have a rider meeting on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. to meet with the judges. On Thursday, the 4-year-old dressage and conformation phase will be from 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. and the jumping test will be from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. also on Thursday. The 5-year-old dressage and conformation will be on Thursday from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. and the jumping phase will be on Friday from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. The schedule can be viewed here.

The YEH horses will be stabled in the permanent barns behind the fairgrounds. Dressage will take place in Arena C and the conformation phase will be on the two new jog strips built on either side of the arena. The jumping test will be held in Sawmill Field, similar to previous years.

Click here for YEH East entry status.

There will be an informal judge seminar led by YEH Committee Chair, Marilyn Payne, on both days of the YEH East Coast Championships. If you are a YEH judge and plan to attend, please RSVP to Kate Lokey at [email protected].

Click here for the YEH East Coast Championships calendar listing.

The Dutta Corp. USEA YEH West Coast Championships will run concurrently with the USEA Future Event Horse (FEH) West Coast Championships on Friday-Saturday October 29-30, 2021 at Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles, California. The West Coast Championship judges will be Chris Ryan (IRL) and Debbie Adams (USA) for both age divisions.

Entries are now open and the closing date is Tuesday, October 12. All entries must be received before closing date. Event management reserves the right to deny entries sent after closing date.

West Coast horses - not yet qualified? The West Coast Championships will have a YEH last chance qualifier at Twin Rivers Ranch the day before on Thursday, October 28.

Click here for the YEH West Coast Championships calendar listing.

Helpful Links for The Dutta Corp. YEH Championships

• YEH Homepage
• YEH Championship Information
• YEH Jumping Standards and Course Design
• YEH Championships Qualified Horses
• YEH Rules and Guidelines
• Holekamp/Turner YEH Lion d’Angers Grant
• The Dutta Corporation Homepage

About the USEA Young Event Horse Program

The 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 aged four and five 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 Premium Western Forage, Parker Equine Insurance, Etalon Diagnostics, and Saratoga Horseworks for sponsoring the Young Event Horse Program. Additionally, the USEA would like to thank The Dutta Corp., Title Sponsor of the Young Event Horse Championships.