United States Eventing Association

For the first time, the USEA Eventing Coaches Program (ECP) Symposium has headed west! This year's educational experience will take place in Temecula, California, at Galway Downs starting Tuesday, Jan. 14 through Thursday, Jan. 16 and provide an in-depth dive into the mentality of coaching for coaches for all of its attendees.

The Facts:

• The ECP Symposium is a gathering of current coaches, riders, trainers, parents, owners, and avid supporters of the sport for the purpose of exploring skills, techniques, learning styles and philosophies in eventing in the U.S.
• The increasingly popular interactive small group style of education will return for this year’s Symposium. Participants will again be divided into groups with assigned ECP Faculty to evaluate riders at various levels in all three phases, and each group will be asked to present their observations of what should be addressed and how best to improve each horse and rider pair.
• After each presentation, other groups will be invited to contribute their own observations and suggestions to broaden the discussion around each horse/rider combination. Participants will play an active role in prioritizing learning segments for various horse and rider pairs to support the most successful path forward in their training.
• Each day features a single discipline:
  • Tuesday – Dressage
  • Wednesday – Show Jumping
  • Thursday – Cross-Country
• Each discipline will have demonstration riders representing multiple levels from Starter through Intermediate who will warm up in front of the groups. While the demonstration riders are warming up, the small groups will discuss and analyze their observations to create and prioritize a roadmap for the progression of both horse and rider. Each group’s observations and priorities are posted in written bullet point format on their flip charts and revealed at the end of the warm-up.
• Once all the groups’ flip charts are revealed, one group will be selected to present their findings using the demo rider to illustrate what they are seeing that needs their immediate attention, and how they would prioritize the skill building of both horse and rider going forward. The selected group will choose a Group Leader to send out to work with the rider to demonstrate to the other groups what they have collectively decided needs to be addressed and worked on.
• After that group’s presentation is finished, other groups will be invited to weigh in with their support for what was presented, their questions, or potentially with other ideas.

The Presenters:

Several top ECP faculty will be on hand to help facilitate the group learning portion of the Symposium. Get to know the Level IV and V ECP Certified Coaches who will help mentor and facilitate the process here!

In addition, five guest speakers will be featured on this year's schedule: Olympic dressage rider Steffen Peters, sports psychologist Natalie Hummel, equine legal expert Yvonne Ocrant, five-star eventer Tamie Smith, and upper-level eventer Kaylawna Smith-Cook.

• Steffen Peters has been one of the United States’s top international dressage competitors since 1992, having represented the U.S. at five Olympic Games, five FEI World Championships, and two Pan American Games. During the ECP Symposium, Peters will evaluate one upper-level and one lower-level dressage test ride. He will discuss his suggestions for improvement, then assist the riders in implementing his feedback and take questions from the attendees. This session will be a unique opportunity to observe and learn from one of the world’s best.
• Yvonne Ocrant is the premiere equine professional legal expert in North America and will be presenting at the ECP Symposium via video conference. Her presentation covers anything and everything that equine professionals and participants in the sport need to know about our legal obligations and potential pitfalls, including managing liability and risk for riders, horse owners and coaches. She will lead a highly informative session and will answer all questions from the attendees. Her sharing of experience and expertise is not to be missed!
• Tamie Smith was a member of the U.S. Eventing Team that won gold at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, with Ellen and Alexandra Ahearn and Eric Markell’s German Sport Horse Mai Baum. Smith has represented the U.S. in FEI Nations Cup competitions, including the CCIO4*-S at CHIO Aachen (Germany) and the CCIO4*-L at Boekelo (the Netherlands), both in 2021. Smith and Mai Baum then headed to the FEI Eventing World Championships in Pratoni, Italy, where they helped the U.S. team earn silver and finished ninth individually. In 2023, the duo earned a historic win at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event CCI5*-L as the first U.S. combination to win since 2008. Smith has trained horses and riders at her Next Level Eventing since 2005. At the ECP Symposium, she will be creating exercises in the showjumping arena to prepare for various cross-country questions. This is an exciting opportunity to get top tips from a top rider.
• Natalie Hummel is a competitive equestrian athlete turned high-performance coach and somatic practitioner. With a background in psychology and certifications in polyvagal theory, she equips athletes and high achievers with science-based tools to achieve peak performance from the inside out.
• Kaylawna Smith-Cook is an upper-level eventer who runs a successful teaching and training business, K. Smith Equestrian, alongside her mother, Tamie Smith, at Next Level Eventing. On Thursday, Smith-Cook will demonstrate key cross country riding techniques, narrated by the USEA Coaching Faculty. The demonstration will include opportunity to ask questions and discuss various methods and principles.

The Schedule:

Click here to register for the 2025 ECP Symposium, Hosted by Galway Downs. Current ECP Certified Coaches and/or USEF Licensed Officials can attend the event for the discounted daily fee of $60 per day or the full event fee of $180. The ECP Symposium serves as a continuing education clinic for current and perspective ECP Certified Coaches.

The public is also welcome to attend, and their rates are $100 per day or $300 for the full event. Boxed lunches are available for purchase in single day or full event increments on the registration form as well. Advanced registration is greatly appreciated, so click here to submit today.

If you have any questions about the ECP Symposium, Hosted by Galways Downs or the Eventing Coaches Program, please contact Nancy Knight, Senior Director of Education, at [email protected].

USEA Eventing Coaches Program (ECP)

Coaches are essential to the training of riders and horses for safe and educated participation in the sport of eventing. The USEA Eventing Coaches Program (ECP), formerly known as the Instructors’ Certification Program (ICP), was initiated in 2002 to educate all levels of eventing coaches with crucial training principles upon which they can continue to build throughout their teaching careers. ECP offers educational workshops and assessments by which both regular coaches, Level I through Level V, Young Event Horse (YEH) coaches, and Young Event Horse professional horse trainers can become ECP certified. Additional information about ECP’s goals, benefits, workshops, and assessments as well as names and contact information for current ECP certified coaches, YEH coaches, and YEH professional horse trainers are available on the USEA website. Click here to learn more about the USEA Eventing Coaches Program.

The USEA would like to thank Galway Downs, Parker Equine Insurance, the United States Pony Clubs, and Strider for their support of the Eventing Coaches Program.