The United States Eventing Association (USEA) is pleased to announce that the Future Event Horse (FEH) program will include a Central Championship in 2018 to accompany the East and West Coast Championships that already exist.
“This will be a huge boost for the program,” stated FEH Committee Co-Chair, Robin Walker. “The United States is so big that it’s hard for a lot of people and their very young horses to go from one coast to another to compete at the Championships and get recognized. Having the option to host a Central Championship is going to cater to the breeders in the middle of the country and strengthen the program across the board. It’s going to give us more depth.”
Jayne Lloyd will serve as the organizer of the 2018 USEA FEH Central Championship at the Texas Rose Horse Park in Tyler, Texas, which will take place Saturday, September 29, 2018.
“I'm absolutely thrilled and excited to have the honor and opportunity to host the brand new USEA FEH Central Championship at Texas Rose Horse Park,” said Lloyd. “For the last 30 years I've been a student, trainer, competitor, owner, and breeder with education being my driving force to continue to grow in this journey of riding and horse management, so I was immediately drawn to this great program to produce the Young and Future Event Horse!”
Lloyd explains that “the task of training our riders for competition is well-formed, but we need to ask ourselves ‘what are we actually riding?’ This is where the education of correct conformation, breeding, and training has been put in place by the USEA with these [young horse] programs, and showing owner/riders how to develop their investment of our well-trained competitive amateur horses up through our next 3- and 4-star, or Olympic horses. I hold qualifying shows for both FEH and YEH in Texas and it is geographically challenging to travel to the already set up East and West Coast Championships, so over the last few years I have pursued a CENTRAL Championship. It has now come to fruition and I'm very much looking forward to working with the staff at the USEA and fellow breeding enthusiasts.”
The Texas Rose Horse Park is a 500-acre facility conveniently located in the heart of Area V in the beautiful rolling hills of East Texas. The Brunson family’s farm hosted the USEA American Eventing Championships from 2013 to 2015, providing fabulous cross-country courses, 350 permanent stalls (plus additional tent stalls), three outdoor arenas with all-weather footing and two warm-up arenas, plus a large indoor arena. Jane Lloyd and the Texas Rose Horse Park team will be setting up a Priefert jump chute for the FEH Central Championships, exactly the same as the Championship structure on the West Coast.
2018 Future Event Horse Championships
About the USEA FEH Program
The USEA Future Event Horse (FEH) series was introduced in 2007 as a pilot program as, what the USEA hoped would be, a successful precursor to the already popular USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) series, which is designed for 4- and 5-year-olds. Since the “test year” was so successful – with more than fifty young horses competing at the year-end Championship show – 2008 would see the FEH’s first season as a bona fide USEA program. FEH Classes are in-hand classes for yearlings, 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds. At Championships, 3-year-olds are required to compete in an additional free-jump division. New in 2017, the FEH program offered a 4-year-old class in which the horses show their gaits under saddle at qualifier events, and compete in a free-jump division at Championships as well. This will also carry over into 2018.
The USEA would also like to thank its Future Event Horse (FEH) Sponsors: SmartPak, Standlee Hay, Professional’s Choice, Merck Animal Health.
Eventers who are new to the sport may feel a little overwhelmed by the often-misunderstood world of saddle fitting. Riders are often bombarded with information from peers online or self-described experts, putting them at risk of following bad advice related to equipment that impacts horse welfare perhaps more than any other piece of tack. Finding a qualified expert to answer these questions is crucial. Who better to turn to than both a qualified Master Saddle Fitter and a fourth-generation saddle designer to answer some of these questions?
Did you know that the USEA Foundation awards over 150 grants each year to deserving individuals who are involved in the sport of eventing? With grants that assist riders with accomplishing their competition goals, grants geared toward licensed officials, grants that are specific to continuing education for coaches, grants that assist competitions with obtaining frangible technology, and so much more, there really is a grant opportunity available to almost anyone!
With the start of the New Year just days away, now is the time to consider how your actions can have a positive impact on the sport of eventing in 2025. Each and every member of the eventing community has an important role to play in ensuring the sport continues to grow and thrive. From fostering educational opportunities to supporting grassroots initiatives and participating at all levels of the sport, there are so many ways to get involved.
Ride iQ’s popular “Ask An Expert” series features professional advice and tips from all areas of the horse industry. One of the most-downloaded episodes is an expert session with Peter Gray, an accomplished dressage judge and Olympic eventer. He has recently judged at events like the five-star at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event, and he served on the ground jury at the 2022 FEI World Eventing Championships in Pratoni, Italy. His background as a competitor in the Olympic Games riding for Bermuda and as a coach and selector for the Canadian eventing team adds depth to his understanding of the sport.