United States Eventing Association

Food, Fun, and Funds: Young Rider Fundraisers for 2018 NAYC

The FEI North American Youth Championships (NAYC) are fast approaching! The Area Young Rider programs are in full fundraising mode as they prepare for the trip to Kalispell, Montana, where this year’s FEI North American Youth Championships are being held in conjunction with The Event at Rebecca Farm, July 18-23, 2018. The trip to Rebecca Farm is quite an undertaking and each of the Area Young Rider programs has come up with their own unique way of raising funds to help cover the cost of travel for riders, horses, and grooms as they make the trek to represent their Areas at the Championships. We have collected information on these fundraisers below so that you can help make the dreams of these young riders a reality!

Area I

Donors pledge money in exchange for a member or members of the Area I NAYC team performing the act of kindness of the donor’s choice. Rider and groom candidates then accepted the challenges to perform the relevant acts and the donors would then make a donation. So far, the Area I Young Riders have raised nearly $15,000 for the trip. You can read more about the acts of kindness fundraiser here.

The Area I Young Riders will also hold their yearly stall cleaning fundraiser and silent auction at Groton House Farm Horse Trials, June 29-July 1, 2018.

Area II

Area II is holding an online auction featuring donated items, services, and things that eventers would like. Items are priced from $20 to $1,200 and all bidding takes place online! The Area II Young Riders receive lot of support from all over the Area and the online auction is an annual favorite with many. This online auction is Area II’s major fundraiser and provides a lot of the funding necessary for the extensive travel that Area II has to perform in order to get to Rebecca Farm. The auction closes on Thursday, May 10, so click here to check out the items up for bid!

Area III

In addition to the fundraisers that the Area III Young Riders have done so far this year, including raffles and merchandise sales, the Area III Young Riders are holding an online auction with lots of wonderful items up for bid. The online auction will be coming soon to the Area III website.

Riders who are qualified for the Championships have also written letters as a potential Area III Team members and will be sending these letters to companies who might wish to help the riders make their goal of competing in Montana.

This year’s Area III Young Rider Camp that is being held at Chattahoochee Hills, June 17-21, will feature Jumping Under the Stars on Tuesday evening. This will be a show jumping competition for all levels and it will be open to anyone who wants to come jump! The Area III Young Riders will also be hosting a dinner for the local community to come watch. All of the proceeds of this event will be going to the Area III Young Riders. Keep an eye on the Area III website for more information, coming soon.

Area V

The Area V Young Riders have been fundraising at events all year by cleaning tack, stripping stalls, and braiding for donations to the program. The Area V Young Riders have also held sales at events featuring gently used tack, handmade saddle soap, treats, fly spray, Area III merchandise, and other goodies with all the proceeds going back to the program.

The Area V Young Rider Team Challenges also helped to fundraise for the program, with a portion of the entry fee going back into the program and the remainder going to a designated charity. This year’s charity is Halt Cancer at X.

This year, the Area V Young Riders hosted a pancake breakfast with members of the Young Rider program and their parents providing the supplies and doing all the cooking. The fundraiser was a great success and the team is considering hosting another pancake breakfast fundraiser later in the year.

The Area V community has also gotten involved in the fundraising efforts. Area farrier Kevin Crowell donated all the proceeds made working at the spring area shows as farrier back to the Area V Young Rider program.

Area V will hold a fundraising dinner and auction at the Texas Rose Horse Park on May 12, with proceeds from the dinner benefitting all Area V programs. Tickets can be purchased here.

Area VI

The Annual Area VI Young Rider Pancake Breakfast was held on Sunday, April 15 at the Twin Rivers Horse Trials and was a huge success, raising $3,547 in ticket sales! Two major donors stepped up to recognize all the hard work of the Area VI Young Riders with Sunsprite Warmbloods and Professional’s Choice giving matching donations to our ticket sales as of early Sunday morning: $1,800 each. Area VI Young Rider NAYC candidate riders and grooms were asked to sell tickets in advance.

At The Spring Event at Woodside on May 25-27, Area VI Young Riders will be hosting a Buy-In TACO party on Friday night at the home of one of the NAYC candidates who happens to live just a few miles from the Horse Park. “Tacos For Our Teams” will be a casual, “come-as-you-are” (which means from the barn after a day of dressage competition), fun way to support our teams on their journey to Rebecca Farm. Contact Kristin Hogan for more information.

Area VII

The Area VII Spring Clinic serves as both a fundraiser for the Area VII Young Riders as well as a training opportunity with top clinicians and a chance for team bonding early in the season.

The Area VII Young Rider program’s main fundraiser is the Area VII Young Riders Benefit Horse Trials, held every August in Centralia, Washington. Members of the Young Rider program put in long days of work to make the recognized event possible. The riders definitely carry a sense of pride in making the event nice, so everyone pitches in to take the facility from hay fields one week to a full recognized event the next. Since its beginning in 1984, the benefit has been almost entirely young rider run. During the event, the young riders also host a large silent auction filled with donations they have acquired. Click here for more information.

Area VIII

An Eventing of Beautiful Horses and Rides, a fundraiser organized by one of the Area VIII Young Rider’s parents and hosted by River Edge Farm, will be returning this year to benefit both the Area VIII Young Riders and the Region 2 Dressage Team. The event will be hosted once again at River Edge Farm in Northern Ohio on June 27 at 6:00 p.m. Masters of Ceremonies Boyd Martin, Jeff Taylor, and Charles Pinnell will preside over the event, which features riders including Therese Evans, Boyd Martin, Kate Poulin, George Williams, Colin Gaffney, and Jane Papke. The eventers will demonstrate over a jumping derby course and the dressage riders will perform musical freestyles. Tickets include admission to the event, wine, and hors d’oeuvres. Please contact Jeni Gaffney for tickets and additional information.

The Area VIII Young Riders also sell clothing with Area VIII Young Rider logo to raise funds. This year, Area VIII Young Riders are also hosting a LandSafe Clinic. If it fills, Area VIII will receive a generous rebate from LandSafe that will go into the Area VIII Young Riders fund. Please contact Laura Miller for more information.

Area IX

Area IX held a silent auction this year at the Area IX Annual Awards Banquet. The Area IX Young Riders are also offering concessions at upcoming horse trials in June. The Area IX Young Rider program also has generous sponsorships from local businesses. Please contact Stacey Severs for more information.

We will update this article with additional fundraiser information as it becomes available. Do you kow of an Area Young Rider fundraiser not listed here? Please email Jessica Duffy to have the information included!