In 2020, Eventing was going through its toughest year ever with events canceled due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Very few grants requiring a current competition record were awarded. Enter Beth Lendrum, a Rebecca Chaney Broussard Grant Committee member. Beth wanted to keep USEA members involved and looking forward to all the ways they could be involved in the sport, and not necessarily on the back of a horse.
Lendrum suggested a new idea that would give back and benefit the sport at different levels. This concept is geared towards supporting USEA members by encouraging participation in educational/developmental and horsemanship programs.
Collaborating with husband Jerome Broussard and RCB Grant Committee members, Sharon Anthony, Carol Kozlowski, Sharon White, and Jo Whitehouse, Lendrum designed the Going Forward USEA Member's Grants, which cover three educational areas:
The Grants were intended as a one-time opportunity and were offered only in 2020. However, the reception they received and the success achieved by the grant recipients inspired the Broussard family, through their Charitable Foundation Trust, to offer them each year for the next three years.
The Grants will be awarded to eligible and qualified USEA Members through an application, interview, and review process. Qualified applications will be at least 18 years of age. Applicants seeking ICP Certification must have read and met all qualifying criteria listed here. Applicants wishing to complete the Eventing Officials “r” Training Program should confirm that they meet the requirements set for officials as described in the US Equestrian Licensed Officials Policies and Procedures, Section 9, 9.1 Eventing Judges and 9.2 Technical Delegates.
So, if you want to spend a week with a top rider immersed in all things horse-related, then be sure to apply for a Going Forward Horsemanship Immersion grant. If you see yourself as an instructor teaching safe riding skills, the Instructors’ Certification Program is for you. Or maybe judging dressage or officiating as a technical delegate at a USEA event has been a goal of yours for years, then don’t hesitate to apply for a grant that could kickstart your career as an official. Get ready for a whole new adventure with a Going Forward Grant!
Click here for full details and to submit an online application.
One of my passions is continuing to be a good student, because I think no matter how old I get, there are multiple reasons learning new things inspires me. First and foremost, it helps me be a better rider and trainer, so my horses benefit. Second, it helps me be a better teacher by exposing me to different ways to have a relationship with a horse or a student.
This month we’re going to begin a three-part series on how to create positive riding experiences by making sure the words you say to yourself and the thoughts you think to yourself are positive. Referred to as self-talk, internal dialogue, or brain babble; the words you say to yourself can have a huge impact on your performance. In fact, your thoughts and voice are actually considered behaviors, and just like how positive physical behaviors (i.e. a balanced transition) can create success, your verbal behaviors can also accomplish the very same thing. So let's spend the next few months talking about how to talk to yourself!
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.