As the 2023 competition year draws to a close and many of the high-performance and other riders are connecting at this year‘s USEA annual convention, the Great Meadow International organizers would like to update you on GMI.
As GMI organizers for the past 8 years, we have made the difficult decision not to run the August event at the Great Meadow Foundation in 2024.
The last two years have been a struggle with the date in late August. Although we originally were able to control the footing on our tracks, recent events have made that impossible. Although we attempted to move our date, this date change was not granted for 2024. We have also attempted to work with the landowner on improvements to the facility to allow irrigation of the course, but those will also not be possible for 2024.
In fairness to our competitors, our sponsors, our all volunteer organizing committee, our dedicated volunteers, our local community, and all stake holders in this sport, we wanted to let you know as soon as we did that we will not run at Great Meadow in 2024.
We do have some good news: we have been granted a CCI1* for August 24-25, 2024. We are working on alternative venues for this date and hope to have an announcement soon.
In the meantime, we would like to thank everyone for their commitment to this event.
If you have questions, please reach out to either one of us.
Sincerely,
David O’Connor and Darrin Mollett, Co-Organizers, GMI
The United States Eventing Association, Inc. (USEA) is proud to announce the first class of USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) Judges have completed their certifications through the YEH New Judge Education Program, which was led by YEH faculty member, Marilyn Payne.
Nazila Hejazi and her 20-year-old Missouri Fox Trotter mare, Tessa, may have made for an unconventional pair at the USEA Area VI Championships, held in October at Galway Downs (Temecula, California) but they didn’t let that hold them back. It’s uncommon to see a horse in their twenties still competing in eventing, and even more rare for a gaited horse to compete in a jumping sport.
Today, we pause to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and reflect on the powerful moment in 1963 when he stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and shared his vision for a better future. Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech was more than just words; it was a call to action that transcended time, culture, and boundaries—a beacon of hope that continues to inspire.
We’ve all been there—on the horse who pokes his way around the warm-up ring, needs leg, leg, leg coming into the combination, or brings up the rear on every trail ride. None of us wants each and every ride to be a lower-body squeezefest, nor do we wish to do anything with our crop except maybe wave it at that annoying deerfly. In this excerpt from his book The Sport Horse Problem Solver, former international eventer Eric Smiley explains the essential quality of forwardness and how to prepare the horse to expect you to look for it in all that you do together.