Come hear what our beloved Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event cross-country course designer has in store for us this year on Thursday, April 13, 2022 at 7 p.m. CDT! Join Eric Dierks in a livestream interview with one of the world's most sought-after cross-country course designers. Listen in on how Derek puts his imagination behind his courses and what he hopes to achieve while competitors navigate their way around his challenging, thought-provoking tracks. He may even share some secrets he has planned for this year's Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event!
Biography
Derek di Grazia is an American cross-country course-designer who has been responsible for the five-star course at the Kentucky Three-Day Event since 2011 and for the track at Burghley Horse Trials. He was also the designer for the track at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Like many course-designers, Derek has ridden at the top level—he won Kentucky in 1985 on Sasquatch in the days before star classification when it was simply an international advanced three-day event.
What’s a Hunter Pace? The Sherwood Forest Equestrian Center's Hunter Pace is a cross-country-style course around Sherwood Forest over various natural obstacles/terrain. The course ends with a final treat for riders to take in stunning views of Mt. Hood with a loop through the old Far Hill Farms field. The beginning of the course will first start with a warm-up loop around show jumping obstacles in the outdoor ring at Sherwood Forest and then riders will continue directly onto the course. Sign up as a solo rider, pair, or team.
Claire Allen remembers when she was 11 years old, having just made the switch from the hunter/jumper ring to three-day eventing. She told her new eventing trainer that her goal was to one day compete in the United States Equestrian Federation’s Eventing Young Rider Championships.
As he was finishing tacking up his horse in preparation to navigate the cross-country course at the 2024 Twin Rivers Summer Horse Trials, James Alliston expressed concern about navigating the 101 Freeway. That’s because as soon as he crossed the finish line aboard Intermediate level winner Addyson (Ampere x Nickerbocker) at 10:38 a.m. on Saturday—his fifth cross-country round of the morning with three at Preliminary and two at Intermediate—the West Coast-based five-star rider had to drive 185 miles on the 101 Freeway from Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles, California, to San Francisco International Airport to catch a 4:35 p.m. flight to Frankfurt, Germany.
There is so much more to proper grooming than keeping your horse picture-perfect for the horse inspection. Good grooming practices are critical to proper horse management, no matter if you are planning for your next FEI appearance or your Starter level debut. To help you maximize your knowledge of grooming practices, we opened up the opportunity for USEA members to submit any questions they might have on our Instagram and Facebook stories. In this week's episode, Host Nicole Brown sits down with three of the highest-regarded grooms in this industry, Max Corcoran, Emma Ford, and Stephanie Simpson, and asks them all of your questions and more to help you perfect the art of grooming.