Prophet posing with the “look of eagles” and completely ignoring my lovin’.
In this series, Cassidy Sitton chronicles her experiences as she and her OTTB, Subway Prophet, prepare for the FENCE SmartPak Equine USEA Training 3-Day in the beginning of April.
We’ve arrived!
All the midnight trot sets, sandbox lessons, jumper shows and time spent with my pony are now culminating with this weekend. What a whirlwind to get to a spring three-day by the first weekend of April — especially with not making a trip down South — but P and I made it, amongst engagements and employment and all that good stuff that comes with life.
Checking out the stickiness of my sticky spray before doing the steeplechase clinic. Luckily, with just one horse going here, so far things have been like a vacation. P and I made the quick five hour trip, only to find out we were the first to arrive on grounds! We had a lovely solo hack around the property, where we marveled at the beautiful landscape. Having never been to FENCE before, I’m quite amazing at the gorgeousness of the facility–what a treat doing steeplechase around the course is going to be on Saturday!
Prophet gives the landing of the jump plenty of room–can never be sure what’s on the other side of that scary brush!
The great thing about the long-format program that the USEA has going on is the wonderful educational aspect tied into the event. Today we had the in-barn process, followed by a steeplechase clinic, and then jog-up demo. Even for those of us who have competed and groomed at several of these “little long-format things,” there is always something to learn!
Auditors at the steeplechase clinic.
P made quick work of the pace exercise that the steeplechase clinician, Beth Perkins, put us through, and then quickly jumped the entire brush on the fence she had us schooling over. It only took him one sailing adventure though to realize that he could ‘brush’ through. Everyone’s horses did quite well and we are all enjoying learning about each other’s horses and their personalities. There are also several very cool canine companions in the barn area… and they are sure to make sure everyone is greeted accordingly!
Fellow Raleigh-ite and eventer, Amanda Miller and I wait for the start of the clinic (our boys are best friends already!)
Tomorrow morning we start off with a 10am jog, and dressage at 1pm. For those of you who may be concerned, I have yet to decide what I’ll be wearing for jogs. After doing more shopping over the weekend than I have in the last five years (which totaled about 35 minutes between teaching lessons), I promptly returned everything I bought (except for a pair of skinny jeans – which last time I went clothes shopping, those weren’t even in style!), and therefore I’m at a loss. I pretty much packed my entire closet so although it was a pain to lug my suitcase up the hotel steps, I should at least be able to be outfitted appropriately in the morning.
Teddy, one of our cool canine neighbors.
Ciao, ciao for now!
Cassidy Sitton, 25, bases her C-Horse Eventing business out of Raleigh, North Carolina where she enjoys teaching and training, and is also a marketing professional for an equine-related business.
[Editor’s note – when Cassidy says “amongst engagements,” she means literally…she was recently engaged to her long-time boyfriend John! Congratulations!]
And they're off! The first official day of competition at the 2025 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event (K3DE) begins today and we have a schedule jam-packed with dressage for both the four- and five-star fields.
The CCI5*-L field was narrowed by one this afternoon following the first horse inspection on High Hope Inspection Lane at the 2025 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event. Horse and rider pairs were looking their best, with a few horses demonstrating their readiness for the upcoming competition through their flamboyant behavior (we're looking at you Bronte Beach Z and Dyri).
The man, the myth, the legend himself, Derek di Grazia is back in his typical fashion at this year's Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event and he has designed some beautiful tracks for both the CCI5*-L and CCI4*-S competitions this year. You can get a first look at these amazing courses as well as some insider interviews with di Grazia himself thanks to our friends at the CrossCountry App!
It's the most wonderful time of the year—and we aren't talking about the holiday season. Welcome to 2025 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event (K3DE) week! This week the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, will be crawling with eventing lovers from all across the globe for the first five-star of the 2025 season and the USEA is excited to once again be onsite for all of the action.
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Official Forage of the USEA
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