United States Eventing Association

Randolph-Macon College Intercollegiate Eventing Team Welcomes Record Freshman Class & New Coach

Eventing at Randolph-Macon College continues to grow, attracting students to its central Virginia campus from across North America. This year’s pre-season team orientation welcomed 14 freshmen to the team, who’s total roster now boasts 30 active members hailing from as far away as California and Canada.

In addition, Craig Barr has joined the program as the full-time eventing coach, bringing his extensive experience in eventing to the yellow jacket’s team. As head rider for Dassett Eventing in the United Kingdom, Barr has spent the past 9 years riding and producing some of the top eventing horses competing internationally, himself a 4* rider. During this time, he also served as a selector for both the British U18 and U21 teams for the European Championships. Prior to his time at Dassett, Barr worked alongside Andrew Heffernen, Dutch Olympian and Chef’ d’quipe for the Dutch team.

“We feel incredibly lucky to have someone with Craig’s depth and breadth of experience here to lead the team,” commented program director Dana Lesesne. “He is incredibly attuned to what each horse and rider pair need and is able to instruct them in such a positive and constructive way. It’s been really fun to see how much each partnership has improved under his guidance in such a short amount of time. We are very excited about the future of RMC Eventing!”

Barr, who most recently has been working alongside three-time Olympian Emma Hindle in the UK, is looking forward to experiencing eventing in the US. “I was impressed with both the students and the program that Randolph-Macon had when I came out to interview last spring,” commented Barr. “I find coaching incredibly rewarding and thus far the RMC students and their horses have proven to be keen to learn and improve. There’s not much more a coach could ask for!”

Morgan Hoyt, a junior from Kittery Point, Maine and team captain, said, “There's been a lot of changes and momentum at RMC Eventing and there is always an opportunity for positive growth in, and for, our program. The freshman class alone doubled the size of the team this year, bringing us to about 30 members! The new team members have been incredible thus far and are really making us proud that they represent RMC Eventing. These new faces, combined with Craig’s talent, put us in a great position to make this team everything that we want it to be and more. This is a sentiment that is felt and valued universally on the team; from leadership to new freshmen, we are striving to make this team a force to be reckoned with and I think we are doing just that!”

The team has been busy with lessons at RMC’s gorgeous facility, had multiple cross country schooling outings, has posted strong results at Marlborough Horse Trials, and held both a schooling jumper show and a trailer wash, all in the first month of school! Next up, the team has their sights set on the Intercollegiate Challenge at the Virginia Horse Trials. For more information about the eventing team at RMC, please contact Dana Lesesne, [email protected].

About the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program

The USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Program was established in 2014 to provide a framework within which eventing teams and individual competitors could flourish at universities and colleges across the country. The USEA offers a discount of $25 on annual USEA memberships for current students of universities and colleges registered as Affiliates with the USEA. Many events across the country now offer Intercollegiate Team Challenges where collegiate eventers can compete individually as well as on teams with their fellow students. In Intercollegiate Team Challenges, each rider’s score is multiplied by a coefficient appropriate for their level to account for differences in level difficulty, and then the individual scores are added together to determine the team score. Click here to learn more about the Intercollegiate Eventing Program.

The USEA would like to thank this year's USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships Sponsors: Bates Saddles, FITS Riding, Kerrits, Horse & Country, U.S. Equestrian, and World Equestrian Brands.