United States Eventing Association

Request for Expressions of Interest: USEA American Eventing Championships Host Site

The United States Eventing Association (USEA) American Eventing Championships (AEC) is the annual national championship for every level of the Olympic equestrian sport of eventing. The USEA is excited to announce a request for expressions of interest to host the AEC for one year in either 2021 (or) 2022 at a site located in the western United States. In 2020, the USEA AEC will again be held at the Kentucky Horse Park with an option to return in 2021 in the case that a host site in the western United States is not selected by the USEA Board of Governors.

Host site(s) should; be attractive and presentable venues, have consistently good footing, have the ability to promote to and accommodate large numbers of spectators, and have a demonstrated record of a media plan with demonstrated ability to successfully work with local media.

The AEC has historically been conducted over five or six days and must be held at the end of the summer season. The 2019 AEC attracted over 1,000 entries over the Labor Day week/weekend and is currently standing as the largest eventing competition in North American history. The AEC includes seven levels of eventing competition from Beginner Novice to Advanced. The USEA licenses the rights to run the AEC to a host site/organizer while retaining certain rights of control over the event.

Only organizers with an established relationship with a facility and proof of support for the expression of interest from the host site owners/operators, or the owner(s) and/or operator(s) of a prospective host site may nominate said venue for consideration. Expressions of interest should be submitted in the form of a letter and should consist of no more than 800 words.

All expressions of interest for a AEC host site located in the western United States should also include the following:

1. Address of proposed site(s), in the western region of the United States (California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, or New Mexico);
2. A list of site features relevant to eventing competitions including but not limited to;
1. The permanent and/or temporary stall capacity;
2. The number of arenas (including dimensions and footing type);
3. Existing infrastructure and acreage available for cross-country;
4. Basic utilities (water, electric, cable/internet)
5. Any other features of note (i.e. parking, RV/camping availability), and;
6. The ability to run dressage, cross-country, and show jumping simultaneously without negatively impacting any of the phases;
3. Contact information for the person or entity submitting the expression of interest;
4. Proposed business/management model(s), and;
5. Indication of whether running the AEC at the site on the week preceding the Labor Day holiday is feasible (or) proposed alternative dates.

All expressions of interest should be submitted by November 1, 2019.

The AEC have previously been hosted at the following locations:

2004 – 2006 Raeford, N.C. (Carolina Horse Park)
2007 – 2009 Wayne, Ill. (Lamplight Equestrian Center)
2010 – 2012 Fairburn, Ga. (Chattahoochee Hills – Bouckaert Farm)
2013 – 2015 Tyler, Texas (Texas Rose Horse Park)
2016 – 2017 Mill Spring, N.C. (Tryon International Equestrian Center)
2018 Parker, Colo. (The Colorado Horse Park)
2019 – 2020 Lexington, Ky. (Kentucky Horse Park)

Please direct inquiries and expressions of interest to the following contact:

Rob Burk, Chief Executive Officer
Phone: (703) 779-0440
Fax: (703) 779-0550
[email protected]