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 two years, in 2023 and 2024. In 2021, the USEA AEC will again be held at the Kentucky Horse Park, and in 2022 the AEC will move to Kalispell, Mont. at Rebecca Farm.

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. While the 2020 AEC was canceled due to COVID-19, 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 an AEC host site located in the United States should also include the following:

1. Address of proposed site(s), in the United States
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 end of day Friday, July 9, 2021.

The AEC has 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. (Colorado Horse Park)
2019 – 2021: Lexington, Ky. (Kentucky Horse Park)
2022: to be held in Kalispell, Mont. (Rebecca Farm)

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

Kate Lokey, Director of Programs and Marketing
Phone: (703) 779-0440
Fax: (703) 779-0550
[email protected]