United States Eventing Association

Road to AEC: "Well, That Was a Surprise"

The last few weeks of my life have been full of very big, fun, exciting things. I have spent the last six weeks packing up and moving the small but very busy eventing barn I have helped run for the last 7+ years to its new, lovely, and permanent home at Bennett’s Creek Farm (all while competing or acting as ground crew at events every weekend in June!). A few weeks ago I was asked if I would like to join the CDCTA Preliminary Adult Team Challenge team at the Millbrook Horse Trials in August (how much fun is that?!). And, the most surprising thing of all, last week I found out my young Preliminary horse, Vernon Tiger, and I are qualified for the 2010 Land Rover/USEA American Eventing Championships.

I may be wrong, but I feel that most people who receive the lovely email from the USEA congratulating them for qualifying are usually at the very least vaguely aware that they may be qualified. But for me, I was dumbstruck. I thought they’d sent me someone else’s email. When I decided that maybe it was meant for me, I couldn’t believe it was for Vernon, and began racking my brain as to WHO I had gotten qualified on- nope. Nothing I’ve ridden has had good enough results to qualify me…or so I thought.

I finally went to the AEC page on useventing.com to look up the qualifications. Sure enough, under the Preliminary Horse championship division it says you need two clean completions to qualify. Finally, I understood. Vernon and I had had a few good, clear rounds this spring--his first, my first in a few years. My shock hadn’t quite worn off, but the excitement of actually qualifying was starting to seep in.

Qualifying for the AEC this year has been totally off my radar. I was completely unaware of the qualifications or of any changes. It was like finding out I had been nominated for an Oscar when all I had been was an extra on the set. My total focus has been being sure Vernon and I earned our NQRs (National Qualifying Results) for a long-format Preliminary Three-Day for the fall, and, considering how BAD our dressage had been in the early part of the year, I thought there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell we’d qualify for the AEC…there were times in the early spring I was worried our scores wouldn’t even be good enough for an NQR!

I am, obviously, thrilled and very excited! And it is fun knowing that Vernon earned his qualification on his strongest phase--the cross-country. The dressage is coming around (right now, if Vernon were human, he’d be a college frat boy who would prefer doing nothing but drinking beer, goofing around with friends, hitting on girls, and occasionally driving around in his fast little sports car as fast as possible. Dressage is basically like getting up early for English 101 right now). I’ll get my act together for the show jumping, but we are going to the AEC because we rock (usually) the cross-country. And isn’t that why we do this?

See you in Georgia!

Amanda and Vernon

Amanda Tamminga is the farm manager at Bennett's Creek Farm in Frederick, MD and assistant trainer for Tom Waters. She has been riding since she was a little girl and took up eventing 10 years ago after years of saying she'd never do it...she hasn't looked back since. Vernon Tiger is a 6 year old American Thoroughbred who Amanda and Tom found by accident as a three year old and has been developed by Amanda since then with Tom's help.