United States Eventing Association

Road to the AEC: An Intercollegiate Championship Triumph Sets Katie Mendes Up for AEC Success

Until this past May, qualifying for the USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds let alone actually making plans to compete, seemed like a far-off dream. Going into this show season the AEC was a goal I had set in the back of my mind but maybe only said out loud a few times. My biggest priority was to have fun while continuing to improve and get to know my horse McCreary.

I started riding McCreary, or “Mac,” a 9-year-old Thoroughbred gelding (Ghostzapper X Desert Gold), in February 2023 and officially bought him in August 2023. He is my first “real” horse and has made dreams come true and big goals seem much more realistic in just the year that I have had him.

He is such an incredible horse who truly knows and loves his job so much. His favorite activities are eating, sleeping, and horse showing. I have never ridden a horse like him that turns down center line and immediately starts working 10 times harder because he just knows what he's doing and is happy to be doing it.

Our competition career together began a year ago in July doing the Starter at Champagne Run at the Kentucky Horse Park. From there we had the amazing opportunity to do a test ride for the Beginner Novice at the 2023 AEC. Having that opportunity and getting a respectable score with minimal experience as a pair, I was secretly optimistic that by that time next year we could be going down center line at the event for real.

The rest of 2023 was all about learning and figuring out how best to ride Mac, and we ended our year at Hagyard Midsouth Team Challenge (Lexington, Kentucky) in October for our first Beginner Novice outing as a pair. That weekend was when Mac really started to make me believe in myself and our partnership. We completed the weekend on a dressage score of 29.4 and for Mac that was just doing his job, but for me it was my first time ever finishing on my dressage score and a huge accomplishment. Ending the 2023 season on such a high note made big goals for 2024 feel totally realistic.

The beginning of the 2024 season for us was all about the Univerisity of Kentucky Eventing Team and having fun during my last spring season with the team. F.E.N.C.E. Horse Trials (Landrum, South Carolina) is a favorite of the team’s and was our first outing of the year. F.E.N.C.E. produced another completion towards AEC qualification and a memorable weekend with my team.

The next show on the horizon was the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championships at Stable View (Aiken, South Carolina). Although it was my fourth year on the UK Eventing Team and fourth time attending champs, I had never gotten the chance to compete, so my only goal was to do my best and have fun. Intercollegiate Championships is always an incredible event and a highlight of the year, whether riding or not, but I was definitely excited to be able to compete with Mac this year.

The week leading up to the competition and the weekend itself was a whirlwind of excitement, stress, and team spirit. Between cheering on my team, taking care of Mac, and actually riding, I was so busy all-day Saturday that I did not look at my dressage score until I had finished cross-country. When I checked my score and learned that our test had scored a 24.1, I was in absolute shock. I knew it was a good test, but I had no idea that the judge would think so too. That personal best dressage score had put us in first place, and our clear cross-country kept us there.

Going into show jumping on Sunday, I did not let myself think about the fact that I was sitting at the top, just about having fun. To add to the pressure that I was trying to ignore, my team, UK Big Blue, was sitting in second place, very close behind the top spot. Although my teammates were very excited about our placing, they were also so understanding and supportive. Everyone knew that I did not want to think about it or put any pressure on myself or Mac, so they were all great about not talking to me about scores, just congratulating me on my rides.

Sunday afternoon FINALLY came around, and we finished the weekend off with a double clear show jump round to secure my first ever win and help UK Big Blue win the reserve Intercollegiate Championship. Along with those amazing placings, it also qualified me and Mac for the 2024 AEC at Beginner Novice.

As the excitement of Intercollegiate Championships and my first win began to fade, I was soon looking towards the rest of the year. Before qualifying for AEC, I had planned for Mac to have an easy summer with minimal competitions because earlier in the spring I had accepted a summer internship at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee.

With the full support and guidance of those around me, I made the difficult choice to leave Mac in Kentucky for the summer while I completed the internship, with the plan to come up on the weekends to ride. I am incredibly thankful to Alexa Thompson, Hannah Warner, and the whole Team Clear Equestrian team for being so supportive and making sure Mac continues to get top notch care and training while I am working during the week.

Knowing Mac is happy and has the best people around him every day makes it possible for me to focus on myself this summer while still having big goals with him for the fall.

After receiving our AEC qualification in May, the plan for an easy summer was replaced with horse show plans. However, Mac had other ideas and wanted his post-win vacation to last a little longer. The day of our first lesson since Stable View, Mac came in from the field with a swollen leg and multiple deep puncture wounds. Due to the amount of swelling, it took a while to figure out exactly what was going on inside the leg, and for a bit it looked like our summer plans and possibly the AEC had been washed down the drain overnight.

It was hard to leave for my internship in such a state of uncertainty, but I knew that Mac was getting the absolute best care by the whole team at the farm and our wonderful vet, Dr. Sarah Mouri. After weeks of the unknown, we were able to get a clear ultrasound and X-ray and the all clear to bring Mac back into work.

After almost a month of healing and only tack walking, I was able to start taking lessons on the weekends and things were getting back on track. Mac has now come back from the injury and time off feeling better than ever and is very happy to be back to work.

Although he is feeling great and more than ready to get back out there, we have ultimately scrapped our previous summer horse show plans in favor of training at home and schooling shows. Therefore, it will have been around four months since our last event by the time we get to the AEC, but I have no doubt that we will have done all our homework to be ready to compete. My one goal for the show is going to be to have fun and do our best, because two months ago, let alone a year ago I did not think it would be a possibility to compete at AEC.

Are you planning on attending the AEC this year and have a cool story? Let us know by emailing Lindsay at [email protected] for a chance to be featured on useventing.com

About the USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC)

The USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) presented by Nutrena Feeds is the pinnacle of the sport at the national levels. Held annually, the best junior, adult amateur, and professional competitors gather to vie for national championship titles at every level from Starter to Advanced. This ultimate test of horse and rider draws hundreds of combinations from around the country to compete for fabulous prizes, a piece of the substantial prize money, and the chance to be named the National Champion at their respective levels. In fact, the 2021 AEC garnered over 1,000 entries and now stands as the largest eventing competition in North American history. The 2024 USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds will be held Aug. 27—Sept. 1 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. Click here to learn more about the USEA American Eventing Championships.

The USEA would like to thank Presenting Sponsor: Nutrena Feeds; Advanced Final Title Sponsor: Adequan; Platinum Level Sponsor: Bates Saddles, Horse & Country; Gold Level Sponsors: ARMA, Parker Equine Insurance, Schneiders Saddlery, Smartpak, Standlee; Silver Level Sponsors: Auburn Labs, Canter Culture Riding Apparel, Kerrits, The Jockey Club; and more!