United States Eventing Association

Over the course of the last few weeks, we’ve been inundated by horrific images of the devastation caused by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Horse people all share a common bond, and that sense of community extends beyond Area 2. In light of this, Eileen Pritchard-Bryan has generously offered to partner with us on a USEF/USEA & FEI Eventing rules refresher webinar as a fundraiser for those affected by the recent hurricanes.

The USEA Area II Championships were a little extra special this year as the Maryland Horse Trials was also host to the Mandatory Outing for the 2023 Pan American Games team. Riders of all levels got to ride alongside U.S. team representatives, adding a little extra luster to this year’s event. This year, there were eight new champions crowned at the Preliminary, Modified, Training, Novice, and Beginner Novice levels in Area II. Get to know each of them a little better below.

The United States Eventing Association’s (USEA) Area II plays a big role in the past, present, and future of eventing. From north to south, the Area covers the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina. That includes a number of eventing hubs—Northern Virginia; Fair Hill, Maryland; Tryon, North Carolina; Unionville, Pennsylvania; and more.

Get to know each United States Eventing Association (USEA) Area a little better in this new series, Meet the Areas! This month’s feature is USEA Area II which is made up of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and North Carolina. Area II is the home of the USEA Headquarters, located in Leesburg, Virginia and just across the street from Morven Park. In 2021, 1,762 USEA members called Area II their home - making it the USEA area with the most members. Learn more about Area II below.

The Maryland Horse Trials at Loch Moy Farm hosted the 2021 Area II Championships over the October 1-3 weekend. With nine different championship levels offered in addition to their regular horse trial divisions, Loch Moy was bursting at the seams with horse and rider pairs all weekend long. We caught up with some of the Area II Champions to recap their experience at this year’s season finale and to share their thoughts on their equine partners that helped make their victory gallops possible.

The Maryland Horse Trials at Loch Moy Farm in Adamstown, Maryland hosted the Area II Championships at their event on October 9-11, 2020. To qualify for the Area II Championships, riders needed to secure first through fifth place at one event from October 4, 2019 to September 22, 2020. There were nine different championship divisions from Beginner Novice to Intermediate, including Modified.

For over 20 years the USEA Instructors’ Certification Program (ICP) has been educating all levels of eventing instructors to confirm their knowledge base, both theoretical and practical, upon which they will continue to build throughout their teaching lifetime. The USEA is now shining the spotlight each month on some of the 300 ICP Certified Instructors.

The Area II Annual Meeting and Year End Awards Luncheon will be taking place on Saturday January 25, 2014, at the Best Western in Leesburg, VA.

Area II is proud to have the largest number of members and more starters than any other Area. In this report I would like to focus on four developments which I think are somewhat unique or will be of interest to USEA members more generally.

Members of Area II, don't forget about the Area II Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon this Sunday, January 13 from 8 to 4:30 p.m. at Carradoc Hall in the Holiday Inn in Leesburg, Virginia.