United States Eventing Association

With the inaugural USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL) championships happening this year from May 4-5 at Stable View (Aiken, South Carolina), IEL Committee members took the opportunity to talk about the program at the USEA Annual Meeting & Convention, held Dec. 7-10, 2023 in St. Louis, Missouri.

The United States Eventing Association, Inc. (USEA) is pleased to announce that Kerrits will be extending their partnership as the “Official Competition and Training Apparel of the USEA” for 2024 and 2025. Kerrits will also support the following USEA programs and events through their partnership: “Silver Sponsor of the USEA American Eventing Championships,” “Contributing Sponsor of the Adult Team Championships at the AEC,” “Contributing Sponsor of the USEA Emerging Athletes U21 Program,” “Contributing Sponsor of the USEA Young Event Horse Program,” “Contributing Sponsor of the USEA Intercollegiate and Interscholastic Eventing Championships,” and “Contributing Sponsor of the USEA Annual Meeting & Convention.”

In recent years, the importance of diversity in equestrian sport has taken the spotlight, and Strides For Equality Equestrians (SEE) is working towards making all disciplines, including eventing, a more friendly and welcoming place for Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC), as well as underrepresented groups.

The USEA Foundation’s mission is to “protect and preserve the sport of eventing for future generations and to provide support for the core educational, safety, and equine welfare programs of the USEA.” The Foundation also administers educational grants for riders with the intent of preparing them to reach their goals. There are a variety of grants available to USEA members of all ages and experiences and for those who aren’t riders as well. Most grants come through individual donors who have a passion for a specific area of the sport.

Attendees of the 2023 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention were in for a real treat with this year’s keynote speaker, Dr. Temple Grandin. Dr. Grandin is an icon in the worlds of agriculture and autism and is most notably known for applying her own experiences as an autistic individual to her studies on how stress impacts both humans and animals. In this year’s keynote address, Dr. Grandin shared several different scenarios encountered in both her studies and the studies of her animal science students at Colorado State University that apply to the equestrian community.

The last Olympic long-format was run in 2000 in Sydney, Australia, and the last Kentucky long-format was in 2005. After the transition to the current eventing format, the USEA Classic Three-Day Task Force was born in 2005 by supporters of the traditional format who felt that its influence on the sport was critical in the education of horses and riders.

Several rule change proposals were up for discussion during the Rule Change Open Forum at the USEA Annual Meeting & Convention, held Dec. 7-10 in St. Louis, Missouri. Malcolm Hook, member of the Competitions, Calendars, and Rules Committee (CCRC), moderated the discussion in front of a packed crowd on Saturday. There were 14 eventing-specific rule change proposals (RCP) and six general RCPs that have not yet been approved.

This year’s USEA Annual Meeting & Convention was a special week in St. Louis, Missouri. It included several days of celebration and education, including the year-end annual awards ceremony, as well as the Annual Meeting of Members with very special keynote presentation by Dr. Temple Grandin at the USEA luncheon. This week and weekend would not have been possible without the support of the many loyal partners of the USEA and the Convention.

The 2023 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention came to a close on Sunday with the final USEA Board of Governors meeting. After the call to order, USEA Senior Director of Membership Services/Meeting Planner Jennifer Hardwick gave a brief overview of the annual meeting. There were 321 attendees and 220 who came to the awards dinner. Next year’s Annual Meeting & Convention will be held in Seattle, Washington, from Dec. 10-15 at the Westin Seattle.

United States Eventing Association (USEA) members from all over the country gathered on Saturday night for the 2023 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention Year End Awards Ceremony. The evening’s ceremony was led by Master of Ceremonies Jim Wolf and recognized riders, horses, and game-changers in the sport of eventing with multiple awards and grants.