United States Eventing Association

Catching riding was the theme of the first day of action at the 2024 USEA Emerging Athlete U21 (EA21) West Coast II Regional Clinic on Tuesday at Aspen Farms, a 240-acre facility in Yelm, Washington, about 60 miles south of Seattle.

Held in Stable View's (Aiken, South Carolina) spacious covered arena from July 23-24, the USEA EA21 East Coast II Clinic was a huge success. Coach Emily Mastervich Beshear taught 12 hand-selected under-21 riders on the flat and over fences.

An ambitious start time of 6:30 a.m. for the final day of the USEA Emerging Athlete U21 (EA21) East Coast II Regional Clinic meant riders and horses could beat the southern heat. However, the early morning hour didn’t appear to phase any of the bright-eyed clinic participants or EA21 Coach Emily Mastervich Beshear.

"Pick your lane and stick with it; it's all building blocks in the training scale." This was coach Emily Mastervich Beshear's central message for each of the morning dressage sessions during day 1 of the USEA Emerging Athlete U21 (EA21) East Coast II Regional Clinic held at Stable View.

Did you miss our coverage of the USEA Emerging Athlete U21 (EA21) East Coast I Clinic held last month? Fear not, you can find that here, and scroll down to see a few more of our favorite moments from the two-day clinic, which was held at Morven Park in Leesburg, Virginia.

After focusing on flatwork during the first day of the USEA Emerging Athlete U21 (EA21) East Coast I Regional Clinic at Morven Park, the 12 hand-selected riders and coach Shannon Lilley headed to the spacious outdoor ring early this morning to put some of their skills to the test over fences.

Flatwork is the foundation for jumping, as most eventers know. And today, on the first day of the USEA Emerging Athlete (EA21) East I Regional Clinic at Morven Park, coach Shannon Lilley got down to the nitty-gritty of the German Training Scale to help 12 riders with their own horses and on their briefly borrowed mounts at the end of each session when they swapped horses with their lesson partner.

Upon completion of the flatwork session during the first day of the USEA Emerging Athletes U21 (EA21) Central Clinic, EA21 coach Bec Braitling allowed the 12 participants to play a heavy hand in designing the show jumping course for day two.

Each of the twelve riders selected to participate in the 2024 USEA Emerging Athlete U21 (EA21) Central Regional Clinic comes from different backgrounds. Some have begun their FEI careers, while others are gearing up for a Modified move up, some are on experienced schoolmasters, while others are on catch rides or greener horses. EA21 Coach Bec Braitling took that into account when brainstorming what the lesson plan for flatwork day at the Central Clinic might look like.

A good canter with a consistent rhythm was the key to success during day two at the USEA Emerging Athletes U21 (EA21) West II regional clinic at Aspen Farms in Yelm, Washington. During the morning lecture that kicked off the day's educational activities, Brown recounted a lesson that she was taught by U.S. show jumper and Olympic gold medalist, Joe Fargis, that "there is no smoke and mirrors in riding. If you sit on the horse well, the horse will go well. Simpler is better." Brown built on this theory throughout the rest of the day, consistently returning to the German training scale and reliance on the flatwork to find success over the fences.