United States Eventing Association

When Monbeg Zebedee came to Allison Springer’s barn nearly three years ago, she wasn’t sure where he might end up or how far his talent would take him. The Irish Sport Horse gelding (Dignifed van’t Zorgvliet x Bolacreane Dolly) had been purchased out of the Monart sale in Ireland by British five-star rider Kitty King as a sales prospect when he was 3, and King had started him but never competed him.

“She’s back to being Liz,” Chris Desino of Ocala Horse Properties said of Liz Halliday just six months after Halliday and the 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding Shanroe Cooley (Dallas x Shanroe Sapphire) fell while competing in the USEA Advanced Final at the 2024 USEA American Eventing Championships (Lexington, Kentucky), resulting in a traumatic brain injury.

When asked if he could go back in time and give the younger version of himself one piece of advice, eight-time World Equestrian Brands USEA Rider of the Year Boyd Martin says he wouldn’t change a thing.

Last year was a big one for USEA Young Event Horse program graduate Arden Augustus. He made a successful move-up to Modified with Sharon White in the tack, followed by a smooth transition to Preliminary, then went on to win two CCI2*-S divisions and ended the year with a CCI2*-L win.

Allison Springer has always known that No May Moon was a special horse, but she didn’t quite expect the 2024 season they ended up having. With a big win in the MARS Bromont CCI4*-L (Quebec, Canada), a third-place finish at the Morven Park CCI4*-L (Leesburg, Virginia), and several top 5 placings at the Advanced level, “Mayzie” earned the 2024 Standlee USEA Horse of the Year award, as well as the Bates USEA Mare of the Year award. She also topped the 2024 Advanced Horse of the Year standings.

Colorado-based upper-level eventer Dani Sussman has been sourcing horses from Argentina since 2019 thanks to the help of her show jumping coach, Mariano Bedoya. When Bedoya called her up about a then 8-year-old Hanoverian stallion who was showing on the show jumping circuit, Sussman hopped on a plane to check him out for herself.

Spectators could be forgiven for thinking they were seeing double during the victory gallop in the Novice Junior 15 & Under division at the 2024 USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) presented by Nutrena Feeds. Two identical flea-bitten ponies were galloping around, second- and third-place ribbons streaming in the breeze, under the command of 13-year-old Kendal Fansler of Clarksville, Maryland.

Adult amateur Arden Wildasin’s 39-page long competition report with the USEA began in 2005 when she completed her first Beginner Novice with Mr. Fox. If you would have asked her then if she ever imagined she would be prepping for what she hopes to be her first five-star outing 20 years later, she wouldn’t have believed it was real.

The inaugural USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL) Championships may have been the pinnacle for program members of the IEL last year, but that’s not the only exciting achievement that occurred in 2024. A total of 41 events offered IEL Team Challenges for over 360 program members, and in the end, a year-end leaderboard champion was named at every level from Starter through Intermediate. The following IEL members worked tirelessly with their clubs and on their own competitive journeys in 2024 to earn the title of Interscholastic Rider of the Year at their respective level. Join us in congratulating these up-and-coming eventers on their success!

Veterinary pathologist Susan Hart has been trapped in an “always the bridesmaid, never the bride” loop on the USEA Volunteer Incentive Program (VIP) Volunteer Leaderboard since 2022. After two years of chipping away at the leaderboard, 2024 was finally her year to proverbially walk down the aisle. With a total of 691 and a half hours, Hart topped the leaderboard to become the 2024 USEA Volunteer of the Year, sponsored by Mrs. Pastures, and win the first gold medal in USEA VIP history, which is awarded for achieving over 2,000 lifetime volunteer hours.