United States Eventing Association

Bec Braitling is passionate about continuing education in the sport of eventing— not just for riders, but for coaches as well.

The interactive, educational Eventing Coaches Program Open Forum promises to be one of the highlights of the 2024 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention, held Dec. 12-15 in Seattle, Washington, at the Westin Seattle hotel.

The United States Eventing Associations’ (USEA) Eventing Coaches Program (ECP) is pleased to announce the dates and location of the upcoming 2025 USEA ECP Symposium, hosted by Galway Downs. The annual ECP Symposium, which is typically held in the southeast U.S., will be moving West next year to further open the door to education to a wider audience of interested candidates. The symposium will now be hosted on Jan. 14-16, at Galway Downs in Temecula, California.

Group rides are an important tool to include in the education of both riders and horses to give them a well-rounded education, enhance the rider’s skills, and give confidence to both horses and riders. Managed well, group rides also add to the enjoyment of our sport.

The United States Eventing Association, Inc. (USEA) is happy to announce that Parker Equine Insurance will return as the “Official Equine Insurance Provider of the USEA” for 2024 and 2025. As part of their corporate sponsorship of the USEA, Parker Equine Insurance will provide support for several programs as a “Gold Sponsor of the USEA American Eventing Championships,” a “Contributing Sponsor of the USEA Classic Series,” a “Contributing Sponsor of the USEA Young Event Horse Program,” a “Bronze Sponsor of the USEA Annual Meeting and Convention,” and the “Insurance Partner of the USEA Eventing Coaches Program.”

If you’ve competed in an FEI event in recent years, there’s a good chance you’ve had the pleasure of riding a show jumping course designed by Chris Barnard or Marc Donovan. Collectively, the course designing duo has left their mark on dozens of venues throughout the U.S., with some of the most notable being The Event at Rebecca Farm (Kalispell, Montana), Tryon International Equestrian Center (Mill Spring, North Carolina), Stable View (Aiken, South Carolin), Carolina International (Raeford, North Carolina), Galway Downs (Temecula, California), and the USEA American Eventing Championships.

You wouldn’t have to do an extensive search to find many ways to utilize pole exercises to benefit horses in training and development, so this article is going to look at pole exercises in a different way—how can we use them to benefit rider development and in all three phases.

“Nobody in their right mind would start coaching riders again after enjoying such a nice, long career away,” said Cass Kordecki with a laugh as she helped pack her 12-year-old daughter Rachel Strong up to attend the Catalpa Corner Charity Horse Trials (Iowa City, Iowa). Kordecki, who is in her mid-50s now, began her eventing journey in the ‘80s, but life took her away from the sport for a while until her daughter showed a love for horses at a very early age.

You’ve made it to your horse trial, your horse is settled, your equipment is unloaded and organized, you have checked in with the secretary, and everything is good to go–now what? It’s probably a good time to go on a little walk around the facility and familiarize yourself with your cross-country course.

Recently, while teaching the USEA EA21 Central Clinic in Kansas City, Missouri, I found myself reflecting on what it means to produce eventing horses all around this huge country where trainers, coaches, and athletes find themselves with vast differences in access to cross-country courses, schooling fields, or just open land.