United States Eventing Association

I can honestly say I have never looked forward to the start of a new year more than I have now. For Equestrian Events (EEI), our 2020 was filled by the sadness caused by the cancellation of the Kentucky Three-Day Event, the Kentucky Invitational Grand Prix, and finally the USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds.

Tickets for the 2021 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS Equestrian™ and the $225,000 Kentucky CSI3* Invitational Grand Prix presented by Hagyard Equine Medical Institute will go on sale in January 2021. Equestrian Events Inc. (EEI), which produces both world-class events, is delaying the opening of ticket sales because of remaining uncertainties related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Did you know that 80 percent of the attendance at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event comes from outside the state of Kentucky? Did you also know that Equestrian Events Inc. (EEI) is a nonprofit organization that has organized the event since the start in 1978? Learn more about the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event and the organization that puts it all together from Lee Carter and Vanessa Coleman of EEI.

It has been 12 years since an American has won the Kentucky Three-Day Event CCI5*-L, and the last pair to do so was Phillip Dutton riding Connaught in 2008. “That win was one of the highlights of my career,” said veteran five-star eventer Phillip Dutton. Riding a special horse named Connaught (also known as Simon), Dutton shared the memories of his winning weekend.

It’s an event where the impossible becomes possible, where the unimaginable becomes imaginable, and where dreams come true - the Kentucky Three-Day Event first started in 1978. Organized by Equestrian Events Inc. (EEI), the Kentucky Three-Day Event is one of only seven CCI5*-L events in the world and is held on the last weekend in April at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky.

Equestrian Events Inc. (EEI) has announced cancellation of this year’s Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS Equestrian™ and Kentucky CSI3* Invitational Grand Prix presented by Hagyard Equine Medical Institute. The events had been scheduled for April 23-26 at the Kentucky Horse Park.

All three jumped clear on cross-country and all three finished within the top 20, so how did the three YEH graduates do at the 2019 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event? They did excellently. Considered ‘a talent search,’ the USEA YEH program was designed to identify young horses that possess the talent and disposition to excel in the upper levels of eventing.

Oliver Townend, the winner of the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by Mars Equestrian won $130,000 in prize money, a new Rolex Oyster Perpetual watch, and a 12-month lease for a 2019 Land Rover Discovery. Based on where they placed, the top 20 competitors also shared proportionally in the $400,000 pot of prize money.

This week on the USEA Podcast we are joined by the new USEF CCI5*-L National Champion Boyd Martin, who rode Christine Turner's Tsetserleg to an overall second place finish at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event, and LRK3DE Rookie Ariel Grald, who finished in 12th place aboard Anne Eldridge's Leamore Master Plan.

As the 2019 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event has come to an end, it is now time to name the May USEA Horse of the Month. The legacy of Windfall II lived on at LRK3DE as the Trakehner stallion had two offspring finish in the top five, making him the USEA May Horse of the Month!