United States Eventing Association

Many adult amateur eventers are familiar with The Chronicle of the Horse/USEA Adult Team Challenge, which has been offered for over 20 years to foster team competition and camaraderie across the country.

Historically, Adult Amateurs had only three regional Adult Team Challenges in which to compete with fellow adults in a team situation. The Adult Team Challenges changed locations each year, but the Adult Rider Committee felt that only offering a Western, Central, and Eastern competition excluded the Areas that didn’t happen to host the competition that year, causing inconsistent participation from Area to Area.

At the 2013 USEA Board of Governors meeting, a new model was approved in response to the geographic problems that the Challenges faced. This year, each Area can send up to eight teams to the Adult Team Championship, which will be held alongside the Nutrena USEA American Eventing Championships, presented by VTO Saddlery, at the Texas Rose Horse Park. To get qualified, each Area has created their own qualifications or qualifying events, so there are numerous Adult Team Challenges throughout the country before the finale at the Adult Team Championship, September 24-28.

“I see this as a positive thing,” Adult Riders' Committee co-chairman Cindy Deporter told The Chronicle of the Horse in this 2013 article. “People have an opportunity on an Area level and then an opportunity to take it to the ATCs. To me the ATCs are a showcase for this group. This is our place to go and shine, our place to meet a lot of new people, have a lot of fun, be competitive, and get some recognition for what we do as adults.”

The ATC teams will be in separate divisions at the AEC with ribbons and awards for the placed individuals and teams. This is an opportunity for adult amateur eventers to compete on a fun team within the national setting of the AEC.

Interested in taking part in the fun? Learn more about the ATC or check out the qualifications for each Area.