United States Eventing Association

The Nationally Ranked Horses of FEH

Three years after the creation of the USEA Young Event Horse Program (YEH), the USEA Future Event Horse Program (FEH) was born in 2007. Sharing similar goals as YEH, the FEH program evaluates the potential of yearlings, 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds, and 4-year-olds to become successful upper-level event horses. Since the start of FEH, there have been countless horses to graduate from the program, but more importantly, there are several horses that have fulfilled the program’s mission.

There are several FEH graduate horses who have gone on to be successful event horses and now are nationally ranked in 2021. The standout FEH graduates who are featured on the 2021 USEA national leaderboards include Miks Master C, Quaden AF, Breakin All the Rules, Double Diamond C, Olympus, and Beall Spring Seahawk.

Currently competing at the Advanced/CCI4* level, Miks Master C is ranked ninth on the Standlee Premium Western Forage USEA Horse of the Year leaderboard for 2021. Miks Master C (Mighty Magic x Qui Luma CBF) is a 9-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding owned and bred by Laurie Cameron and ridden by Maya Black. He first made his eventing debut as a 3-year-old through the FEH program. Miks Master C won the FEH 3-year-old division at Applewood Farm in 2015 and since then he’s collected top placings at every level up through Advanced.

This past year, Miks Master C has won the CCI3*-S at Maryland International, he won the CCI4*-S at Rebecca Farm, and finished second in the CCI4*-S at Morven Park Fall International.

The 5-year-old Oldenburg stallion owned by the Red Head Syndicate and ridden by Matthew Bryner, Quaden AF (Qredit HTF x Glitter) is ranked fourth on the SmartPak USEA Stallion of the Year leaderboard for 2021. In 2019, Quaden AF was the FEH East Coast 3-year-old Colt Champion and Overall Reserve Champion, and in 2020, Quaden AF was the FEH East Coast 4-year-old Overall Champion.

Quaden AF recently finished within the top 15 at The Dutta Corp USEA YEH East Coast 5-year-old Championship and moved up to the Preliminary level with a recent win in the Open Preliminary division at Flora Lea Fall H.T. At only 5 years old, the Oldenburg stallion has a very bright future ahead of him.

Breakin All the Rules (Due Date x Lisa) a 2014 Thoroughbred mare ridden and owned by Ellen Dougherty-Hume is ranked fifth on the USEA 7-year-old Horse of the Year Leaderboard. Three years ago, in 2018, the Thoroughbred mare was named Reserve Champion in the FEH Central 4-year-old Championship. Now, Breakin All the Rules and Dougherty-Hume have shot up the levels in eventing and currently compete at the Intermediate/CCI3*-L level. The pair won the Intermediate division at Holly Hill H.T., finished fourth in the CCI3*-S at River Glen Summer H.T., they were the T.I.P. Champions in the Intermediate division at the 2021 USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds, and recently finished 13th out of 50 starters in the CCI3*-L at the Maryland 5 Star.

Double Diamond C (Diacontinus x Lois Lane CBF) the 6-year-old Hanoverian gelding bred and owned by Laurie Cameron, and ridden by Maya Black is ranked fifth on the USEA Preliminary Horse of the Year and third on the USEA 6-year-old Horse of the Year leaderboard. The 6-year-old gelding was first introduced to eventing as a yearling in 2016 where he competed in the FEH competition at Applewood Farm. Since then, he has competed in The Dutta Corp. USEA YEH East Coast Championships as a 4-year-old in 2019 where he was Reserve Champion, and as a 5-year-old in 2020 where he finished seventh out of 54 starters. In 2021, he was the winner of the CCI2*-S at The Fork at TIEC, finished second in the CCI2*-L at Rebecca Farm, and second in the CCI2*YH-S at Morven Park Fall International.

Close behind Double Diamond C is another 6-year-old gelding who graduated from the FEH program. Olympus (Ferro x Kallisto) the Swedish Warmblood gelding ridden by Martin Douzant, owned by Diane Tauber, and bred by Beall Spring Farm graduated from the FEH program in 2019 and is currently ranked tenth on the USEA Preliminary Horse of the Year leaderboard and fourth on the USEA 6-year-old Horse of the Year leaderboard.

During his time competing in the FEH program, Olympus placed fourth overall in 2017 in the 2-year-old East Coast Championship, and placed fourth overall the following year, in 2018, in the 3-year-old East Coast Championships. This past year, he was the Preliminary Champion at the USEA Area II Championships at Loch Moy Farm, he was Reserve Champion in the Preliminary Horse division at the USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds, and he won the Open Preliminary division at The Middleburg H.T., the Loudoun Hunt Pony Club Summer H.T., and The Maryland Horse Trials at Loch Moy Farm.

The 6-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding, Beall Spring Seahawk sired by Shakespeare RSF, bred by Beall Spring Farm, and ridden by Martin Douzant, is another FEH graduate who has successfully competed up through the Preliminary/CCI2* level. Three years ago, Beall Spring Seahawk got his first taste of eventing through FEH. He won the 3-year-old FEH competition at Loch Moy Farm and placed third overall in the 3-year-old East Coast Championship in 2018. Now, he is currently ranked third on the USEA Modified Horse of the Year leaderboard. He was the Reserve Champion of the Modified division at the 2021 USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds, he won the Open Preliminary division at Hunt Club H.T. and won the Open Modified at Waredaca H.T. and Maryland H.T. at Loch Moy Farm.

Congratulations to all the FEH graduate horses! To see more horses who graduated from the FEH program, click here for The Leading Horses of FEH: Part One, and click here for The Leading Horses of FEH: Part Two.

About the USEA Future Event Horse Program

The USEA introduced the Future Event Horse Program in 2007 in response to the popularity of the already established USEA Young Event Horse Program. Where the YEH program assesses 4- and 5-year-old prospective event horses based on their performance, the FEH program evaluates yearlings, 2-year-olds, 3-year-olds, and 4-year-olds for their potential for the sport based on conformation and type. Yearlings, 2-year-olds, and 3-year-olds are presented in-hand while 4-year-olds are presented under saddle at the walk, trot, and canter before being stripped of their tack and evaluated on their conformation. Divisions are separated by year and gender. At the Championships, 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds are also required to demonstrate their potential over fences in an additional free-jump division. Click here to learn more about the Future Event Horse Program.

The USEA would like to thank Bates Saddles, Parker Equine Insurance, SmartPak, and Standlee Premium Western Forage for sponsoring the Future Event Horse Program.