United States Eventing Association

The Organizers of the USEA Classic Series: Mary Fike

For Mary Fike, there’s one memory that embodies the spirit of Classic Three-Day. “I know this may sound kind of contrived, but I remember being out checking on something on the [cross-country] course, and a rider came by in [Phase] C that was just singing to her horse,” she recollected. “She was patting them, talking to the gate judges, and just having a great time. She came into the vet box with the biggest grin on her face, and that sense of euphoria, I think, really reminded me why I love doing this.”

For over 50 years, Fike has been a passionate member of the eventing community. From competing herself through the Intermediate level to serving as a volunteer, secretary, or organizer at countless events throughout Area VIII, Fike has dedicated her life to her love of the sport, and especially, the Classic Series.

In addition to serving as co-organizer of the USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds with Equestrian Events, Inc. when it's hosted at the Kentucky Horse Park, Fike plays an integral role at two Classic Series events each year. Fike organizes the IEA Horse Trials & Classic Three-Day in the spring, which offers Training, Novice, and Beginner Novice Three-Day divisions in Edinburgh, Indiana, and the Hagyard Midsouth Three-Day Event in the fall, which hosts Training and Novice Three-Day divisions at the iconic Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky.

Fike’s organizing days began in the early 1980s in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she and her employers put on schooling shows at their barn using the resources that they had available to them on the farm. That meant cross-country had a lot of cedar tree logs as obstacles! Later in the decade, when she moved to her farm in Kentucky, she decided she would put on her own events at home, and the Painted Stone Horse Trials were born.

In the early 2000s, Fike began offering a Training Three-Day division at the Mayfest Horse Trials to provide a long-format option to lower-level competitors, and the addition was met with mixed reviews. At the time, many traditionalists believed that riders shouldn’t be competing in the long format unless they were going Preliminary or above, but Fike and her team saw it as an opportunity to offer an educational level for competitors that were looking to move up.

“We got a great response,” she exclaimed. “We really threw a lot of education at these competitors, because at that point there was a little more time in the schedule to devote to it. We had a lot of amazing people around to help us as well, like Dorothy Crowell, Cathy Wieschhoff, and Nick Larkin. They stepped up, and we got a bit of pressure, but it caught on, and we regularly had 50 to 60 competitors in the division.”

Shortly after, the USEA officially launched the Classic Series as a program, and Fike was asked to serve as an organizer representative on the Classic Three-Day Event Task Force. The group was tasked with preserving the long format of eventing, and Fike has been a part of the effort ever since. The Task Force helps grow the offerings at events across the country, continuously improves educational opportunities, and ensures that the rules and regulations for the program stay up to date.

When asked what drew her to the series, Fike explained ,“that what speaks to my love of what makes a Classic, a Classic, is the time spent learning your horse. I can remember the ‘gulp’ of coming into the start box for steeplechase, not having a warm-up fence, and just having to rely on complete trust in your partnership. It takes a sense of confidence and bravery to gallop down to a big brush fence right out of the box!”

Fike also noted that there are few better opportunities for lower-level competitors to grow their partnership with their horse and practice conditioning. “The steeplechase, particularly for the horses at the Novice Classic and Training Classic levels, really opens up their stride at the gallop,” Fike noted. “It gets the horses thinking forward and jumping out of stride, which I don’t see as easily attainable if all you do is school for horse trials.”

Always with education on her mind, Fike and her team will be bolstering opportunities for the IEA Horse Trials & Classic Three-Day competitors this year. Historically, one clinician has been selected to work with competitors throughout the event, but this year, a panel of clinicians will be on-site to teach various aspects of the series, like schooling for steeplechase or how to present at the horse inspections. The star-studded list of professionals will include Beth Perkins, Karen Winn, Debbie Boeh, Janice Holmes, Dr. Jake Jensen, Erin Pullen, Wayne Quarles and Lee Ann Zobbe.

Fike also feels strongly that more educational opportunities should be available for Classic hopefuls before the week of the event. The Task Force has been working hard to identify pace schooling locations throughout the country, and they plan to release more information on opportunities in each Area this year. The earlier a competitor starts their preparation for a Classic Three-Day debut, the better the experience will be!

To learn more about the IEA H.T. and Classic Three-Day on May 30–June 1, visit indyeventers.org. Entries for the IEA H.T. & Classic 3DE open on April 15 and close on May 13. The omnibus listing for the event can be viewed here. If you are interested in tackling the Classic Series later in the year, you can learn more about the Hagyard Midsouth Three-Day Event & Team Challenge on Oct. 15-19 at KYEvents.net. The omnibus will be available closer to the opening date on Sept. 2.

If you're interested in competing in another Classic Three-Day in 2025, visit useventing.com/events-competitions/competitions/usea-classic-series to view the full calendar of events this year.

About the USEA Classic Series

The USEA Classic Series keeps the spirit of the classic long ­format three­-day events alive for Beginner Novice through the Preliminary levels. Competitors can experience the rush of endurance day, including roads and tracks, steeplechase, the vet box, and cross­-country, as well as participate in formal veterinary inspections and educational activities with experts on the ins and outs of competing in a long ­format three-­day event. Riders who compete in a USEA Classic Three-Day Event during the year will have the chance to win a variety of prizes at the events from USEA sponsors and earn leaderboard points. Click here to learn more about the USEA Classic Series.

The USEA would like to thank bronze sponsors D.G. Stackhouse & Ellis Saddles, PulseVet, Schneiders Saddlery, and SmartPak Equine as well as contributing sponsors Bates Saddles and Parker Equine Insurance for supporting the USEA Classic Series.

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