United States Eventing Association

Since getting the ride on RH Finnegan nearly three years ago, Willow Schwartz has had the goal of competing successfully at Preliminary, and with the help of the USEA’s Emerging Athletes Under 21 (EA21) program the last two seasons, she and “Finn” have achieved that goal and more.

Schwartz was selected for the EA21 National Camp, run by EA21 Director of Coaching David O’Connor, for the last two years, and she’s gearing up to participate in another EA21 regional camp this summer to build on all that she’s learned.

“I think going to the National Camp completely changed me as a rider,” the 18-year-old said. “I think my passion for eventing grew so much more. And seeing all of these talented riders with such talented horses—it really inspired me. Just going helped with my confidence— with my inspiration. And David is such an amazing trainer. Everything he said, from groundwork to cross-country, was very helpful. Being able to work with him two years in a row was such an amazing opportunity. I think him being able to remember us as a pair and being able to connect with things now from a year ago was also super great, because he could see kind of where we changed as a pair and what we still could work on.”

Schwartz grew up in Texas in a non-horsey family and started eventing with her first trainer, Meghan Robertson. After leasing some horses, her first horse was a 5-year-old off-the-track Thoroughbred mare, Aspen, who she got when she was 10. While fairly fresh off the track, Schwartz learned a lot from the mare.

“We struggled for a little while with just understanding us as a partnership, and I was still pretty new to riding one specific horse for a long amount of time. I think it took us about a year before we could actually truly go to a show and complete,” she said.

The pair eventually formed a partnership and went through Training level before it was time to find Aspen an easier job.

Finn came into Schwartz’s life with help from Rebecca Brown, who is an EA21 coach, and another trainer, Genna Gless.

Now 13, the American Warmblood gelding (Wakeup x Daquan) had competed to Modified with Gunnar Harbison and seemed like he could help Schwartz with her goal of getting to Preliminary.

“It was definitely a hard transition, because Finn was not used to many female riders,” Schwartz said. “It was kind of just interesting to see how he felt with someone a lot shorter, and I'm not as strong, but I'd also been really used to my 15.2-hand Thoroughbred, so transitioning to a like 16-hand warmblood was definitely a bit rocky at first. It took me a while to get used to his movements and his jump and just his style of riding altogether.”

With help from current trainer Amanda Merritt and the EA21 program, Schwartz and Finn have successfully competed at Modified and moved up to Preliminary last season. They finished third in their first FEI event, the CCI1*-L at Ocala International (Florida) in early 2025 and had a good start in their first CCI2*-S this spring at Carolina International (Raeford, North Carolina) but had a technical elimination on cross-country.

“Finn and I, we honestly click now. I really understand him, and he really understands me, and it's been really fun getting to know him,” she said. “All of the people that I've been able to train with and tell me things about him have really helped us there. He’s really gotten me to understand his more sensitive side that needs a little bit of caring, and also just kind of understanding from the rider aspect.”

Schwartz is looking forward to the EA21 Central Clinic this summer at Chaps Equestrian Center in Bucyrus, Kansas, where Ashley Johnson will coach.

“The regional camp last year with Shannon Lilley was super fun. I really enjoyed it because I was just about to move up to Prelim with Finn, and her being able to kind of give us advice on what we really needed to push on before that first show at Prelim was super helpful,” she explained. “She gave such great advice, especially in the show jumping. I really enjoyed doing show jumping with her, because she just has a way of just helping me get out of my head and ride more, because sometimes I can do that; I can get a little bit too focused on being perfect, rather than just riding the horse that I have that day, and that clinic was such a kind of click in the moment place where I really understood what I needed to do.”

Schwartz isn’t sure what her future in the sport will be yet as she’s set to graduate high school this month. She’s heading to Texas A&M to study agricultural economics and hopes to keep solidifying her performance at Preliminary with Finn as she settles into college life in the fall while continuing to train with Merritt.

“It definitely is a big transition,” she said. “I definitely want to keep moving up the levels as best as I can, especially while I have the horse right now who has so much potential. Definitely right now it's just keep getting confident and getting stronger and moving up, and then after I get settled into college a little bit, I can see where I want to go with my future.”

Schwartz added that she encourages every young rider she meets to apply for the EA21 program.

“As rider, I’ve been changed so much by being a part of the program and having those connections with such amazing trainers that I've been able to meet through the regional and the national camps,” she said. “I knew Rebecca before going into the camps, but I've met so many awesome trainers that I can now just be like, ‘Hey!’ at a show, or ask for help or advice, or train with when I'm out of a trainer at a show. That's definitely such a help. And being coached by David is such a dream.”

About the USEA Emerging Athlete U21 Program (EA21)

The purpose of the USEA Emerging Athletes U21 Program (EA21) is to identify and provide consistent quality instruction to the next generation of elite event riders. The aim is to create a pipeline for potential team riders by identifying and developing young talent, improving horsemanship and riding skills, and training and improving skills and consistency.

The USEA Emerging Athletes U21 Program was launched in 2022 with a model of five summertime regional clinics taught by carefully selected USEA Eventing Coaches Program (ECP) coaches, leading to a winter national camp consisting of selected Young Riders from the regional clinics. Athletes who are 21 years or younger, are current members of their USEA Young Rider Area program, and are established at the Training Level or higher, are eligible to apply for the EA21 program. Click here to learn more about the USEA EA21 Program.

The USEA would like to thank ARMA, Bates Saddles, GGT Footing, Horse Illustrated, Kerrits, PulseVet, Ride iQ, Schneiders Saddlery, Sidelines Magazine, WeRideTogether, YETI, and 100xEquine for sponsoring the USEA Emerging Athletes U21 Program.