United States Eventing Association

This or That: Adjustability Over Fences on Day 2 of the USEA EA21 East I Clinic

Leesburg, Va.—June 26— After focusing on flatwork during the first day of the USEA Emerging Athlete U21 (EA21) East Coast I Regional Clinic at Morven Park, the 12 hand-selected riders and coach Shannon Lilley headed to the spacious outdoor ring early this morning to put some of their skills to the test over fences.

One exercise Lilley used yesterday was counter canter, and she had each of the four groups warm up over small verticals and a bounce, first on the correct lead, then in counter canter.

“If you have to ride the corner in counter canter, you have to ride them in balance,” she said. “It’s a good exercise. I do a lot in counter canter. I do poles, and I turn on small circles. I just think it helps you pay attention to all parts of the horse and be able to create balance. You don’t change the rhythm as much because you’re focusing on the balance.”

She noted that it’s easier to find a distance in counter canter since your horse is already balanced and your focus is on their body rather than “seeing a spot.”

Lilley rode with New Zealand show jumper Grant Wilson this winter on the advice of five-star rider Will Coleman, and she was inspired to use some of what she learned this week in her teaching.

“He had us do so much in counter canter, and I had two really green horses there. It helped a ton,” she said. “I thought they wouldn’t be able to do it, and they did it. He was very patient. He’s a good teacher in that regard. It was a lot about the details and the flatwork, and I appreciated that, especially for those horses. We do it on the flat so much, why not incorporate it into the [jumping] warmup?”

Once each group was warmed up, Lilley had them alternate between counter canter and the correct lead to a line of simple verticals. She had them set at an open six strides and asked riders to do the line in six, seven, and eight strides.

“We have to have gears in show jumping. You have to have gears in your canter,” she said. [This exercise] shows you where your gears are. As we were saying yesterday, as you move up the levels, the range of your canter and gaits have to be bigger. At the Advanced level, you have to be able to make them very small and very big and do it quickly. For the horses that are at the Intermediate level, it was easy. To be honest, the Advanced horses should be able to do 5 and 10. They’re small jumps.

“You have to make it happen and explore—be able to maintain the rhythm and balance on a shorter step and a bigger step,” she continued. “For some of the horses, going bigger is harder to maintain the balance because they have to lengthen their body and stay quiet. Whereas for some, going shorter is harder because they’re almost too relaxed and too slow-footed, and they’re not quick enough. But they all did it. Then they know they have the adjustability for when you go to the course. You have more options and rideability.”

Lilley, who’s been teaching the this EA21 clinic for three years, noted that the feedback from last year was that coaches and riders wanted to incorporate some cross-country into the clinics. Due to budget, it wasn’t possible to add a third day this year, but the EA21 coaches got together and discussed incorporating cross-country exercises into show jumping day.

Once horses and riders mastered some of the coursework Lilley had set up, which included an triple bar to a set of double verticals on a shorter one-stride distance, as well as an oxer on the short side, an angled line of vertical-oxer-vertical, and a bounce, they picked up the pace and did the same thing.

“They all have homework they can take to train the horses for the next level, which is part of this,” said Lilley. “You want to make sure they have tools going forward and where to go next. For the last group, some of the exercises were a lot, but they all did them well. They’re all very capable, and now they can trust they’re capable.”

Eliza Quigley (Madbury, New Hampshire) was participating in her first EA21 clinic with Jessica Gehman’s 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Kwibus (F-One USA x Verlina).

She appreciated the opportunity to watch all of the lessons and felt she gained a lot from the experience.

“Watching and seeing what [Lilley] says to other people because they all ride different horses—it really gets you thinking about how each horse is different and how you have to ride them differently,” she said. “I noticed that with the switch-ride—it’s like the complete opposite of what you’re used to. Here in the jumping she did a lot of good exercises. We have a hard time turning, so she really tested our ability to turn and burn and get stuff done and make sure the horse is adjustable.”

Sylvia Byars, who’s from Wayne, Illinois, was participating in her second EA21 clinic, but her first on the East Coast with Lilley. She’s currently based in Virginia. She rode Nicole Byars’ CSF Dassett Decoy, an 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse/Selle Français gelding (Flipper d’Elle x CSF Doorn Cruise).

“I really loved [Lilley’s] approach and the way she had us do a lot of different exercises. We weren’t expected to do it perfectly, but it was just information gathering for us so we could figure out where the holes are and what we should do at home over the summer. I thought that was so helpful. I came away with a lot more information about my horse and who I am as a rider and what I can do to keep improving,” she said. “The switch-rides were so cool to see because often the rider on the new horse would improve them simply because of the natural way they ride. It was so interesting to see how all the different riders all have different ways of riding. That brings out some good things, and we have to change ourselves just a bit to bring out certain other things, so I thought that was super educational to watch everyone do that.”

Emma Armstrong (Hollis, New Hampshire), another first-time EA21 rider, admitted she was a little intimidated coming into this week, but loved Lilley’s encouraging coaching.

“It was an amazing experience where she pushed us to take it to the next level in the sport,” she said. “She’s training us to be the best we can be. It was great absorbing the information and everything she tells to the other riders and what you can learn from them and their horses or if you can relate. I’m super grateful to be here and take this all back home and expand my knowledge.”

She rode her own 10-year-old Thoroughbred gelding Newman (Bernardini x True Style).

“I was very comfortable with [the jumping exercises],” she said. “We do a lot of this at home, so I felt very prepared. It was just nipping me on preparation, which is good. It was just the vocal reminder and making sure I’m on my toes with everything, and then adding the cross-country aspect in was a blast.”

“The riding level is getting really good,” Lilley concluded. “Everyone that’s here deserved to be there. The level of riding is so good to see at this age group. You just hope as this program continues, you want to see them get better and better. The kids are so awesome. They’re fun to be around, they’re so excited, and they want so badly to be good.”

The Participants:

East I | Morven Park Equestrian Center | Leesburg, Virginia

• Emma Armstrong
• Sylvia Byars
• Emeline Gilbert
• Madison Haney
• Lizzie Hoff
• Samantha Homeyer
• Caitlin O'Roark
• Audrey Ogan
• Eliza Quigley
• Adelyn Rinehart
• Camila Saenz
• Annabelle Sprague

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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 selected USEA Eventing Coaches Program (ECP) instructors, 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, Kerrits, PulseVet, Ride iQ, Sidelines Magazine, Schneiders Saddlery and #WeRideTogether for sponsoring the USEA Emerging Athletes U21 Program.