Whilst the September event at Twin Rivers Ranch provided the West Coast with the first ‘post lockdown’ FEI competition, there was a group of riders busily preparing their Young Event Horses for the penultimate event on a strangely altered 2020 calendar.
The prominent California venue owned by the ever-supportive Baxter family will host The Dutta Corp. USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) West Coast Championships and USEA Future Event Horse (FEH) West Coast Championships October 23-24. This will be the first stand-alone Championships combining the best Young and Future Event Horses seen on the West Coast, a huge nod to the program itself and those that support it.
Thanks to the likes of Ironwood Ranch, owned by the Salinger Family (Lompoc, California), Twin Rivers (Paso Robles, California), Woodside Horse Park (Woodside, California), and the Spokane Horse Trials (Spokane, Washington), owners and riders of Young and Future Event Horses on the West Coast are able to qualify for the much anticipated Championships.
This past weekend, David Koss and Fendi, (Fahrenheit x Haupstutbuch Dora), an Oldenburg mare owned by Tessa Robinson, came out on top of the YEH 4-year-olds on an impressive score of 87.9, currently placing them second in the nation based on qualifying scores. Widely respected amateur rider Julie Anne Boyer piloted Truly Enchanted (Eddington x Chetak), a Thoroughbred mare owned by the rider, to the top spot in the YEH 5-year-old class on a score of 88.8. Boyer is no stranger to producing young Thoroughbreds: High Decorum contested the YEH 5-year-olds in 2014 and went on to compete at the four-star level. Now her sights are firmly set on this year's 5-year-old Championship. “I think she’s pretty special. She is very smart but definitely an alpha mare!” says Boyer of the chestnut Thoroughbred ‘Charlotte.’
Expectations are high as riders prepare for the stand-alone event, something event organizer Connie Baxter feels the program needs to showcase the best young horses on the West Coast for the U.S. “We need to highlight the Young Horses, not have them get lost within a big horse show,” says Baxter. With this in mind, the Championships are the headline act on a weekend dedicated to the program.
Following the YEH and FEH, Twin Rivers will then welcome riders to the Halloween-themed one-day event on October 25. A long-standing, highly entertaining unrecognized event on the Area VI calendar, this event offers riders the opportunity to dress up in their best Halloween costumes while honing their skills before heading to the Galway Downs CCI at the end of the month.
As if that’s not enough for the year, Area VI riders can now add one more horse trials to their 2020 calendar, as Twin Rivers rounds out the year with a recognized horse trials on November 13- 15 offering Introductory to Intermediate.
Welcome to the Show Me state and to Area IV USEA members! The 2023 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention kicks of tomorrow and features four full days of educational seminars, committee meetings, and social gatherings all with one aim—to bring the eventing community together to continue to improve upon and celebrate the sport that we all love. This year’s Convention takes place in St. Louis, Missouri, at the Marriott St. Louis Grand in downtown St. Louis from Dec. 7-10, and we have rounded up everything you need to know to make the most of your time in the heartland.
To accompany the 2023 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention, USEA Educational Partner STRIDER has prepared Digital Resources to Maximize Education & Access for the Eventing Community. In keeping with the USEA’s mission to expand the sport of eventing, this webinar outlines ways in which digital tools can be leveraged to increase access and education across equestrian opportunities. As part of STRIDER’s popular Professional Development Webinar Series, this presentation aims to provide a quick overview of best practices and digital tools used across the equestrian industry to boost growth.
Every horse who participated this year in the USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) program has a story—a background that involves a breeder who labored over bloodlines, veterinary care, initial training, and so much more. This year’s highest-placing U.S.-bred horse in the 5-year-old division at the Dutta Corp./USEA Young Event Horse Championships, Arden Augustus, is no exception. His breeder and owner, Anita Antenucci of Arden Farms in Upperville, Virginia, started her program nine years ago and said that the Warmblood gelding was a more emotionally driven breeding for her than others due to his connections with Antenucci’s long-time friend Sharon White.
Have you ever wondered why professional riders love bringing their horses through the USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) program? USEA Podcast host Nicole Brown chats with two of this year's YEH Champions, Caroline Pamukcu who won the USEA YEH 4-year-old East Coast Championship aboard HSH Afterglow, and Andrea Baxter who won the USEA YEH 5-year-old Championship with Camelot PJ, to discuss this year's Championships and all of the great things that the program has to offer.