The U.S. Eventing Olympic Team will hold a mandatory training session at Great Meadow in The Plains, Va., from Wednesday, June 30, through Friday, July 2. The training session will feature at maximum 15 athlete-and-horse combinations, including the three combinations currently named to the U.S. Eventing Olympic Team, direct reserve and traveling reserve combinations, as well as the six alternate combinations and a limited number of other international combinations.
A trot-up will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 30. Dressage will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 1, followed by a cross-country phase beginning at 2:00 p.m. the same day. Show jumping will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, July 2 for all participating combinations. This event will not be open to public spectators and will not be live-streamed, but media attendance and coverage is encouraged.
Interview opportunities with athletes, team staff, and personnel, and Chef d’Equipe Erik Duvander will be available following each phase. All interviews, outside of press conferences, must be pre-scheduled with USEF staff. USEF staff must be present for all pre-scheduled interviews, and media in violation of this will have credentials revoked.
Please contact Kathleen Landwehr at [email protected] for more information on media credentials and to receive media credential application forms. Members of the media should submit completed forms by June 21, 2021.
For media inquiries and further questions about the U.S. Eventing Olympic Team Mandatory Training Session, please contact Carly Weilminster, Director of Communications & PR, at [email protected].
A change in the original schedule of the Emerging Athletes Under 21 (EA21) National Camp brought cross-country day forward to the third day instead of the original final day. Alongside his work with the U.S. Equestrian Federation and the FEI, EA21 Director of Coaching David O’Connor advises the Caisson Detachment of the 3rd United States Infantry Regiment on horsemanship and will be traveling to Arlington, Virginia, to attend the state funeral of former President Jimmy Carter. But no one was disappointed by the change.
Having established clear lines of communication yesterday on the flat, it was time to take those tools to the jumping arena during day two of the 2024-2025 Emerging Athlete Under 21 (EA21) National Camp held at Sweet Dixie South in Ocala, Florida. The curriculum for the second day focused on the rider’s responsibilities and maintaining rideability.
“There’s got to be things that you believe to your core,” EA21 Director of Coaching David O’Connor began on the first day of the 2024-2025 Emerging Athletes Under 21 (EA21) National Camp held at Sweet Dixie South in Ocala, Florida. “For me, that’s communication.”
This week 12 talented Young Rider athletes from all over the country have gathered together in Ocala, Florida, for the 2024-2025 USEA Emerging Athletes U21 National Camp (EA21), led by EA21 Director of Coaching David O'Connor! These riders were hand-selected following the five USEA EA21 Regional Clinics that took place in the summer of 2024 and will spend the week immersed in an educational experience like no other with classroom sessions, hands-on learning led by industry experts, and in-the-saddle instruction facilitated by O'Connor. The National Camp kicks off tomorrow on Dec. 31, 2024 and will run through Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025.