Jan 07, 2021

USEA Events A-Z: Barnstaple South Horse Trials

By Jessica Duffy - USEA Staff
USEA/Leslie Mintz Photo.

The Barnstaple South Horse Trials take place in Morriston, Florida (Area III) offering Beginner Novice through Preliminary levels. Barnstaple South currently has two USEA recognized events on the 2021 calendar, the first of which will take place this coming weekend and the second in early May.

Derek Strine purchased 80 acres in Morriston, Florida – about 30 minutes northwest of Ocala – in late 2018 with the vision to create a training facility for eventers. Barnstaple South opened to the public in January of 2019, offering clinics, schooling shows, and other schooling opportunities. In 2020, Barnstaple South hosted the USEA Educational Symposium, featuring the USEA Instructors’ Certification Program (ICP), USEA Future Event Horse (FEH), and USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) programs, and offered several FEH and YEH qualifying events throughout the year.

In 2021, Barnstaple South will be adding USEA recognized competitions to their offering for Beginner Novice through Preliminary level competitors. “Derek decided to start running horse trials as a way to broaden the variety of all Barnstaple has to offer,” explained event organizer Emily Holmes.

Lisa Madren Photo.

Barnstaple South has full cross-country courses for Elementary through Preliminary levels with portable fences, coffins, ditches, banks, drops, logs, and a water jump. “There is a very cool massive tower in the middle of cross country, so someone can pretty much stand on the tower and watch all the horses go,” Holmes described. “The course is on 30 acres of irrigated, very well-maintained grass with a wide variety of obstacles to offer. The jumps are all less than two years old. The jumps are moving frequently so schooling doesn't eat up the ground. It is mostly flat with little terrain.”

Additionally, the facility boasts two training barns with attached living quarters, two irrigated fiber arenas, a grass pad that is irrigated strictly for dressage, and a hot walker, all located directly next to HITS Ocala. While the facility is designed to cater to eventers, Holmes stressed that all disciplines are invited to train at Barnstaple.

USEA/Leslie Mintz Photo.

“Derek Strine is the visionary behind the horse trials, with builders Mark McCleerey and Tommy Neneman,” Holmes shared. “Alice Andrews started as the organizer and I took over in the fall.” Hugh Lochore will be designing the cross-country courses and Chris Barnard will be the show jumping designer for Barnstaple’s upcoming USEA recognized events.

Holmes said it’s the people involved with the competitions at Barnstaple South that make the event so special. “We really care about the sport,” she said. “Derek and I are both very passionate about creating events that cater to helping professionals produce young horses and helping amateurs and young riders develop up the levels. Derek is awesome - we're constantly bouncing ideas off of each other!”

Lisa Madren Photo.

“We really care about developing the sport,” Holmes concluded. “We want the event to be fun, competitive, advantageous, and a great outing for all.”

Barnstaple South’s first USEA recognized event will take place this weekend, January 9-10. Their second event will be held on May 1-2.

The USEA profiles the history behind each USEA recognized event in the USEA Events A­-Z series.

Dec 09, 2024 Eventing News

RevitaVet Returns as Title Sponsor of 2024 USEA Young Rider of the Year Leaderboard

The United States Eventing Association (USEA) is pleased to announce the continued partnership with RevitaVet and Tom Neuman to provide the 2024 USEA Young Rider of the Year with one RevitaVet system and prize pack.

Dec 08, 2024 Interscholastic

Fall Season Crowns Over a Dozen New IEL Team Challenge Champions

As the curtains close on the 2024 competition season, the USEA is looking back at an incredibly busy fall season. With the MARS Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill, two Dutta. Corp USEA Young Event Horse Championships, Area Championships in all 10 sections of the country, and more, there was no shortage of excitement, but the rise in IEL Team Challenges was certainly a highlight of the year for the USEA Interscholastic Eventing League (IEL). Since we last reported in October, 13 additional IEL Team Challenges were hosted at events across Areas II, III, IV, VI, and VIII, to bring the grand total for the year to 44 challenges.

Dec 07, 2024 Volunteers

Celebrating the Successes of The USEA's VIP Volunteers in 2024

As 2024 draws to a close, we would be remiss not to recognize the many volunteers who dedicate countless hours of their free time to the success of our sport. There were 72,374 hours logged in the USEA’s Volunteer Incentive Program (VIP) this year across the 171 events that utilized the eventingvolunteers.com platform to log volunteer time. This impressive amount of volunteer time was contributed by 4,378 amazing VIP volunteers.

Dec 06, 2024 News

Weekend Quick Links: December 7-8

Are you following along with the action from home this weekend? Or maybe you're competing at an event and need information fast. Either way, we’ve got you covered! Check out the USEA’s Weekend Quick Links for links to information including the prize list, ride times, live scores, and more for all the events running this weekend.

Official Corporate Sponsors of the USEA

Official Joint Therapy Treatment of the USEA

Official Feed of the USEA

Official Saddle of the USEA

Official Equine Insurance of the USEA

Official Forage of the USEA

Official Supplement Feeding System of the USEA

Official Competition & Training Apparel of the USEA

Official Horse Boot of the USEA

Official Shockwave of the USEA

Official Horse Wear of the USEA