Arguably one of the cutest national leaderboards the USEA has to offer is the Smartpak USEA Pony of the Year leaderboard. Since it’s more than halfway through the year, this month the USEA selected the pony sitting on top of that leaderboard, Have A Little Faith, as the USEA Horse (Pony) of the Month! Standing at 14.1 hands, Have A Little Faith is an 18-year-old chestnut mare ridden by Diane Smith and owned by Sarah Lesser.
The small but mighty mare has earned 18 USEA points thus far in 2020. In the four events that Have A Little Faith has competed in this year, she has never finished outside of the top five. She has finished second in the Open Beginner Novice with rider Diane Smith in the last three events – the Poplar Place July Horse Trials, the Chattahoochee Hills June Horse Trials, and the Chattahoochee Hills February Horse Trials.
Learn more about the peppermint loving, clever, cheeky pony from her longtime rider, Diane Smith.
“Have A Little Faith is owned by the Lesser family - Jan, Rob, and Sarah - who so graciously allow me to train and compete this mare for over the past five years. She goes by ‘Faith’ in the barn and has numerous ‘pet’ names on any given day.”
“Her favorite treat is definitely peppermints and she will smile with appreciation for them all day long.”
“Her favorite phase in eventing is probably cross-country, whereas mine is dressage!”
“She is an extreme extrovert, clever, cheeky, and super sweet. She will flawlessly navigate all three phases in eventing for me one day and the next day [she will] be a perfect ‘adult’ allowing the babies we train to pony behind her. Such an amazing breed.”
“The only thing that I know of that Faith does not like is to be dewormed. For such a 'small girl' she evades it like the plague!”
“She has been and continues to be such an amazing team member in our string. Always willing to try a little more and do a little more with me. We are heading to the AEC this August for the second year in a row and so looking forward to it!”
Miss any of the previous 2020 horses of the month? Find out about the USEA January Horse of the Month, USEA February Horse of the Month, USEA March Horse of the Month, USEA April Horse of the Month, USEA May Horse of the Month, USEA June Horse of the Month, and USEA July Horse of the Month.
The USEA is recognizing an event horse each month on the USEA website and social media. The USEA Horse of the Month is determined based on performance and event results and announced at the beginning of every month. The August Horse of the Month was determined by which pony was sitting on top of the Smartpak USEA Pony of the Year leaderboard.
The USEA would like to thank Smartpak, the Title Sponsor of the USEA Pony of the Year leaderboard.
Until this past May, qualifying for the USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds let alone actually making plans to compete, seemed like a far-off dream. Going into this show season the AEC was a goal I had set in the back of my mind but maybe only said out loud a few times.
The Millbrook Horse Trials kicked off on July 25 with lower level dressage at Riga Meadow Equestrian Center at Coole Park in Millbrook, New York. There are more than 400 total entries competing at Millbrook, from Beginner Novice to Advanced level. Today the upper level horses cantered down the centerline, while the lower levels headed out on cross-country.
The United States Eventing Association, Inc. (USEA) is thrilled to announce Adams Horse Supply as the new title sponsor of the USEA Adult Team Championships (ATC) at the American Eventing Championships (AEC). The ATC will now be titled “The Adams Horse Supply USEA Adult Team Championships at the AEC.”
The world’s best eventing horses and riders will be first out of the starting blocks when the equestrian action gets underway at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Versailles, France, tomorrow morning with the opening dressage test.