United States Eventing Association

The future of eventing is looking bright! This week on the USEA Official Podcast, we're celebrating the 2026 USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) Championships with the riders and connections behind this year's East and West Coast champions. James Alliston joins the show following a clean sweep of the West Coast Championships at Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles, California, where he claimed the 4-Year-Old title with Wizmo Warrior OMR and the 5-Year-Old title with Viodor. Alliston shares the stories behind both horses, what he looks for when evaluating young talent, and how the YEH program helps give promising horses and their owners a meaningful goal early in their careers.

Then, East Coast champion Caroline Pamukcu and longtime collaborator Kelly Hutchinson join the conversation to discuss their own championship double at Fair Hill, Maryland, with HSH Straight Arrow in the 4-Year-Old division and HSH Moves Like Jagger in the 5-Year-Old division. From the unusual wedding gift that brought Moves Like Jagger into Pamukcu's program to the Irish breeding and production process behind both horses, the pair share how their partnership has helped develop a steady pipeline of promising young talent. They also reflect on the importance of recognizing potential early, tailoring each horse's development, and preparing young horses for the demands of future international competition.

Plus, Pamukcu and Hutchinson look back on the remarkable journey of HSH Blake, a former YEH champion who has gone on to represent the U.S. at the highest levels of the sport, including a podium finish at Burghley this year. With stories of championship victories, exciting young prospects, and the people who believe in them from the beginning, this episode offers a glimpse into the horses that could be making headlines for years to come.

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