United States Eventing Association

Why Five-Star Rider Bec Braitling Believes Continuing Education is Essential for Eventing’s Future

Bec Braitling is passionate about continuing education in the sport of eventing—not just for riders, but for coaches as well.

As a Level V certified USEA Eventing Coaches Program (ECP) Coach, Braitling knew she wanted to bring the principles of the ECP to her home base in California, which is why she organized a USEA ECP Workshop at Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles in September.

And even when the attendance wasn’t exactly what she'd hoped originally, she was still committed to offering the experience for those who did make arrangements to attend because of the value she sees in these continuing education opportunities.

“It almost made me feel even more inspired to do it,” Braitling said of the smaller participant pool. “We could make it really hands-on and interactive that way.”

Braitling had nine demonstration riders come in throughout the workshop, three of whom she taught demo lessons with and six for the candidate lessons. With the smaller attendance pool, Braitling and the candidate and auditors had the chance to work very closely answering questions and evaluating the riders and coaching styles.

“I think anytime you do any of these types of activities, it's such a huge lesson and reminder in the importance of continued education,” noted Braitling. “I think we can become very complacent in what we do day to day. We talk about this amongst the coaches, when I do the EA21 Regional Clinics, that it almost sort of holds you accountable to the things that are really important so you don't get lazy in your teaching. You’re constantly trying to have content that's really relevant and still continuing to be a student of the sport.”

A native Australian, Braitling thinks her upbringing in the sport in her home country also fuels her passion for supporting the ECP here in the States.

“We have a very strong coaching program in Australia, and I've grown up through that. I do remember starting my accreditation through our national federation at around 18 or 19. So then coming to the U.S., a huge part of our time is coaching, so I naturally sort of turned back to that foundation, and ended up doing the ECP program on my own," she said.

Since becoming certified originally, Braitling eventually joined the ECP Committee and then the ECP Faculty, as well as serving as one of the USEA Emerging Athlete U21 (EA21) regional coaches, which does require a coach to be ECP certified. Through her higher level of involvement in both the ECP and EA21 programs, Braitling now fully appreciates the importance of a structured educational program for eventing coaches even more.

“I think it's really important that we are always pushing towards having a systematic approach to training at the very basic levels,” she said.

And with the USEA ECP Symposium making its way to the West Coast next year, Braitling is even more excited to spread the word about the value of the ECP to coaches all over the country.

“It’s one big sharing of information,” she said of the Symposium experience. “It's so interactive, and we encourage people, even if they are not sure if they want to pursue certification just yet, to attend and join in on this sharing of knowledge. From the lowest levels up through the highest levels, we spend the three days talking about training philosophies and expectations. I think that sharing of information of how we can just continuously make our sport safer and make everybody that's in the sport—whether it's coaches or the riders or parents—really understand what it encompasses.

“The West Coast has always been a huge supporter of these types of programs,” Braitling continued. “I can relate having grown up in a country that's so isolated. I think that you see where there's maybe a little lack of something, and you actually find the people who are really desperate for that information. On the West Coast, any little opportunity for learning is typically well supported. I do think the West Coast has that thirst for knowledge, and huge supporters of these opportunities whenever they can get to them.”

She is eager to share the revamped, interactive format with her fellow Californians, and hopefully many more, at the future home of the equestrian events for the 2028 L.A. Olympics.

For those unfamiliar with the ECP Symposium, it's best described as an interactive coaching experience. ECP faculty members are paired up with small groups where they work alongside Symposium participants to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of demonstration riders of all levels to create a lesson plan specific to a few key observations the groups make together. Then, the ECP faculty member takes the stage to execute their group’s lesson plan and demonstrate how they would tailor a lesson to meet that rider’s needs based off of the goals set forth in the USEA Eventing Handbook by the Levels.

Braitling feels as though involvement in structured coaching programs such as the ECP is imperative to the continued strengthening of our sport in the U.S.

“Ultimately, we have to sort of think about the good of the sport for it to continue,” she reflected. “Everyone understands that our sport is getting more expensive, and land is a little scarce, so we have to be really thinking about, not just the day-to-day, but the big picture. Everyone has to be getting educated still and staying really up to date with everything that is sort of unfolding in our sport. The Symposium is such a great opportunity to take that time to do that.”

For all of these reasons and more, Braitling encourages everyone, no matter what coast you are on, to consider attending the 2025 ECP Symposium which takes place January 14-16 at Galway Downs in Temecula, California. The event is open to everyone from ECP-certified coaches to prospective ECP candidates to riders, parents, and more. You can learn more about the Symposium here.

About the USEA Eventing Coaches Program (ECP)

Coaches are essential to the training of riders and horses for safe and educated participation in the sport of eventing. The USEA Eventing Coaches Program (ECP), formerly known as the Instructors’ Certification Program (ICP), was initiated in 2002 to educate all levels of eventing coaches with crucial training principles upon which they can continue to build throughout their teaching careers. ECP offers educational workshops and assessments by which both regular coaches, Level I through Level V, Young Event Horse (YEH) coaches, and Young Event Horse professional horse trainers can become ECP certified. Additional information about ECP’s goals, benefits, workshops, and assessments as well as names and contact information for current ECP certified coaches, YEH coaches, and YEH professional horse trainers are available on the USEA website. Click here to learn more about the USEA Eventing Coaches Program.

The USEA would like to thank Galway Downs, Parker Equine Insurance, the United States Pony Clubs, and Strider for their support of the Eventing Coaches Program.