United States Eventing Association

Unrecognized Events: An Eventing Pipeline

On the last episode of the USEA Podcast, we heard from USEA CEO Rob Burk about the USEA Educational Activities Program as well as Wendy Wergeles, organizer of The Event Derby in California, and Penny Morse, organizer of the Southeastern Schooling Show Championships at Chattahoochee Hills in Georgia.

Continuing from last week's episode, this week Carolyn Mackintosh of The Maryland Horse Trials at Loch Moy Farm comes on the show to discuss the many different unrecognized events and schooling opportunities available at Loch Moy Farm throughout the year, including the six starter trials held in the spring and fall, cross-derbies held throughout the winter, and twilight eventing in the spring and summer. The Maryland Horse Trials offers levels from Introductory and Elementary all the way up through the new Modified level. Among the unique things about the unrecognized events at the Maryland Horse Trials is that they offer a special award to instructors based on the performance of their students as a way to recognize their hard work and dedication to the sport.

Marc Donovan, Organizer of the Adequan War Horse Event Series held at the Carolina Horse Park, comes on the show next to talk about the history of the series and how it has grown over the years. The series began in 2012 hosting five events a year and a championship in November, offering Training level on down through Maiden and Green as Grass levels. In 2017, due to the popularity of the events, a sixth event was added to accommodate the growing number of entries. The War Horse Series has some very generous sponsors that allow for great prizes, including prize money at championships.