United States Eventing Association

Young Horse Championship Round-Up

Championship season is upon us, and this week we're speaking with the winners from the USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) East and West Coast 5-year-old Championships.

But first, we hear from Elizabeth Callahan of Cool Na Grena Sporthorses, who traveled to La Mondial du Lion d'Angers to watch her homebred, Quantum Leap, compete in the FEI World Breeding Eventing Championships for Young Horses with rider Doug Payne. Quantum Leap was the recipient of the 2018 Holekamp/Turner Young Event Horse Prize and Grant as the highest-placed young horse at the 2016 USEA Young Event Horse 5-year-old Championships who was willing and qualified as a 7-year-old to compete at the FEI World Breeding Eventing Championships. Callahan comes on the show to share her experiences at the Championships, including her impression of the event and her takeaways from watching the best young horses in the world compete.

Next we hear from Tamra Smith, who won the USEA YEH East Coast 5-year-old Championship aboard MB MaiStein (Rocky Lee x High Ovation), the MB Group, LLC's Oldenburg gelding bred by Kai-Steffen Meier and his wife, Lara, at Arville Sporthorses. Smith discusses her decision to travel from California to compete in the East Coast Championship and what it has been like to produce "Rocky" from a 3-year-old. She also shared her advice on producing young horses and how she feels her young horses have benefitted from competing in YEH divisions.

Madison Temkin closes out the program by telling us about her win aboard MVP Madbum (Papa Clem x Dancing Stripes), her own off-the-track Thoroughbred mare bred by E-racing.com, in USEA YEH West Coast 5-year-old Championship. Temkin talks about how she acquired "Madbum" as a 2-year-old and the process of producing the mare herself from the ground up. She also discusses what it was like to compete aboard a full Thoroughbred in the Championship and how Madbum performed in the competition.