Daniel Stewart is coming to Area III, January 22-23, 2022! See this form for details and registration information. Questions can be directed to Lee Ann Gilson, 678-873-8785, or hrsecrz@gmail.com. This online link can be used to reserve a spot while your registration packet is in the mail. Registration closes January 11, 2022.
Area III Young Riders to Compete at Tryon International 3 Day Event and the YTC Finals - message from the YR Coordinator
We have the last of the 2021 YTC competitions in our sights. Next weekend our riders will be competing at Tryon International 3 Day Event and the YTC Finals - long format. How exciting! I would like to formally announce the riders who are going and who made the 2* team.
For our 1* competitors we have Crockett Miller/Mr. Panda and Camryn Chung/Bird Queen. I am hoping there will be a team they can scramble on, otherwise they will be competing as individuals in the YTC.
For our 2* team, which I have called Area III Powerhouse, we have:
Ivie Cullen-Dean/HSH Redfield Red Sox
Karli Wright/The Diesel Boy
Ella Kay Lane/Double Dare
Lauren Brooks/Fernhill Focus Maxi
Our two individuals are Breeana Robinette/The Dark Mark and Lara Roberts/Briarhill Marco
For our 3* competitor we have Sarah Bowman/Altus Louvo
Way to go riders! Kick butt and make Area III proud!
Lee Ann Gilson, Area III YR Coordinator
The Florida Horse Park awarded CCI4*-S, CCI3*-L, and Advanced levels starting in 2023
Two additional competitions have been approved by the USEF Board of Directors to host CCI4*-S, CCI3*-L, and Advanced level events during the 2023-2027 competition cycle! The Florida Horse Park has been allocated the CCI4*-S, CCI3*-L, and Advanced levels on Week 16 and the Advanced level on Week 40. This is great news for Area III.
See https://flhorsepark.com/ocala-eventing-series/ for details on USEA and USEF events held at the Florida Horse Park. See https://flhorsepark.com/pop-shows/ for information on their Partners of the Park (POP) schooling show series.
Stable View's 2022/23 Show Calendar: Two CCI4* Horse Trials Approved for 2023
Eventing Dates for 2022:
January 22 & 23 || Aiken Opener.
April 1 - 3 || Spring HT 4*/3*/2*/A-T with $60,000 in prize money.
May 14 & 15 || Summer HT P-BN.
June 24 - 26 || Mid-Summer HT A-BN.
September 22 - 25 || Oktoberfest 4*/3*/2*/A-BN with $60,000 in prize money.
Stable View will be hosting two 4*/3*/2* FEI/USEF horse trials in 2023, positioned three weeks prior to the Kentucky 5* and Maryland 5*. National divisions will also be offered, and prize money of at least $60,000 will be awarded at each of these horse trials. There will also be three USEF/USEA National HT’s in January, May and June.
Eventing Update 2023
In 2023, Stable View will be offering additional incentives in the form of a loyalty program. During 2022 and 2023, in the months without a recognized HT Stable View will continue to host Eventing Academies. Stable View’s Rider Lounges allow competitors to get breakfast, have meetings and, during their down times, spend a few minutes in a quiet environment. Paddocks are now offered at all events thus allowing horses to relax in their natural habitat.
See the 2022 calendar for all Stable View events, including dressage and a new series of six USEF A-rated H/J shows.
Submit a News Post to the Area III Website
The Area III fall and winter season is underway! Do you have an Area III event, schooling show, clinic, or other happening you'd like to see featured in a news post on the USEA Area III website? Please fill out this form. Approved submissions will be posted after review (please allow three days); minor editorial changes may be made for clarity or brevity.
Florida Horse Park, October 2020. Photo by C. Davis.
46th Annual TR&HC Morris the Horse Trials Return with New Division and New Awards
The newly named Morris the Horse Trials will run October 23-24 at FENCE. This historical event has added a Preliminary/Training division this year, as well as an Adult Team Challenge! In addition, a Master Amateur Award (for competitors over age 40) and the Junior Low Score Award will be given. Late entries are being accepted. To register or volunteer for the upcoming horse trials, visit: tryonridingandhuntclub.org, call (828) 351-9709, or email: office@trhc1925.org.
Cross-country schooling is available on Sunday, Oct 24, which will allow competitors as well as the public to school on the cross-country course from 8am-12pm. To register for schooling, please contact the show Secretary.
Photo from Horse Country Quarterly Fall 2021
2021 American Eventing Championships - Area 3 Well Represented
By all accounts, the 2021 AECs were the best ever! Congratulations to all who qualified and participated in the event. Area 3 was well represented at all levels. Full results are here. In addition to the individual competition several of our Adult Riders participated in the Adult Team Championships, adding to the fun and excitement of the week. Area 3 team results are here.
2021 Area 3 Championships and Team Challenge Results
Our Area 3 Championships winners are:
Intermediate - Elisa Wallace and Riot Gear
Preliminary - Blake Fortson and Quiana AF
Modified - Crockett Miller and Mr. Panda
Junior Training Rider - Devon Tresan and Zavallo
Senior Training Rider - Lauren Alexander and Excel Star Over The Moon
Training Horse - Morgan Batton and Jamaican Vacation
Junior Novice Rider - Sidnee Milner and BeauJeste
Senior Novice Rider - Erin Nance and Fine Way to Fly
Novice Horse - Julie Richards and Fernhill Happyness
Junior Beginner Novice Rider - Ashley Dowdy and My Mella Bella
Senior Beginner Novice Rider - Nina Celeste Braun and Abraxas
Beginnner Novice Horse - Mary Carol Harsch and Theodore alCoda
CONGRATULATIONS to all! There were 188 starters in 12 championship divisions and this was the first year for a Modified Championship division.
THANK YOU to StableView Farm for hosting the Area 3 Championships and providing a fun, safe weekend for all.
The Area 3 Team Challenge included 33 teams comprised of Adult and Young Riders. The top 6 teams were:
Team River Birch Farm, 94.43
Ready, Steady, Ride, 95.026
#teambadidea, 95.61
Victorious Secrets, 98.155
Dream Team, 98.512
Team White Star, 100.88
Full Team Challenge team results.
Each member of the top 6 teams will receive an eGift Certificate from Schneider’s tack (sstack.com). The 1st place team will receive $100 each; $50 each for the 2nd placed team; and the 3rd thru 6th placed teams will receive $25 each.
All Things Show Jumping - Area III Volunteers Rewarded For Their Efforts
Have you ever said the “Please let me not have a rail today prayer?” If so, you are not alone! How decisive is the show jumping phase in eventing competitions? Just ask a rider who has seen their lead in dressage evaporate after the stadium phase. With that in mind, Barnstaple South in Ocala, Fl. hosted a Stadium Jumping Clinic just for Area 3 volunteers on Saturday, March 13th.
The clinic was funded by a USEA Foundation Le Samurai Grant submitted by Krista Wilson of Tampa, Fl. The USEA Foundation allocates a total of $10,000 annually from the Le Samurai Fund for adult amateur education programs to support USEA Area activities. This clinic was designed to reward Area 3 volunteers and encourage people to volunteer at local horse trials. To participate in the clinic, each participant had to volunteer for at least ten hours at Area 3 events in 2021. Seventeen horse and rider combinations heeded the call, logged their hours and came to hone their skills with three different exceptional clinicians.
Divided into three parts, the clinic mirrored all of the elements from the show jumping phase. Part one covered learning how to walk the course to proactively plan a successful ride. Part two included warming up for the stadium round to generate the positive momentum needed for a focused rider and horse. Part three provided the finale: riding the course with the pressure to impress, candid feedback, and the opportunity to ride the entire course or parts of it again in order to bring it all together for ongoing success.
Joachim Englert, a Grand Prix rider and trainer from Germany who trained many riders up to the grand prix level, is the course designer for Majestic Oaks in Reddick, Fl. He set up the 9 jump/10 effort course on the rolling grass terrain. He walked the course with each group, pointing out how to correctly walk strides and how the uphill or downhill slope of the course would affect the rounds.
“You need to be able to do the number of strides YOU want to do”, he explained of the two bending lines on course. When asked what the most important thing to do as a rider before a course was, he said, “before approaching the first jump, take the time to establish the canter based on YOUR horse so that you have the correct pace and rhythm to feel the distance between jumps.”
“Jo was absolutely fantastic with the course walk," clinic participant Heather Wools said. "He clearly explained the various aspects of the course to consider, especially with the terrain variations on grass, how and when to adjust strides based on if you came into a line too hot, or where the focus of the line should be, based on course design and terrain. It was an absolutely fantastic experience!”
Hilda Donahue, a well-known eventing and endurance rider and trainer who always finds a way to inject confidence through her positive approach, was in charge of warming up the participants. Audrey Bennett, who rode in the clinic with her pony, Bad to The Bone, commented, “It was a great learning experience for me and Bones. Hilda taught us things during the warm up we didn’t even realize we had to fix. But once we did, we saw immediate improvement, came off our warm up and put it all together for a solid clean round.”
Lori Rice, riding her horse Cas, said this was Cas’ first clinic and that he was quite tense. She said Hilda patiently helped her work through it and also helped her position herself better on the horse to land on a specific lead to leave on a confident note to ride the course. Keegan Oswald rode her horse Bones and said working with Hilda was a big eye-opener. “She didn’t try to change what works for my horse, but as she watched our routine, she picked up on minor things I could improve to get a better warmup out of my horse," she said. "She really helped boost my confidence going into my first training level stadium round. It ended up being the best warm-up I have had since I have owned my horse!”
Carol Ogden, a USEA Technical Delegate and a leader on the Florida eventing scene as President of the Florida Horse Trials Association, had the job of judging the stadium phase, talking to the variety of riders immediately following their course ride. To recreate the pressure felt at shows, riders came from warm-up and were given a whistle as they would at an event. Carol was able to quickly spot where the riders needed to improve, gave each specific feedback and sent them back out to do it again.
Jaci Bennett, one of the volunteers for the clinic, commented, “Carol quizzed each rider about the key stadium round regulations and when ready blew the whistle to start. With her stopwatch, judging sheet and experienced view, she created that familiar show jump round pressure to give the riders and their horses an authentic experience.”
“My green horse was very distracted and did not handle the environment well!" Heather Wools said. "Carol was excellent in discussing the areas we needed to work on to grow to the level we need.”
The day would not have run so smoothly without the support of Derek Strine, owner of Barnstaple. He provided the gorgeous venue and provided a delicious lunch for lots of hungry participants. We greatly appreciate his generous support of all the volunteers.
Many thanks to Ann Schielmann, MaryAnn Giandonato, Chris Aytug and Jaci Bennett for all of their help. Even at a clinic for volunteers, we needed volunteers! Krista Wilson, who seemed to be everywhere at once, wrote the grant responsible for the clinic and coordinated all of the details. In closing, everyone would like to offer their MANY THANKS to the USEA Foundation who made this day possible via the Le Samurai Grant.
With the success of this clinic, there is definitely interest to hold another in the future to drive our USEA volunteer efforts. Krista would like to sincerely thank all of the clinicians, participants and volunteers who made this a very special and productive day. Everyone left with big smiles, bigger goals, tangible areas to improve and most of all a feeling of sincere appreciation for their volunteer efforts in 2021.
About the Le Samurai Fund
The Le Samurai Fund was established by Rebecca Broussard and Amy Tryon in memory of the great five-star horse Le Samurai. The USEA Foundation has allocated a total of $10,000 annually from the Le Samurai Fund for adult amateur education programs that are USEA Area activities. Grants from the fund are in addition to Area allotments and can be used for the same adult amateur education programs. The Area Chair should fill out one application form per year and have the principal organizer sign it and send it to the USEA. Grants will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Upon approval, the funds will be forwarded to the Area Treasurer. The maximum grant request is $1,000 per annum.
Area III Honors Top Ten Volunteers
We are excited to announce the top ten Area III volunteers for 2020! Congratulations to the following individuals. Thank you for all of your help this year and for your support and dedication to the sport!
Cynthia Smith - 255 hrs
David Slagle - 201 hrs
Diane Bird - 191 hrs
Debby Courtney - 122 hrs
Catherine Hale - 117 hrs
Scarlett Schall - 116 hrs
Masae P. Muramatsu - 116 hrs
Art Bird - 112 hrs
Shelley Ryan - 104 hrs
Dick Owen - 104 hrs
USEA has provided $200 to each Area to recognize volunteers. The awards will be distributed this year as follows: 1st Place – 50%; 2nd Place – 30%; 3rd Place – 20%.
1st Place: Cynthia Smith (255 hrs) – Cynthia volunteered at every Pine Top H.T. this year. She also frequented Stable View followed by Full Gallop and Paradise Farm.
2nd Place: David Slagle (191 hrs) – David was more evenly split between Full Gallop, Paradise Farm, Pine Top, Poplar Place Farm, and Stable View.
3rd Place: Diane Bird (101 hrs) – Diane frequently volunteered at Sporting Days. She also volunteered at Full Gallop, Pine Top, Stable View and Paradise Farm.
All three volunteered at the Pine Top Thanksgiving H.T.
Area Volunteer Recognition Program
Starting in 2020, Area 3 will recognize the top ten individuals that volunteer at recognized events. All ten will be named on the Area’s website and social media accounts with the top 3 receiving an award/monetary recognition. Awards will be distributed within 60 days following completion of the competition year (1 Dec – 30 Nov) to the appropriate Organizer for local presentation. Only volunteer hours logged and tallied via eventingvolunteers.com online app will be counted towards the recognition awards program.
$200 is available each year from USEA to fund these awards and associated costs. With approval of the council, Area III may add to this amount. Available awards will be split as follows: 1st Place – 50%; 2nd Place – 30%; 3rd Place – 20%. Cash will not be distributed; gift cards may be used. Items for award will be voted on by the Area Council.
Eligibility
The Area III program shall be limited to volunteers registered in the eventingvolunteers.com program; shall be limited to recognized events listed in or as part of the USEA Calendar; and shall exclude any person associated with the event that is named as an administrator in the program or given access to change, add, or subtract hours volunteered by themselves or others. Also excluded from the program are officials, regardless of whether paid or not, if they are performing an official duty (including but not limited to technical delegate, judge, ground jury member, etc.).
It is the intention of Area III to reward the “boots on the ground” volunteers and offer hours-tracking directly supporting the running of the events themselves, as long as no financial compensation takes place. Rewards or incentives for volunteering given by events and/or sponsors (including but not limited to: vouchers for services like cross-country schooling, apparel, raffle tickets/prize drawings) are not considered payment, but tokens of appreciation and incentives for recruiting volunteers.