Eventing

With its variation in levels and difficulty and wide range of competitions available all across the country, Eventing is a sport which provides competitive and recreational opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds. Today, the sport is most known for its cross-country phase where horse and rider gallop over an outside course of solid obstacles which the horse has never seen before. At the uppermost level of competition, Olympic or World Championship, the endurance day consists of Phase A-Roads and Tracks, approximately three and a half miles of walk and trot as a warm-up; Phase B-Steeplechase, approximately two and one-eighth miles at a gallop over approximately eight steeplechase fences; Phase C-Roads and Tracks, approximately seven miles of walk and trot as a cool down from steeplechase, and Phase D-Cross-country, approximately five miles at a gallop over a maximum of 45 obstacles that can be up to four feet high and ten feet wide (at the base). The horse's speed on this phase is over 20 miles per hour.

In both the 1976 and 1984 Olympic Games, the U.S. Three-Day team won gold medals, as well as individual gold and silver. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, the U.S. Three-Day team won the silver medal and Kerry Millikin of Massachusetts won the individual bronze medal. At the 1999 Pan-American Games, held in Winnipeg, the United States won the team gold medal, and the individual silver and bronze medals. In Sydney in 2000, with an Olympic record-breaking score, David O'Connor won the individual gold medal. Team USA, headed by the husband and wife team, David and Karen O'Connor, Nina Fout, and Linden Wiesman won the bronze medal, confirming the United States' position as one of the top eventing countries in the world.

In addition to the Olympic and Pan American Games, a World Championship is held every four years. Bruce Davidson from Unionville Pennsylvania won back-to-back world titles in 1974 and 1978-a feat that has not yet been repeated. Davidson added the bronze medal to his collection at the 1990 World Three-Day Event Championship in Stockholm, Sweden. Dorothy Crowell of Lexington, Kentucky followed in Davidson's footsteps, cinching the world silver medal at The Hague in Holland in 1994. In 1998 the U.S. Team won the bronze medal at the World Three-Day Event Championship in Pratoni, Italy. Just this year, at the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain, the U.S. Eventing Squad of David O'Connor, John Williams, Amy Tryon and Kim Vinoski captured the elite team gold medal; while Darren Chiacchia and Gina Miles each put in impressive individual performances.

The sport, however, is not limited to the international levels. It draws from a wide range of riders both in age and geography. We can boast of 75 year old riders competing in preliminary three-day events to youngsters of 10 and 11 at the entry level. J. Michael Plumb, a "middle-aged" rider, who continues to compete at the highest levels of the sport, has represented the United States at eight Olympic Games (including the 1980 Alternate Olympics). In fact, since the more experienced riders are frequently training young horses at the lower levels, our young (and older) riders often have the challenge of competing against an Olympian-they sometimes even beat them!

The members of the USEA are a fiercely loyal and dedicated group of people, true horseman. We are proud of their training and hard work, for at every level, including the entry level, our competitions provide a challenging test of discipline, ability and sportsmanship.

For additional information on the USEA or our calendar of events, please contact the USEA office:

United States Eventing Association, Inc. 525 Old Waterford Road NW Leesburg, Virginia 20176 Phone: 703-779-0440 Fax: 703-779-0550 e-mail: info@useventing.com