The U.S. Equestrian Federation has announced that the 2024 USEF/USEA Developing Horse National Championships will take place at Morven Park International & Fall Horse Trials in Leesburg, Virginia, Oct. 10-13. This national championship will feature two divisions: the first for 6-year-old horses competing at the CCI2*-S level, and the second for 7-year-old horses competing at the CCI3*-S level. “For the past three years the Morven Park International & Fall Horse Trials has offered CCIYH3*-S and CCIYH2*-S divisions, providing an opportunity to support the pipeline of international-level ..read more

Great Britain’s William Fox-Pitt, one of the winningest event riders in history with 14 five-star victories to his name plus multiple senior championships including five Olympic Games, announced his retirement from upper-level competition last weekend at the Badminton Horse Trials (England). “I won’t be coming back to Badminton,” he said Sunday. After sitting in second place after cross-country with a textbook round on 12-year-old Graffenacht, the pair had a disappointing six rails in stadium to finish 13th. “It’s a shame to finish on a bit of a downer but I’m cool with that. That wi ..read more

As Tiana Coudray pulled into the Mars Badminton Horse Trials this year, she felt like she’d already accomplished one of her goals. It was the third time she’d aimed Cancaras Girl towards England’s spring five-star, but until last week, she’d been thwarted. The 2022 edition had been immensely popular, and the pair was waitlisted. As the event drew nearer, Coudray watched her name creep towards the top of the list until it was next in line. But no others withdrew, so they didn’t get a slot. “It meant that she had to do all her gallops, all her preparation, and literally didn’t get to go,” said t ..read more

Going into cross-country day at the USEA Intercollegiate Eventing Championship, 20-year-old Hayden Wathen knew she needed to get Contestor over the finish line under optimum time to stay at the top of the open intermediate leaderboard. Only a single point separated her from the second-place competitor, professional Waylon Roberts.  “I had never made the time at the intermediate [or] three-star level,” said Wathen, who wasn’t sure she could pull it off. But when she saw the reaction of her Auburn University (Alabama) teammates at the end of the course, she knew she had done it.  “They ..read more

Now called “Grandpa” or “Comic” to those who know him well, Jennie Brannigan’s five-star horse Twilightslastgleam was dubbed “A Red-Headed Problem Child” in a 2015 article following his reserve championship at the previous fall’s USEA Young Event Horse East Coast Championship (Maryland). “When he was at Fair Hill [Training Center] he was so bad he bucked everyone off; he never made it out of the shedrow,” Brannigan recalled. In his youth, the chestnut gelding dumped almost everyone who had a leg over him. Jump jockey Willie McCarthy and eventer Waylon Roberts were two of the only ones who stay ..read more

When Kent Horse Trials in Kent, Connecticut, announced last week that it will stop running after 44 years, local eventers in Area I flocked to social media to share their memories of galloping across Skiff Mountain. It was sad to lose another long-running event in Area I, said Lynn Guelzow, who has organized the horse trials since 2019. Financial challenges ultimately ended it, a common thread among cancellations seen across the country. “It’s going to leave a big hole in Area I. We’ve lost so many events,” Guelzow said. “Everyone has their own unique stories on why they didn’t survive, but th ..read more

It’s a blessing and a curse that you can now watch every five-star event (and most CCI4*-L events) from anywhere in the world via livestream. It’s a tremendous learning experience for anyone who aspires to be a better cross-country rider, because you can watch how the best in the world do it. But it also puts every decision those top event riders make on display for the world to see, to critique and to judge. And guess what? They’re human, too, and they make mistakes. The question is: How do we, as a sport, respond to those mistakes? Where are the opportunities for all of us—riders, coaches an ..read more

Oliver Townend announced Tuesday, May 7, that he is withdrawing Ballaghmor Class from this weekend’s Badminton CCI5*-L (England). This means Townend, fresh off his win at the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L with Cooley Rosalent, won’t have a third chance to try to win the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing. Ballaghmor Class, a 17-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, has already completed Badminton four times, finishing in the top five each time. “Thomas” won the 2023 Burghley CCI5*-L (England) in his last outing at the level. Ballaghmor Class is a proven five-star winner, and he topped the 2021 Land Rover ..read more

It was going to be a family trip: my non-horsey husband, toddler son, and me on a six-hour road trip to Lexington for the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event.  But when we started to lay out the details, both husband and son had previous commitments that would make the trip logistically difficult. My husband, perhaps detecting his out, asked if I’d want to go alone.  Would I want to go alone?! I hardly remembered what “alone” felt like. I haven’t experienced it in any significant quantity in the almost three years since my son was born. I don’t think I’ve even peed alone sinc ..read more

When Meghan O’Donoghue first met the off-track Thoroughbred Palm Crescent back in 2011 as a 5-year-old, there was no inkling that he would ever be hers, much less become her next five-star mount. She can’t claim any clairvoyant foresight into his potential, because as it happened, they came together mostly by accident.  “Honestly, ‘Palmer’ more or less found me,” O’Donoghue recalls with a laugh.  After a spring season that saw the pair earn one of their best-ever placings at the four-star level when they took third at the Setters’ Run Farm Carolina International CCI4*-S (North Caroli ..read more