Area 1 Professionals Group

This year, under the leadership of Bevin Dugan, a group of Area 1 professionals has been meeting to brainstorm ways to foster the eventing pipeline in Area 1, bringing more people into the sport, and to improve the competition experience for all levels of the sport. The group has met virtually twice this year, in February and March, with lively discussion of the current state of the sport in Area 1 and questions and thoughts about how to move forward.

The February meeting focused on the current state of the sport; many noted that barns with introductory riding programs are full with waiting lists and that the schooling horse trials scene is booming. Although it was noted that the schooling horse trials calendar could use some organizing, schooling horse trials were applauded as a less expensive, less intimidating entry way into the sport, with their lower fees and easier entries. The conversation then turned to how to move people from the schooling horse trials world into recognized eventing. Many trainers appreciated recognized horse trials that also offer the starter division, since they provide starter riders with the structure, rules, and quality of a USEA event at a lower level and enable the trainer to take riders at all levels to the same competition.

Discussion then turned to ways in which we could build interest in the sport. Many felt the horsemanship emphasis of eventing is a particular niche that could be built upon, as well as experimenting with other ways to attract new riders to the sport, including arena eventing, eventing classes at horse shows, and a stronger level of publicity in the press.

The March meeting largely focused on cross country courses and some of the issues and challenges that exist in Area 1 eventing. Difficulty of courses and the challenges of building courses on smaller pieces of land were subjects of discussion; professionals see the need to balance entry-level courses at each level for the juniors and amateurs who don’t go south or are moving up with the need for courses at the top end of division for riders bringing horses up the levels. One idea that was discussed is a possible rating system for courses within a division, similar to ski slopes ratings, where an entry level novice course might be rated as “green circle” where a novice set to the most challenging specifications would be a “black diamond” novice. Essentially, this would be formalizing the notes on courses that organizers provide for the Omnibus listing. The group also discussed the need for the events with the best galloping conditions to set the most challenging courses and wondered how to best support this. The talk then turned to the modified level and how much the group would like to see this level expanded in the area.

This group intends to continue meeting once a month; any Area 1 professional interested in attending should contact Bevin Dugan at winchester.vt@gmail.com.

Bevin is a USEA ICP Level 2 Instructor and USDF Bronze and Silver Medalist. She actively competes through the CCI-3*L level of Eventing and Prix St. Georges Dressage. She operates her business, O'Reilly Equestrian LLC, in Vernon, Vermont.
Photo Credit Dianne Engleke