Classic Eventing Nation

Important Reminder – USEF FEI Entry Portal

By on Jan 10, 2021 10:00 am -

Dear U.S. Eventing Athletes,

As we look ahead with hope and optimism to the start of the 2021 FEI season, I first and foremost hope you and your family continue to be safe and well. With our first FEI competition fast approaching, we would like to take this opportunity to remind you of these key factors regarding FEI entries:

• If you intend to compete in a U.S. FEI competition, your entry must be submitted in the USEF FEI Entry Portal no later than 3 p.m. EST on the Definite Entry Date listed on the competition’s FEI Schedule.
• You are not considered as entered in the competition until your entry is not submitted in the USEF FEI Entry Portal.
• No new entries will be accepted in the USEF FEI Entry Portal after 3 p.m. EST on the Definite Entry Date.

FEI Schedules: The FEI Schedule is your official resource for all information regarding U.S. FEI eventing competitions. FEI Schedules can be found by utilizing the FEI Calendar Search and on the U.S. FEI Competitions page on the USEF Eventing website. We recommend you bookmark this page and refer back to it when preparing to enter an FEI competition.

Definite Entry Date: The “Closing Date for Definite Entries” is the most important date to mark on your calendar and can be found under section VII on the FEI Schedule and on the U.S. FEI Competitions page. This Definite Entry Date may be as early as four weeks prior to the competition but no later than Friday of the week prior to the competition. The USEF FEI Entry Portal will close and no new entries will be accepted after 3 p.m. EST on the Definite Entry Date.

Changes to existing entries may be accepted after the Definite Entry Date with the approval of the competition’s Organizing Committee no later than 3 p.m. EST on the “Last date for substitutions” as stated on the FEI Schedule. These changes are limited to substitution of a qualified horse or athlete or a change of division, i.e. switching from CCI4*-S to CCI3*-S.

Enter early: You can enter an FEI competition through the USEF FEI Entry Portal before the opening date of the competition. There are no fees involved when entering through the USEF FEI Entry Portal, and having your entry in the system is a critical piece of a complete entry. You can make changes to or withdraw your entry at any time up until the Definite Entry Date.

It is equally important to remember that if a competition is over-subscribed, only COMPLETE entries – which means all fees are paid and the athlete/horse membership, registration and passports are up to date – will be considered for balloting purposes. Remember that the Definite Entry Date for the USEF FEI Entry Portal supersedes the date of entry with the Organizing Committee.

Register first: You will not be able to enter a competition through the USEF FEI Entry Portal without a current FEI rider registration. Once you have completed your FEI registration, follow these steps to complete your entry:

• Go to www.usef.org and log into your user account.
• Click on My USEF.
• Scroll down and click on the “Athlete Dashboard” (blue) tile.
• You will find two important (blue) tiles: one titled “Commonly Ridden Horses” and another titled “FEI Entry.”
• If you have not already populated information under Commonly Ridden Horses, you must do so before proceeding to the FEI Entry. Once added, information about your horses will always be there for you to select for entries, add/delete information or update as needed.
• Click on FEI Entry, choose U.S. FEI Competitions or Foreign FEI Competition, select discipline, month, and then pick the competition you wish to enter.

Member Dashboard

Athlete Dashboard
Should you have any issues during the entry process, please send an e-mail to [email protected].

Check your existing passport(s): Make a habit of checking all existing passports every year prior to the spring competition season. Make sure vaccinations are up to date and recorded as necessary. Check the expiration date on FEI passports, and remember the expiration date format on FEI passports is listed as day/month/year.

Please note that due to COVID-19 mailing delays, current processing times for passports are 2-3 weeks, unless you mark the passport as expedited.

New passports and upgrades for breed passports: Review the Horse Passports 101 document before applying for a passport. Once you are ready to apply for a new passport or upgrade for a breed passport, the following scenarios may cause a delay:

• Incomplete vaccination records or insufficient vaccinations.
• Incomplete or incorrect horse description (i.e. whorls, snips, etc. not recorded as required).
• Incomplete information for breed passport upgrades.

We hope you find this information helpful in navigating the USEF FEI Entry Portal. Please feel free to contact Christina Vaughn at 859-225-6917 or [email protected] with questions regarding the portal. We wish you all the best for a successful 2021 eventing season.

Sincerely,

Jenni Autry

USEF Managing Director of Eventing

Sunday Links

By on Jan 10, 2021 1:31 am -

Never change, please, Laura Szeremi! Indeed, gloriously, changes to the updated USEF Rules for Eventing for the 2021 season include relaxed dress requirements, which you can view here. Self-expression, I am so here for it. Laura is competing at Barnstaple South’s inaugural recognized horse trial, taking place this weekend in Morriston, Florida. Best of luck to all who are getting their season off the ground early at this great venue.

P.S. I’ve been meaning for some months to give a shout-out to Laura’s incredible true crime/wrongful conviction podcast and blog, called “Aggravating Circumstances.” Season 1, episodes 1 through 23, are out and it’s a smart, important and very relevant listen, as most wrongful convictions are rooted in systemic racism. This week, especially, its mission hits home.

National Holiday: National Bittersweet Chocolate Day 🍫

U.S. Weekend Preview:

Barnstaple South H.T.: [Website] [Ride Times] [Course Maps]

Links

Video: 2020 USEA Year-End Awards Ceremony

A Day In The Life With: Sara Kozumplik Murphy

Jockey Club orders ‘offensive’ name changed; Guillot banned

Rider whose son’s father took his own life aims to support equestrian mental health

‘A cheer went up as they arrived’: racecourses and showgrounds serving as Covid vaccination centres

Video of the Day: The wait is over! We’ve all been on tenterhooks awaiting what aerial theatrics London 52 might bring to the table in his first jump school since winning Pau, and he certainly delivered. Laura Collett was a champion rodeo bull rider in a past life, I’m fairly certain.

Identifying Your Bad Habits and How to Break Them

By on Jan 9, 2021 10:00 am -

Photo by Shelby Allen.

Let’s face it: we all have a whole slew of bad habits following us around at any given point in time.

Often, a habit becomes so deeply embedded that our movements become nearly automatic, driven not by conscious decision but more by instinct. It’s easy to see, then, how seemingly impossible it can feel to break bad habits or create new habits.

While there are many different numbers of days thrown about in terms of time needed to create a habit – good or bad – the fact is that there is no one size fits all timeline, and habits are created, recreated, and broken through the practice of repetition. If in the midst of your new year goal planning you’ve decided that this is your year of getting over that bad habit hump, Coach Daniel Stewart has some timely advice to take to heart.

“Some patterns deserve to be broken,” Daniel explains. “Let’s say a rider rides really well on Wednesday evening after work, but gets tense and tight at the show on Saturday. That’s their pattern, and it’s not a great pattern. That pattern deserves to be broken.”

Daniel then calls on riders to call upon a new set of behaviors during the times at which we believe we struggle the most. This process – which takes time, practice, and awareness – allows riders to replace their bad habits with a more healthy overall relationship to behaviors.

Let’s use the example of the rider who rides phenomenally at home but succumbs to nerves at competitions. Daniel identifies three time periods in which habits in need of improvement can most frequently be created for riders:

Pre-ride: This could be a fear of failure, a fear of losing, a fear of messing up – all of the things we anticipate before our ride.

Prime-ride: Fears or bad habits that arise in the midst of your ride. This could manifest in the form of mistakes – missing a change, getting a bad distance – and often stem from the pre-ride breakers.

Post-ride: After the ride often comes the disappointment or embarrassment.

“Among those three, identify the times in which you struggle the most,” Daniel encourages riders. “And for each one, come up with a new pattern that you can then use to break that old habit.”

This process of identifying trigger points is important in the process of breaking habits. After all, how are we to know where our outward reactions are coming from if we have not first identified the internal fears and the thoughts those fears generate? Cognitive Behavioral Therapy references a flow of situational thoughts, feelings, and behaviors wherein a situation prompts thoughts, which in turn churn up emotions, which then manifest in the form of our outward reactions. In many cases, we go straight from a situation to the emotions, rather than stopping to identify the thoughts triggered by the situation that have caused these emotions. Thus, negative habits can become automatic and in need of replacement.

A flow explaining situational thought, emotion, and behavior flow. Graphic from Clayton Therapy.

“There is a relationship between pressure and memory,” Daniel says. “As the pressure goes up, our memory often goes down. We forget. So a trigger is something that triggers a rider’s brain into doing tasks automatically without thought.”

In time, a rider who consistently suffers from nerves may have an automatic physiological response to the situation (being at a competition), further reinforcing the idea that showing gives that rider anxiety. By stepping back and identifying these patterns, we can begin to insert replacement habits in a more intentional way.

“The rider who feels nervous as soon as she hears the bell ring for the dressage ring might identify the bell as her trigger and resolve to take a deep breath and open her shoulders,” Daniel says. “But here’s the thing: we have to practice these new patterns in situations where that pressure and tension aren’t there, too. This solidifies the habit through repetition.”

Practice makes perfect, right? Finding a behavioral substitute – taking a deep breath, stretching up through the spine – is all well and good, but it will not become a habit unless it’s practiced in all situations.

“The underlying message is to find the things you’re doing when you’re nervous that happen automatically,” Daniel says in conclusion. “Slow down to identify these trigger points, then work to substitute inappropriate behavior with the positive behavior. Eventually, the brain will think, ‘ok, these two things seem to be related,’ and you’ll soon have a new, better automatic response.”

Just as we can automatically associate getting in a car with putting a seat belt on, so can we create new and healthier habits for ourselves. Make this a challenge for yourself this year – and don’t forget to pre-order a copy of Coach Stewarts fourth book, Bolder, Brave, Brighter: The Rider’s Guide to Living Your Best Life on Horseback, due to be published in February.

Saturday Links

By on Jan 9, 2021 12:01 am -

It’s been at least a decade since I taught a riding lesson and only then did I ever teach up-down lessons to super litte kids, but yesterday I did my best to give my friend, a former saddle seat rider, a lesson in basic dressage on my pony who she is half-leasing. I discovered two things: 1) It turns out I can really ramble on about dressage even when I can only ride it at a largely rudimentary level myself and, 2) Teaching dressage is hard, which really I already knew, but this just reenforced. Once again, I have to give mad props to all the instructors and trainers out there!

U.S. Weekend Preview:

Barnstaple South H.T.: [Website] [Ride Times] [Live Scores]

Saturday Links:

Frangible tech now mandatory for international cross-country jumps

COVID-19: Navigating a New Normal at the Barn

Dover’s 7 Dressage Fundamentals For Every Rider At Every Level

Kristin Harms Matthews: USEA’s Volunteer of the Month

What Makes A Positive [Drug] Test: An Explanation Behind The Figures And Thresholds

RIDE: Helping our Veterans with Horses

10 MRI Resources on TheHorse.com

Saturday Video:

Friday Video from SmartPak: Why’s Piggy Vlogging? Total Geekery, As It Turns Out

By on Jan 8, 2021 6:58 pm -

It feels like a special treat this year to enjoy regular vlogs from British eventer Piggy March, particularly as — by her own admission — she’s never been particularly into the social media ‘thing’. But, as she explains in her latest instalment, she’s always been totally obsessed by the minutiae of eventing, and keen to absorb as much extra information as she can, by working on yards at the start of her career, watching other riders, and quizzing them about their methods.

And so now, the record-holder for the most wins in a season wants to give back, by sharing all the nerdy little details of a year in her life with all of us. Whether it’s rider fitness, bringing horses into work, structuring schooling sessions or hacks, preparing for competitions or — we predict — winning a few big ones, all the highs, lows, and educational moments will be shared on her new vlog. We reckon there’s rather a lot we could all learn from the superstar competitor — so we’ll be taking notes.

Can Acupuncture Help Your Horse? Presented by Banixx Horse & Pet Care

By on Jan 8, 2021 3:00 pm -

Equine Acupuncture is a Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medical treatment that dates back 2,000 years. It is a therapeutic method that uses stimulation of specific areas (points) on the horse’s body to promote balanced function and enhanced energy flow in your horse. Better balance and flow in your horse results in positive physiological changes.

Acupuncture points are locations on your horse that have special electrical and anatomical attributes. The points have lower electrical resistance and a higher electrical conductivity than the surrounding tissue. These points are found in areas of concentrated free nerve endings, small arteries, lymphatic vessels and mast cells.

Several stimulation techniques may be used to activate acupuncture points including needles, injection of the horse’s own blood or using other agents such as laser, electro-acupuncture and moxibustion. Moxibustion uses burned herb close to the acupuncture point or close to a needle at the point for stimulation.

The immense therapeutic results of acupuncture are achieved using a combination of mechanisms in the body. “A multimodal mechanism of action involving a cascade of events in the body” is the current description used to explain acupuncture. Participation from the nervous system, endocrine system and immune system are all required to achieve the desired physiological results.

Photo courtesy of Banixx.

You may be wondering how acupuncture feels for the horse. Do the needles sting? During acupuncture needle placement, many horses show subtle responses to the needle insertion at reactive points. The reactivity of the point varies in each patient and depends on the patient’s general sensitivity as well as the location of the point. Some points are generally thought to be more reactive than others. Point reactivity is unique to the patient’s condition as was observed in our geriatric horse (see below).

Once all the needles are placed, some horses relax, chew, body shake, yawn and/or sleep. Some horses experience a phenomenon called De-Chi translated as the “arrival of Chi.” Human patients describe this experience as tingling, warmth, pressure and so forth. Your horse may respond to similar sensations subtly or with bucking and excitement followed by licking/chewing and, subsequently, a deep exhaling breath. Each patient is unique; the level of response may vary from horse to horse.

Photo courtesy of Banixx.

What can acupuncture be used to treat?

“…Acupuncture can directly and indirectly treat many equine disorders. Using TCVM (Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine) theory, acupuncture is unique in its ability to aid in prevention of illness and disease. It is also a non-invasive therapy with few contraindications and low incidence of side-effects,” says Dr Nikki Byrd, DVM, who is also a certified veterinary acupuncturist (CVA) and veterinary medical manipulation practitioner (CVMMP). “There are special considerations taken by veterinarians when selecting treatment points for a few conditions such as pregnancy. For example, some acupuncture points and point combinations are useful in inducing parturition, so those points would be avoided in early term pregnancy. Moreover, it’s a powerful adjunctive therapy in numerous illnesses and injuries to promote health and healing.”

A few of the most common uses of acupuncture in horses are for the treatment of:

  • Lameness
  • Poor performance
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Musculoskeletal pain
  • Pulmonary disease
  • Inflammation
  • Immunomodulation
  • Reproductive disorders
  • Stress or anxiety.
  • GI disturbances
  • Stem cell release into circulation
  • Anhidrosis

A horse happily accepting acupuncture treatment. Photo courtesy of Banixx.

Case Study: Acupuncture to Treat a Sarcoid

Lyford presented as a healthy 10-year-old Thoroughbred. All systems looked great apart from a suspected sarcoid on the inside of his right front knee. It precariously close to the cephalic vein and near the medial carpal joint (inside knee). Dr. Nikki Byrd, DVM examined and treated with three treatments of acupuncture and a minor (one needle) follow up at conclusion over the course of two months. The sarcoid was approximately the size of a half dollar. Banixx spray was used morning and evening to keep the area clean. The sarcoid “shed” or “peeled” after the second treatment revealing healthy pink tissue indicative of good blood flow and evidence of healing. During fly season Banixx Wound Care Cream protected the area, acting like a medicated Band-Aid and contains oil of peppermint that is a natural fly repellant.

As the treatments progressed, the sarcoid rapidly shrank. Two months later, hair was growing vigorously at the site, and the horse was pronounced healed. Today, there is absolutely no visible or tactile evidence of any sarcoid.

Sarcoids do not commonly respond well to surgery. Instead, surgery seems to “disturb” the adjacent tissue, resulting in additional lesions and proliferation. Acupuncture is 100% non-invasive; it requires no “recovery time or stall rest and has no side effects. The “side effect” or additional benefit for this horse was improved jumping style!

Case Study: Acupuncture for a Geriatric Horse

Devlin presented as a 32-year-old Quarter Horse with chronic severe Recurrent Airway Obstruction (Heaves). Hydroxyzine and steroids had been administered for several months but were not providing a material improvement in his condition. Acupuncture was performed with the goal of improving his appetite, respiratory condition and overall quality of life. Acupuncture points were selected for his specific pattern (using TCVM diagnosis) to support his respiratory system, nourish his constitution and support his geriatric condition. Dr Byrd commented, “Measurable improvements were observed within one day despite Devlin’s age and advanced condition. His appetite doubled, interaction with his herd improved and his general demeanor was brighter.”

How do you go about finding a good acupuncturist? Talking with your veterinarian about acupuncture is an excellent approach. If your veterinarian doesn’t offer acupuncture services, many general practitioners have excellent relationships with colleagues who can offer provide local referrals. Horse owners who cannot obtain referrals from their veterinarians can find a local CVA by searching online on the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society website [https://www.ivas.org/vets/] or on the Chi University website [https://www.tcvm.net/]. Both websites also offer additional information about acupuncture and its application in veterinary medicine.

Dr Nikki Byrd DVM/CVSA/CVMMP, of Byrd Equine, is located in Fair Bluff, Nc. but she practices from Kentucky to Florida.

Happy riding from Banixx!

Brought to you by BANIXX – The #1 trusted solution for equine and pet owners! Learn more about Banixx

USET Foundation Awards Will Faudree With the Connaught Grant

By on Jan 8, 2021 12:00 pm -

Will Faudree and Mama’s Magic Way. Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photography.

The United States Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation has awarded the Connaught Grant to Will Faudree, and his mount, Mama’s Magic Way, a ten-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Jennifer Mosing.

Each year, the USET administers up to $25,000 to a CCI* or CCI2* horse in the U.S. that is seen as a potential candidate to represent Team USA on an international level. The grant was established by Caroline Moran in memory of her dear friend, the late R. Bruce Duchossois, who was passionate about and dedicated to encouraging the development of eventing horses in the United States, and is named after the famous eventing horse Connaught, who was owned by Duchossois and ridden by Phillip Dutton.

As the recipient of the Connaught Grant, Faudree, who is an athlete on US Equestrian’s Eventing High Performance Pre-Elite Training List, will be able to use the funds to support further competition and training toward this goal.

“I’m very lucky to have known Bruce [Duchossois] and see his passion for his horses and the American team,” stated Faudree. “He is a huge inspiration for me—not just as an owner and supporter of the U.S. equestrian team—but as a rider and horseman. I also recall exactly where I was sitting the day Phillip [Dutton] won Kentucky Three-Day with Connaught in 2008. He is also an inspiration. So, to be the recipient of the Connaught Grant is a huge honor and incredibly humbling.

“Jennifer [Mosing] and I are very excited about Mama’s Magic Way’s future,” Faudree continued. “We have a really fun partnership, and he loves the sport and loves his job. I know that we have our work cut out for us, but he and I are up for the challenge and we’re ready to do Bruce proud.”

“It’s an honor to carry on [Bruce Duchossois’] legacy in supporting up-and-coming horses that show great promise for representing our country,” Moran shared. “[As part of the Connaught Grant Committee], I was very excited by the strong group of horses that were put in front of us [for this grant] and I send my congratulations to Will. I hope that he has a great schedule ahead of him and look forward to supporting him and Mama’s Magic Way on their journey.”

Though competition plans remain tentative as the world navigates the COVID-19 pandemic, Faudree says the ultimate goal would be to compete Mama’s Magic Way at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (England) in September. Faudree added, “[Mama’s Magic Way] is still young and relatively inexperienced, but he feels ready [for the horse’s first CCI5*]. We’re looking at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event in the spring, but if he needs more time before his first CCI5*, we may reroute to the Bramham Horse Trials (England), or the Bromont Horse Trials (Canada).”

Thanks to the Connaught Grant, Faudree and Mama’s Magic Way can continue their training with the goal of representing the United States in future international competitions.

France Names Long List for Tokyo Olympics

By on Jan 8, 2021 9:00 am -

Team France won eventing team gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics. From left: Karim Florent Laghouag, Mathieu Lemoine, Astier Nicolas and Thibaut Vallette. Photo by Jenni Autry.

Team France has announced its long list for the Tokyo Olympic Games, noting that the list is likely to evolve as competitions resume. France is the reigning Olympic eventing champion and three out of four of its riders from Rio make an appearance on this year’s list, as well as three-fourths of its bronze-medal winning 2018 WEG squad. Thibaut Vallette and and Maxime Livio represented France at both championships.

The named rider and horse combinations are as follows:

Jean-Lou Bigot & Utrillo du Halage, owned by Florence and Jean-François Assar.

Thomas Carlile & Birmane, owned by S.C.E.A. de Beliard.

Sébastien Cavaillon & Sarah d’Argouges, owned by Michel Lancelot.

Sidney Dufresne & Tresor Mail, owned by Agnès Touble and Iris de Fleurieu.

Gwendolen Fer & Romantic Love, owned by S.A.R.L. Equi L.

Karim Laghouag  & Triton Fontaine, owned by Philippe Lemoine, Guy Bessat, S.A.R.L. Ecurie, Karim Laghouag and Camille Laffitte.

Gireg Le Coz & Aisprit de la Loge, owned by Frédérique Grand and Augustin Grand.

Maxime Livio & Api du Libaire, owned by S.D.F. Api Club.

Astier Nicolas & Babylon de Gamma, owned by Marielle Grivot Bize, Etienne Grivot, Bénédicte Nicolas De Monval and Astier Nicolas.

Ugo Provasi  & Shadd’Oc, owned by Sophie Bonduelle and Ugo Provasi.

Christopher Six & Totem de Brecey, owned by François Souweine and Juliane Souweine.

Nicolas Touzaint & Absolut Gold*HDC, owned by S.A.R.L. Haras des Coudrettes.

Thibaut Vallette & Qing du Briot*IFCE, owned by l’Institut Français du Cheval et de l’Equitation.

A few photos of the long-listed riders from our archives:

The French Equestrian Federation’s JOP 2021-2024 Sports Project includes two lists, FFE JOP Tokyo 2021 (above) and FFE JOP Paris 2024, used to identify and prepare championship teams. The FFE JOP Paris 2024 list will be released soon, the Federation says.

Eventing at the Tokyo Olympics is scheduled to take place Aug. 1-Aug. 4, 2021, with the first horse inspection on July 31. You can view a timetable here.

[TOKYO 2021 : LES COUPLES DANS LES STARTING-BLOCKS] [LISTE FFE JOP TOKYO 2021]

Friday News & Notes

By on Jan 8, 2021 12:03 am -

Winter wonderland! Photo by Genevieve Papagna.

Everybody can identify with getting a tree branch straight to the face. When I was a kid, I had a habit of going out into the field and climbing on my ponies bareback with nothing, which the pony didn’t really want any part of. Thus, she discovered the fastest way to dispose of me was to gallop as fast as she could towards a low hanging branch, and my choice was to either flatten myself on her back or bail and hope for the best. I was….largely unsupervised as a kid and made some interesting choices, ok?

U.S. Weekend Preview:

Barnstaple South H.T.: [Website]

News From Around the Globe:

The 2021 Olympics might be in jeopardy again, as Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has declared a state of emergency in Tokyo and three other prefectures in an attempt to reduce the spread of coronavirus. The measure, which will come into force tomorrow, will be in place in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba and will remain until at least February 7. It comes as Tokyo reported a record 2,447 daily cases of COVID-19 today, shattering the previous high of 1,591. [Tokyo Goes on Lockdown Again]

A London community riding stables is appealing for support to help buy its home or risk no longer being able to help those whose lives have been changed by horses. Park Lane Stables in Teddington has survived for hundreds of years while the surrounding area has been developed. The current operators have been told by the landlord that their lease, which expires in May, will not be renewed, so they have started a crowdfunding campaign to raise £1m to buy the premises and secure their home, for all those who benefit from the work they do with horses. [Park Lane Stables Fundraiser]

Learn more about Barnstaple South Horse Trials! Happening this weekend, this new event has two competitions on the 2021 calendar, one this weekend and one in May. [USEA Events: Barnstaple South]

Looking to revolutionize your horse’s feeding program in 2021, or just learn more about equine nutrition? The FEI has answers for you, including problem solving with common issues that horse owners encounter. [Feeding Problems and Solutions]

I love nothing more than my first pony stories from top riders:

 

Volunteer to Help the First USEA Event at Barnstaple South This Weekend

By on Jan 7, 2021 3:00 pm -

Photo via Barnstaple South on Facebook.

It’s nearly time for the very first USEA-recognized event hosted at Derek Strine’s beautiful Barnstaple South facility in Morriston, Fl. just to the northwest of Ocala. It’s been just over a year since Derek opened the 80-acre facility to the public with the intent of creating a facility perfectly appointed for eventers, and since then Barnstaple South has played host to multiple events including clinics, schooling shows, and educational symposiums. This weekend’s first foray into recognized events will host riders competing from Beginner Novice up through Preliminary. A second event is also on the calendar for May 1-2, 2021.

If you’d like to have a chance to check out this beautiful new venue and do some early-2021 good for our sport, there are still opportunities to volunteer at Barnstaple South this weekend. You can sign up for the role of your choosing on EventingVolunteers.com. Here’s a look at the jobs still open for this weekend:

  • XC Decorator
  • General Event Prep
  • Dressage Check-In
  • XC Jump Judge
  • General Clean-Up

We’ve compiled some resources on volunteering with COVID-19 regulations in mind. We’ll reference this list each week in Volunteer Nation, so take a few moments to familiarize yourself with what’s new and different.

COVID-19 Resources for Eventers
Volunteers Adapt to the New Normal
Volunteers Weigh In on New COVID-19 Protocols

As always, you can earn merit points when you donate your time through the USEA’s Volunteer Incentive Program. Registering to volunteer through EventingVolunteers.com makes it easy and seamless to both find a job and shift as well as learn what your role will entail.