Snapshots from the 2018 USEA Educational Symposium

The USEA has just wrapped up the 2018 Educational Symposium in Ocala, Florida. Hosted at both the Ocala Jockey Club and Longwood Farm South, the four-day Symposium spotlighted the USEA Young Event Horse, Future Event Horse and Instructors’ Certification Programs.

It started with a two-day ICP Symposium led by clinicians Leslie Law and Kai-Steffen Meier. With the ICP debuted two new certifications, the YEH Instructor and YEH Professional Horse Trainer certifications, in 2017, the focus of this year’s ICP sessions was on the training of the young event horses.

Flatwork was Monday’s emphasis, with lectures and training for two groups of horses 4-to-5-year-olds and 6-to-7-year-olds. Tuesday these same groups took to fences as Leslie Law encouraged them to stay focused on forward riding. EN sadly wasn’t able to attend, but thankfully the USEA’s Jessica Duffy was on the scene taking extensive notes — check out her great reports: Day 1 and Day 2.

The YEH program took its turn on Wednesday, focusing in on the program’s many changes in 2018, including the increased significance of galloping/jumping to a horse’s overall score and improvements in cohesion of championships across the country. They also introduced Lucinda Green and Sally Ike as this year’s championship judges. Check out the YEH recap here.

Thursday went to the FEH program, which focuses on yearlings, 2-year-old and 3-year-old horses. This session featured a conformation discussion led by Dr. Shauna Spurlock as well as instruction and insight into young horse theory with Chris Ryan, Robin Walker and Susan Graham White. There’s a new Central Championship in 2018, making it even easier for owners to get their young horses involved.

Huge kudos to the USEA, who are fervent supporters of education in our sport, for offering this opportunity. Here are a few more snapshots from the Symposium we spotted on social media!

USEA SymposiumWebsiteFEH/YEH RegistrationICP RegistrationSchedule

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