United States Eventing Association

The USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) presented by Nutrena Feeds entered a new era in 2026 by using the USEA’s innovative event management system, ShowConnect. The AEC, which took place at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky on August 25-30, saw 737 starters across 27 divisions, and every dressage mark, cross-country time penalty, and show jumping rail was tallied using ShowConnect to provide live scores to competitors, coaches, family, friends, and supporters of the event at ShowConnect.org.

AEC By The Numbers

• 884 entries were processed through ShowConnect from opening to closing date. Of those entries, 742 were accepted.
• 646 riders competed 737 horses across the 27 championship divisions offered at the Starter, Beginner Novice, Novice, Training, Modified, Preliminary, Intermediate, and Advanced levels.
• 2,231 ride times were assigned across 81 schedule blocks to complete the order of go for the 2026 AEC.
• 1,492 dressage tests were scored with two judges for every test. 23,418 individual dressage movements were accounted for in the platform.
• 726 horse & rider combinations started cross-country, resulting in 1,082 fence results recorded, and 4,620 penalty points incurred in the phase.
• After cross-country, 659 combinations moved onto the final phase. 4,230 show jumping fence-by-fence records populated on live scoring, with 1,488 penalty points added to the competitors scores.
• 88% of competitors completed all three phases.

How was ShowConnect Improved for the AEC?

1. Thoroughbred Incentive Program (TIP) leaderboards by division were added to the public live scoring view mid-event, fed by 186 TIP-registered horses, to streamline organization of champions per division this year, as previous years only offered it by level.
2. Adams Horse Supply USEA Adult Team Championships Scoring: The Team scoring system was upgraded to improve minor bugs and create the new "Team Challenge by Level (Points)" scoring option.
3. Redesigned Dressage Check Sheet: For the secretary and scorers ease of use, the dressage check sheet is now just one click from the scoring screen and includes event and division banners, a score summary, and the name of the judges presiding over the ring. These upgrades were created with scanning a stack of sheets in mind.
4. The new Public Announcer Report and the announcer console were created combining ShowConnect data with USEA and TIP records, so announcers had a complete history for every horse & rider combination.
5. Show Day board and Show Office pages were established to provide live ride times and standings for the AV scoreboard in Rolex Stadium, and for the competitors to easily locate officials' names and contact information, links, and maps.
6. The electronic signature portal was improved to capture parent signatures and package tracking and scheduled reconciliation with the signing service, so the signature status on the “Manage Entries” page stayed current in real time.
7. The Entries and Scoring widgets were moved to the Show Day board to carry championship-scale traffic to the site.
8. Scoring reliability was increased to accommodate the volume of tests being completed concurrently during the event. This included performance fixes for the Dressage and Cross-Country Master Score Sheets during event week.

“We are so proud that we were able to take this next step in ShowConnect’s development by supporting the 2026 USEA AEC,” said CEO Rob Burk. “It has truly been a Herculean effort by the USEA’s IT Staff to shape the platform into the professional product you see today, and I cannot thank them enough for their hard work.”

The USEA IT Department has worked tirelessly over the last several years to completely reimagine the ShowConnect platform, steadily gaining support from Event Organizers and Secretaries across the country. Today, ShowConnect supports more than 40 events in Areas V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, and X. While the most recent changes to ShowConnect have been made with Event Staff in mind, the platform has also seen several enhancements to improve the competitor experience.

“We’re incredibly proud that ShowConnect powered this year’s USEA American Eventing Championships,” said Margaret Marcus, Operations Manager for ShowConnect. “Over the past two years, our IT team has worked closely with event organizers, secretaries, and scorers continually collecting feedback and implementing enhancements after every event. That collaborative approach has helped ShowConnect grow into a platform built around the real needs of our users. We’re grateful to every event that has trusted ShowConnect and look forward to welcoming even more events of all sizes to the platform.”

The USEA thanks AEC co-organizers Mary Fike and Equestrian Events, Inc. (EEI) for their momentous contribution to bringing ShowConnect to the 2026 event. If you have any questions about ShowConnect, please contact [email protected].

About ShowConnect

ShowConnect has been designed with the future in mind. The system provides the critical features event organizers need to register, schedule, and score an event, but also provides many additional features to all sized events that would not be cost-effective by any other means. It’s designed to allow the flow of information, and in the future, transactions securely in real-time to and from the people and organizations who interact with your event.

ShowConnect facilitates the management of event entries by accepting manual entries and imports from Xentry, the USEA’s online entry system. Additionally, import options into ShowConnect are set to expand, enhancing its flexibility and ease of use.

ShowConnect provides one location with everything needed to run an event, state-of-the-art technology, enhanced scoring systems, real-time updates, easy accessibility, and support for organizers and secretaries when you need it most. Click here to learn more about ShowConnect.

About the USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC)

The USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) presented by Nutrena Feeds is the pinnacle of the sport at the national levels. Held annually, the best junior, adult amateur, and professional competitors gather to vie for national championship titles at every level from Starter to Advanced. This ultimate test of horse and rider draws hundreds of combinations from around the country to compete for fabulous prizes, a piece of the substantial prize money, and the chance to be named the National Champion at their respective levels. In fact, the 2021 AEC garnered over 1,000 entries and now stands as the largest eventing competition in North American history. The 2026 USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds will be held on August 25-30 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. Click here to learn more about the USEA American Eventing Championships.

The USEA would like to thank Presenting Sponsor: Nutrena Feeds; Advanced Final Title Sponsor: Adequan; Platinum Level Sponsors: Bates Saddles, Marshall+Sterling Equine Insurance; Gold Level Sponsors: ARMA, Gallaghers Water, PulseVet, Schneiders Saddlery, SmartPak, Standlee; Silver Level Sponsors: Auburn Labs, Kerrits, The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program, Rood & Riddle; Bronze Level Sponsors: 70°, Antech Diagnostics, Athletux, The Chronicle of the Horse, Devoucoux, D.G. Stackhouse & Ellis, Dubarry of Ireland, Equestrian Team Apparel, Foxhollow Farm, Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation, Retired Racehorse Project, Ride EquiSafe, Santa Cruz Animal Health; Contributing Level Sponsors: AnimaSol, CrossCountry App, Kentucky Equine Research, LV Harkness, Only Fools and Horses, #WeRideTogether; and Prize Level Sponsors: ARRO Helmets, The Dad Den, Equiluxe Tack, Equine IMED, FLAIR Equine Nasal Strips, Horse N Rider, I Love My Horse Boutique, The Infused Equestrian, Love Equestrian, Majyk Equipe, Mare Modern Goods, Natalie Hummel Coaching, Neighborly Tack, Outlaw Nutrition, Parkmore Supplements, Peak Performance Equine Spa, Poseidon Animal Health, Saddle Bird Boutique, Sidelines Magazine, Strides For Equality Equestrians, Stylish in the Saddle, VTO Saddlery, and XLR8 Equine.