United States Eventing Association

When Kylie Cahoon agreed to school Janet and Glenn Wilson’s granddaughters’ ponies and give them lessons, she never imagined that relationship would blossom into what it is today.

“The Wilsons came out to a show with us, and I had this very feisty Thoroughbred who was quite ridiculous at his first horse show, and they said, ‘We have to find this girl a nice horse,’ ” Cahoon shared.

The next thing she knew, she was on a plane heading to Ireland where she met and fell in love with the now 5-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare Pine Top Penny Belline (Tullabeg Fusion x Ballinamonapark Honey) bred by Vahe Bogassian.

“We really loved her balance,” she said of the adorable buckskin mare. “She’s extremely uphill, and that just makes the jumping all that much easier because you can just keep riding her forward. We loved her balance and her jump, and she’s also a really nice mover.”

Having never competed in the USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) program before, Cahoon set attending this year’s USEA YEH East Coast Championships presented by Dubarry of Ireland as a soft goal for Penny early in the season.

“It was one of those things where, if she seemed ready, and it seemed like something she’d be well suited for, then we could do it,” Cahoon explained. “But I had never competed in them before, so I didn’t really know all the ins and outs or exactly what the judges were looking for.”

They took Penny to her first qualifier at The Vista Spring YEH/NEH Qualifier (Aiken, South Carolina) this past May—and she won.

“That kind of got us a bit more excited about the Championships, like maybe this is something we should pursue,” she said. Before long, they were Maryland-bound, where Penny would face the biggest atmosphere she had seen so far since coming stateside at the Championships, which were held alongside the MARS Maryland 5 Star from Oct. 16-17.

“I thought it was a really good test,” noted Cahoon. “Being in that level of atmosphere can be really tough, but I thought all of the horses handled it really well. Maryland is so horse-friendly—there are lots of places where you can hack and graze the horses, and it’s quiet by the stables, so it’s very well suited for these young horses.”

Having never competed at the YEH Championships before, Cahoon didn’t know what to expect from their first outing. They were slotted in 19th place following dressage and the conformation phase, so she went into the jumping wanting simply to give Penny a confident ride.

“I was hoping that we’d be competitive—maybe kind of like top 10—because we do think quite a lot of her,” she said. “But it’s also difficult because we hadn’t been there before and didn’t know what the judges were expecting. After I did my jump round, we walked back to the stables, and the girl who helps me told me that we were in first. I started crying, then Janet started crying, and then everyone was crying. I’ve had a lot of nice horses, but maybe not of this quality, and so I get really excited about having nice rounds. If they’re competitive—great. If they’re not, it’s fine. I’m just really excited to have nice rounds and a more confident horse, but to be able to do that and be competitive was really, really exciting.”

Cahoon plans to take things step by step with Penny and see what the mare is game for as she continues to mature.

“She’s too nice to ruin her confidence by taking her too far, too fast,” she said. “We’ll just go event by event and see what she tells us she’d like to do.”

Chris Talley is no stranger to success in the USEA Young Event Horse Championships, and this year he had another phenomenal day piloting three talented horses to second, third, and fourth place finishes in the 5-year-old division.

His reserve champion entry, the Irish Sport Horse gelding HTF Castle Kilmac (Castlecomer Q x PLS Diamond Heist), is owned by Home Track Farm and is lovingly known as Squirrel around the barn.

"He is a total squirrel," said Talley. "He is the funniest, most personable horse. He was brought over by my fiancé, Lee Maher, as a 4-year-old for his sales program, EquiSales International, and as a happenstance, he didn't get sold. At the beginning of this year, Lee was quite busy so he asked me to take Squirrel to a couple of competitions, and at his first YEH Qualifier he scored an enormous 85%, which really blew us away."

He spoke with his owner and friend, Allison Pratt of Home Track Farm, and Squirrel became part of the family. Everyone involved in Squirrel's career so far has just been tickled with his progress, including his rounds at the YEH Championships. Despite having a rail down in the show jumping phase, he still ranked third there, second in cross-country, and third overall for general impression.

"He was absolutely incredible," said Talley. "I didn't give him the best of rides at the championships, and I had the double down, which luckily just counted as one jump, and it was kind of one low score. He's an unbelievably special horse, and he just kind of blew us away yet again at the championships."

Full results for the USEA YEH East Coast 5-Year-Old Championships can be viewed here.

When five-star eventer Arielle Aharoni got a phone call from Grand Prix dressage rider Alice Tarjan asking if she would ride a young horse Tarjan had purchased, she had no clue how special that 4-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare would turn out to be.

“Alice lives down the road and bought this really nice horse to take fox hunting and asked me to come jump her a few times a week, and that’s how this all started,” she reflected. “We decided to take her to the YEH qualifier at Applewood, which is just down the road, and she qualified on the first try, so then we said, ‘Well, I guess we’ll have to take her to the Championship!’ ”

Aharoni was immediately impressed by MBF Mirror Image's (Quality Time x Chestnuthill Lady Milbrook) quality and disposition.

“She feels like an adult,” she joked. “She oozes confidence. When she has moments that she acts like a baby, I have to remind myself that she’s only 4.”

It wasn’t just Aharoni who was impressed by "Mirage"—the judges of the USEA YEH East Coast 4-Year-Old Championship agreed, ranking the young mare second after dressage and the conformation phase, and then first across the jumping and galloping phases. She earned the highest score overall for general impression, scoring 9.50 out of 10.

Mirage will spend the rest of the year hunting with Tarjan, but Aharoni hopes she can convince Tarjan to let her bring the mare out to a few events next year.

“We’re going to see what happens, but fingers crossed that we get to continue a bit more next spring and hopefully qualify for the 5-year-old championships.”

Aharoni really enjoys the YEH format for bringing along young horses and felt it was a great introduction to the sport for Mirage.

“The Young Event Horse format gives events a bit more flow for the young horses,” she noted. “Going straight in from show jumping to cross-country, rather than having a break between—which can be a lot for a young horse—really helps them out a bit more. I think it helps them mentally to not get overwhelmed but still allows them to go around a full course.”

Just a few points behind Mirage was this year’s 4-year-old reserve champion, Vagatendro (Vagabond x Contessa), owned by Kara Angulo and ridden by Kendyl Tracy. Angulo has made a name for herself in the import and sale of promising event horses, but when "Halston" came over, Tracy immediately pegged the YEH Championships as a good goal for the gelding.

“He’s a very confident character, and he finds everything quite easy, so he took it all right in stride,” she noted. “He’s a doll to ride—very workmanlike, and he understands the job.”

He put that personality to work at Fair Hill, ranking sixth in dressage, fourth in conformation, first in show jumping, and third across the country. His total score of 81.91 gave him just the edge he needed to bring home the second-place prize. Tracy expected him to perform well but was still blown away by his performance.

“He’s an incredibly quality horse, and I thought if he showed up, and he showed himself off well, there was no reason he shouldn’t be competitive—but by no means did I think he was going to win or do this well. I was more there to give him the experience and ride him to the best of my ability, but I did want to show him off because I do know he is a quality boy.”

Both Tracy and Angulo are excited about the future with this young horse.

“We usually hold on to a couple and sell several others to keep those guys going, so we’re planning to see what this guy has in store," said Tracy.

Full results for the USEA YEH East Coast 4-Year-Old Championships can be viewed here.

Champions from both the 4- and 5-year-old divisions on each coast will receive $1,000 in prize money thanks to Goresbridge.

About the USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) Program

The Young Event Horse (YEH) Program was first established in 2004 as an eventing talent search. Much like similar programs in Europe, the YEH program was designed to identify young horses aged four- and five-years-old, that possess the talent and disposition to, with proper training, excel at the uppermost levels of the sport. The ultimate goal of the program is to distinguish horses with the potential to compete at the four- and five-star levels, but many fine horses that excel at the lower levels are also showcased by the program.

The YEH program provides an opportunity for breeders and owners to exhibit the potential of their young horses while encouraging the breeding and development of top event horses for the future. The program rewards horses who are educated and prepared in a correct and progressive manner. At qualifying events, youngsters complete a dressage test and a jumping/galloping/general impression phase. At Championships, young horses are also evaluated on their conformation in addition to the dressage test and jumping/galloping/general impression phase. Click here to learn more about the Young Event Horse Program.

The USEA would like to thank The Dutta Corp., Goresbridge, ARMA, Bates Saddles, CrossCountry App, HorseWeek, The Jockey Club, Kerrits, Marshall+Sterling, Schneiders Saddlery, SmartPak, and Standlee for sponsoring the Young Event Horse Program and Championships.

About The Holekamp/Turner Grant

Founded in 2015 by Timothy and Cheryl Holekamp of New Spring Farm and Christine and T.J. Turner of Indian Creek Farm, the Holekamp/Turner Grant provides a USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) Championship competitor with the opportunity to represent the United States at the FEI Eventing World Breeding Championships in the 7-year-old CCIYH3*-L Championship at Mondial du Lion in Le Lion d’Angers, France. With the sole purpose of paving a clear pathway for U.S. team horses to progress in the sport of eventing, recipients who are North American bred will be awarded the full cash grant of $17,500, while imported horses are awarded $8,000. Additionally, The Dutta Corp. offers a prize to the Holekamp/Turner Grant recipient, consisting of a $10,000 flight credit from the Eastern United States to Europe.