I am going to preface everything I am about to write with this: I am 25, I am beyond lucky to have every opportunity currently being presented to me, I have high aspirations of being a professional three day event rider, and lastly, I am frustrated and confused by the recent changes in the developing rider lists. This is not at all to say I disagree with the direction to put focus on the up and coming generation of riders in any way. Do I sound conflicted enough?
The developing rider lists and high performance lists, to my understanding, are to allow top level riders and those with team potential to have access to the best in training, veterinary advice, and mentoring. This is a wonderful opportunity for up and coming riders to gain recognition, add accountability to one’s resume, and help potential clients to discover and trust professional riders. The sport of eventing is undoubtedly very hard to succeed in professionally, especially in the US where the culture does not have a large interest in equestrian sports (compared to the UK and Europe). While the US may not have the depth in riders that other countries have there is no doubt that we have the talent, but why put age limitations on anyone that wants to be considered a developing high performance rider?
When the Under 25 training list began I thought it was a wonderful idea. I, along with several others, are fully aware of the struggle that comes with shifting from the status of Young Rider to professional, while somehow always falling into the category of adult amateur. It is a hard area that many young rider graduates have or will find themselves in. The U25 list is a wonderful opportunity for many that find themselves in this stage of their career.
My confusion comes to this: If there is already the U25 list to provide training and education to the younger riders trying to turn professional then why do we even further filter out talent by placing another, even younger age cap with the Under 18 list? Isn’t the NAYRC program made to educate and showcase those young riders? No doubt, this exact kind of program is successful in Great Britain and other European countries but there is more to it than just mimicking their training programs. England is home to several of the worlds elite three day events, their culture is simply different. They have more events, more riders and the sport of three day of eventing is lottery funded. The US simply cannot constantly compare ourselves to England and try to mimic everything they do, but there is a way to take notes and adapt in order to make these ideas work for us.
Another cultural difference is the pressure to attend college in America, which does not exist as strongly overseas. This is something that is possibly being overlooked by the new focus of the developing rider lists. The fact of it is at such a young age plans can change, life happens, etc. Speaking as a rider outside of the age limits, it is frustrating that such important funding, training, and education will not be accessible to me when I have a horse that is quality enough to apply to be included on the training lists, but yet it is much easier to younger riders who may not have already decided to make such a lifetime commitment to the sport. By having a full list of under 18 riders and another full list for riders between the ages of 19 and 25 the competitiveness of the list is being compromised as there are far less to choose from. Instead of focusing on quality of riding I find these lists make a very different statement, to me it is a subtle way of saying we support those who’s family supports them. And this is me putting my foot in my mouth because I fall into that category, but I also have many friends and peers who have had to make their own way. To make it to the top levels will take longer than the years the developing riders lists allow. I think the direction we are going as a sport is correct and will be beneficial but I also think we as a sport can do better. Filtering out all developing talent simply based on age is ignoring a large part of the sports competitors as well as discouraging to them.
While I fully believe there needs to be a program aimed at supporting “graduating young riders” and encouraging them to continue to pursue riding professionally as they get older, that does not need to be the only focus for potential talent. Of course the High Performance list has begun adding talented up and coming professionals to the list, I still think a better program would be to continue the U25 list for the top young riders, along with a developing riders list for those who weren’t as successful as young riders or just fall outside of the 25 age limit. This, in my opinion, would provide a more secure and successful pipeline for competitors at all stages that have team aspirations.
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