Area 1 Scramble Team Podiums with Team Bronze and Individual Silver at 2025 USEF Young Rider Eventing Championships
This past weekend, the Area 1 Young Rider Program sent five individuals to participate in the 2025 USEF Eventing Young Rider Championships hosted in conjunction with The Maryland International + Horse Trials at Loch Moy Farm in Adamstown, Maryland. These individuals were announced last month when the Area 1 Selectors named Lyman Ordway to represent for the CCI2*-S with her Exces de Folie and groom, Trillian Hyde. Ellie Moran, Lexi Young, and Rory Weeks also attended to participate in the USEA’s Mentorship Program.
“Grooming at YRC was an amazing experience for me! I had so much fun being behind the action and making sure that Lyman and Folie were as healthy and prepared as possible to do their best. Everyone was friendly and welcoming and I truly felt like the officials and organizers were committed to making it an educational experience for everyone. I got invaluable experience about how FEI events run, and how to follow and keep track of rules and regulations. I would highly encourage anyone who is interested to apply to be grooms, you will get so much insight into what it takes to be a competitor at the FEI level and set you up for competing yourself in years to come! I also want to give a huge shout out to our Chef d’Equipe and coordinator, Melanie Loschiavo and Area 1 for making this happen for all of us, it was an amazing experience!” said Trillian.
This year Lyman and Folie were the only combination to represent Area I. The pair was placed in a scramble team with three riders from Area II; Matt Crutchfield and Independer J W B, Rylie Nelson and Galloway Sunrise, and Berkley Gardner and In Vogue. The team finished on the podium, earning Bronze with Lyman and Folie coming home with an individual silver for the CCI2*YR division.
In addition to the Championships, the USEA hosted their Mentorship Program. “The USEA Youth Mentorship Program gives a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to run and officiate an international event, helps Young Riders and Intercollegiate athletes experience competition from the inside, as a part of the officiating and management teams, encourages furthering sport education, and helps youth athletes seek and identify career paths and job opportunities, network, communicate, and seek new experiences within eventing.” Ellie Moran, Lexi Young, and Rory Weeks all attended the mentorship program.
“Though it would have been great to have a full team representing Area 1, what we lacked in numbers we made up for in quality, with Lyman and Folie bringing home the individual silver medal! In addition, our groom and our three mentorship participants were involved in the action from a very different but just as exciting and educational perspective. I couldn’t be happier with the rich experiences those five Young Riders had. Watch out Area 1, they are all planning big things for the coming years now that they have had their fire lit by this Championship experience!” said YR Coordinator, Melanie Loschiavo.
About the Young Rider Championships: The USEF Eventing Young Rider Championships are an annual championship that brings teams and individual athletes together across all ten USEA areas for the CCI1*, CCI2*, and CCI3* levels. This format has seen many variations over the years and was previously known as the North American Junior Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC) and later, North American Youth Championships (NAYRC).