Jo Takes Her Life in Her Hands, Kevin Gets Bitten by the Bug

We're back at Three Days Three Ways for Part II of the interview with Jo Whitehouse and Kevin Baumgardner, CEO and President of the USEA (United States Eventing Association). We left off with Kevin talking about how he got involved with the USEA in the first place (volunteer, volunteer, volunteer!). Today Jo starts us off with the flurry that is her typical day and the destiny of the long format. Kevin takes it from there with some of the intriguing, creative, and out-of-the-box ideas eventing organizers are coming up with.

Q. What is your daily life like at the USEA headquarters?

A. Jo Whitehouse: Well, that’s the fun part of it. You come in the morning and you have your schedule and will do this, this, this and the phone starts ringing and the emails start coming and it never turns out that way. It’s one of those jobs that you wake up and say that you will never have to work again. You’ve got to face some ups and face some downs but you meet some wonderful people, and I have to say eventers are the salt of the earth. The board meets three times a year and one is by teleconference, then we have the may meeting and we have a face-to-face meeting here in Leesburg in August and two meetings at the annual meeting (one of old outgoing board and one of the new). The board is on a rotational basis: two, three-year terms. So one third of the board will rotate every three years so you never have an entire board going off and a new one coming on so there’s continuity. As president you can serve thee, one-year terms. There are quite a lot of committees; each staff member is a liaison to one committee or more.

I’ve got to promote the sport and represent the association. We have the legal side of it, making sure legal documents are in place and legal requirements are met on regular basis, tax papers filed and other documents that have to be in place as a natural part of running an organization.

Fundraising is a part of my job. Right now we’re funding for the cardiovascular study and the frangible fence technology study. David O’Connor has been heading that up through University of Kentucky with the USEF (United States Equestrian Federation). The USEA has committed $30,000 this year and next year. We’re raising funds for that. We’re working on developing sponsorships and at the American Eventing Championships (AEC) where we’ll be presenting $50,000 prize money and $100,000 in in-kind prizes. We do a lot of sponsorship development for that.

As far as classic program, according to our members, they want to do it. It’s going to, probably, be an adult-amateur competition in the end. What we hope to do with the classic is to combine the Training level three-day as an educational activity and combine the two levels under the name of the classic series. Jim Wofford hopes it will go all the way up the levels. It will be a bit of a different sport since it won’t be where mainstream international competitors are going. But our 14,000 members, are in support. It will depend on the number of entries these events get. If the entries come, and members want it, we will do everything in our power to make sure it’s there for them to do.

And as far as funding it, as a national organization we can do fundraising along the lines of what we do with the Gold Cup. We have organizers who have agreed to participate in the Gold Cup, our sponsors love the Gold Cup as it gives them multiple chances for exposure. SmartPak is the title sponsor for the Training level and we’re looking for a Preliminary level sponsor. Stackhouse Saddles will put one saddle up and all the winners of the Training three-day will put their name in their hat and draw the winner. We have a website that gets hundreds of thousands of hits, e-newsletters, we can give the organizers the national outlet for their sponsors. And we’re always open to ideas for how we can do more. These are the things that make up my day!

Q. What is one of the most memorable emails you’ve received from a USEA member?

A. Kevin Baumgardner

One thing that does stand out, and relates to what we’re talking about, is people really want to see the sport continue as something that is unified and for people at all levels and not just a stratified pursuit where you have a few people at the show and everyone else is treated as clients. Everyone wants to be part of the action. Let me give you an example that got people really excited:

This Spring at Woodside Horse Trials at the beautiful Horse Park at Woodside on a hill looking over San Francisco Bay, Robert Kellerhouse and Christina Grey put on a competition so out of the box. Their event went through Advanced but what they decided to do was feature Preliminary. They called it the Preliminary Challenge, and put prize money on it. What they did that was so neat. Saturday night they had a big catered dinner in the main arena and invited everyone from the event and community. So you have all these people several tables deep and then watching the finals of the preliminary showjumping. The tension: it was like watching Rolex. It was so exciting. People were going wild. It really revved people up. I got tons of email about that. We’re focusing on the fun at every level. I think that’s want they want-fun and challenge at every level. It’s a sport that’s leveling and you won’t always come out on top.

Kevin Baumgardner and wife, Gretchen

photo courtesy of Kevin Baumgardger

One thing that distinguished our sport is we ride all the time against top riders like Amy Tryon or Karen O’Connor. I think it would be interesting if you showed up at Hunter-Jumper competition and said, “I’d like to ride against Beezie Madden.” That egalitarian quality is something people love. I think it draws us together.

Q. What is your history with horses?

A. Jo Whitehouse

Oh, well, you don’t want to tell anyone this: The gypsies would tether their horses on the open land. I disappeared and my parents found me sitting under this big Gypsy Vanner stroking its long feathers.

That's all I ever wanted. I would stand at the gate all day and one day they said to come in. I was like a barn rat. Allen Taylor was the owner of this riding stable in edge of the Yorkshiredales. I did Pony Club and Prince Phillip Pony Club Games and took my Pony Club B and all of those good fun things. I was involved with horses pretty much all my life. Then of course finished school, got married started a family and my daughter got involved with ponies and pony club and I became the D.C. of a Pony Club in New England and that’s when I started with the USEA. Then my daughter's eventing career took hold; she’s also a graduate A. Having to sit and listen to all the questions and those things that parents do. And then I was her groom. I can screw in studs and I’m very good at trot sets!

Q. Describe your first meeting with a horse. How old were you?

A. Kevin Baumgardner

Other than I may have ridden a pony in a circle at a fair, the first time I rode a horse I was 30. That was 1989. I’m 50 now. I was into mountain climbing, as was my wife. She (Gretchen) suggested we take a riding lesson, so we did. That was 20 years ago. I think a lot of people recognize this story. Slowly we got more and more into riding and then we discovered eventing. Remember in 1992 there was the thing called the triple cast, you could watch everything with the red, blue and white channel. It was ahead of its time. We watched all 8 hours of the eventing cross-country and I said I’d like to do that. So we did. We got involved and were lucky to meet some really good people and trainers and just like anyone else: you get bitten by the bug.

We have three horses right now; one is retired. He’s 20 now. He was a wonderful horse for me. He’s a member of the family. Then we’ve got two horses I’ve been eventing with, one had a suspensory last year. The other one, last weekend, we went Intermediate at John Camlin’s Caber Farm.

Rebecca Farm is nine hours away, in Montana, it’s an unbelievable place. We have Jonathan Elliot at Aspen Farm in Yelm, WA. Inavale Farm in Oregon near Corvallis, that’s a wonderful event. Whidbey Island, which has been run for over 30 years now, that’s an event that all of us have done many times and then North West Equestrian Center has traditionally had a Spring and Fall Event. The thing that we’ve got too is more and more interaction with the Californians. They have several wonderful events like Twin Rivers, Galway, Ram Tap in its 51^st or 52^nd year. Bill Burton: he’s a legend out here. There’s a lot of back and forth. Derek De Grazia is out here as is Malcom Hook. It’s a really good community out here on the West Coast.

Check Back to Three Days Three Ways for the wrap up to the interview with Jo Whitehouse and Kevin Baumgardern of the USEA and to find out what happened to the long format, and what you can do about it.

Craig Thompson Part II: A Real PRO

In Part II Craig Thompson talks about:

• Professional Rider's Organization, how it got started and keeping the band marching. At least in the same direction.
• What Bull Riders and NASCAR have on eventers.
• How to make eventing an even better sport, and
• How you can be involved!

Q. What is PRO?

A. A very cool acronym, first and foremost. We got the cool acronym. It’s the Professional Riders Organization. There are five people on the Executive Committee and twenty on the Board. I started to sense from a bunch of us that we could do more. It felt like things had ground to a halt. There was a lot of talk about raising the profile of sport and putting it on par with tennis and golf, also the professional bull riders and NASCAR. I’m happy just getting it on par with show jumping and getting purses. We’ve got great and talented horses and riders but making a living is very hard. To me, when I am said and done I want an eighteen-year-old to say, “I want to event” and their parents don’t say, “Oh my god my kid is going to starve”.

The first step is to organize event riders, which is like herding cats. There are twenty five on the list who have made a financial commitment and a commitment of their time and energy. More spectators and prize money is on the top of everyone’s list. Then there are more mundane things—like benefits for members and retirement and insurance. We want a Pro Tour linking the best events. At the end of the day there’s a gap between the USEA and the USEF. The USEA does an excellent job promoting sports, the USEF does an excellent job of fielding teams and administering rules. But neither has an office of eventing development. Nobody is sitting around trying to raise money or link events in a series or figuring out how to get spectators to come and learn our sport and understand. That’s where most of us fall. There’s a demand for an organization to try to fill that gap.

Riders are great at hacking around the warm-up and talking about what’s wrong. Trying to do something about it is an effort to get people to put their money and time where their mouth is. Complaining is one thing; coming up with an actionable plan is another.

Q. What’s the story behind PRO? How did it get started?

A. I am a member of the Professional Horseman’s Council at the USEA, which tries to provide an organize and unified voice for riders. I got frustrated quickly. It’s very clunky in decision making and slow to react to events as they unfold. I didn’t feel like that was the answer. Several of us talked shop and had a few drinks and talked about what we should do. It’s easy to get people talking and thinking together in Ocala or Aiken in the winter. You’ll see the bull riders on TV and that came from twenty guys sitting around talking about it. Now the PBR has a pro tour and minimum prize money.

In 2007 I wrote an article for The Chronicle [of the Horse] laying out ideas, one of them being to create an independent think tank to develop and promote good ideas. PRO is a little of that—to incubate ideas and foster plans. Then, more specifically, I remember being in a local bar talking with Phillip Dutton and Mara Dean. We’re 3 very different people but we left thinking, yeah, we can do this. In 2008, when Darren fell on his head, a lot went wrong. As professionals we didn’t have the opportunity to say what did happen, what went wrong. We saw public and media finger pointing and didn’t have a way to respond to that. Mara, Laura, Boyd, Will Coleman, and I sat down and tried to answer questions on the Chronicle chat room--which was a disaster. We were shocked by level of anger and lack education on behalf those who were asking questions. There’s a big disconnect between public opinion and what we as riders know to be true. At the Fork Horse Trials last year we had a riders meeting. Fifty or 60 riders showed up, and we sat around and talked. I asked, “Do we need a professional riders organization to represent our interest?” The answer was unanimous—Yes.

photo by Emily Daily

We spent the summer game planning how to get this thing off the ground. I pitched it first at a hotel bar in New Orleans during the USEA Annual Meeting. People kept coming and by time I did the pitch in a big conference room in front of a couple hundred people, we walked away with an organization. There is the executive committee, a board, and members (anyone riding at preliminary and above) and also a participating membership (any fan). Monday night football has taught everyone about football. We need to do a better job of bringing fans to the sport, a better job of getting fans to know that it’s not just Kentucky. No other organization is trying to do that. That’s where we’re at now. That’s how it started.

Q. What is your role?

A. I guess my official title is president. That’s because at one of our very early meetings Phillip and Buck were going to the Olympics, Allison was headed to Europe, and Laura was stuck in traffic. My role is to be the public face and spokesman. Doing things like this interview, press conferences. Conduct the orchestra a little bit. That’s how I think of it. I keep everyone marching, if not in a straight line then in some formation.

Q. How do you know when you’re successful?

A. The British Professional Event Riders Organization was successful in the 1990’s. When funding withdrew it collapsed. PRO has to be self-supporting. Simply sustaining is a huge first step.

We are working with very closely with the Plantation Field CIC ** and *** in September. We wanted an event we could use as lab to see what PRO could do well. We want to work with the best events and make them better events. At Plantation we are trying to do things better. Better commentary: the NFL's John Madden idea; a concierge where owners and riders can hang out with good food and have a good time. We’re holding a silent auction leading up to Plantation with prizes from inexpensive riding lessons and course walks to a beach house in on the Gulf of Mexico and a tour of the Muppet factory in Manhatten. There’s also the $15,000 in prize money, which is huge. Next year we’d like to see a tour and give spectators and fans a reason to follow us from one event to the next. If we can pull all that off I’d say we were successful.

photo by Emily Daily

Q. How can amateur riders or eventing enthusiasts provide support or be involved?

A. The Participating Membership is a $35.00 and includes a quarterly newsletter. You can do things fans wouldn’t be able to do—get behind scenes tours and course walks. Fans need to feel like they’re part of the action. Need to know the horses and riders. Need to figure out which ones they like. Fans can be cheering at the water jump or a minority owner in syndicate, that’s great too.

Q. Anything you want to add or wish that I’d asked?

A. Come to Plantation Field and watch!