“Where Eventing Lives”

Welcome back to Go Eventing, the podcast where the heart, soul, and stories of the eventing world come to life. This week, we're sitting down with someone whose fingerprints are on some of the most consequential chapters in American eventing history — as a horsewoman, a leader, and a tireless advocate for the people and animals who make this sport run.

Eventing is easy to love from the outside. From the inside, it is a sport held together by people who care deeply, work extraordinarily hard, and think long and hard about its future. Have a seat and tune in to a conversation with one of the most influential of those people.

This episode is supported by Sentinel Horse Feeds

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🔎What’s Inside Season 2, Episode 10?

Host Sally Spickard sits down with Max Corcoran — recent USEA Wofford Cup recipient, former USEA President, and current USEA Board of Governors member and USEF Eventing Elite Program & Team Facilitator — for one of the most wide-ranging conversations the podcast has hosted yet. Max's career began with a formative role alongside Karen and David O'Connor, before evolving into leadership roles as a groom, leader, mentor, and advocate of the sport. She brings that full arc to this conversation — the horsemanship, the strategy, the institutional knowledge, and the sharp perspective on where the sport is thriving and where we still have work to do.

🔥In This Episode, We Cover...

Sally brings listeners up to speed on the nominations and team selections taking shape ahead of the 2026 FEI Eventing World Championships for Seniors in Aachen, breaking down who is in contention, what the selection process looks like, and what a World Championship field at this venue truly means. She also covers the U25 World Championship in Millstreet — an event highlighted as a meaningful marker for the next generation of eventing talent, and a competition worth following closely for anyone interested in who is coming up through the ranks. Sally guides us on a dive into the Adelaide 5*, where newly-appointed course designer Clayton Fredericks is bringing a fresh design philosophy to the Southern Hemisphere's most crucial event in the sport. Listen in to snippets from an interview with Clayton, where he reveals what his design choices signal about the broader direction of cross-country course design and how the philosophy behind a course shapes what we actually see from athletes on competition day.

[EN Database: All Current Entry Nominations for the FEI Eventing World Championships]

[Read It on EN: Stars of the Future Set to Make History at Millstreet]

[Read It on EN: Clayton Fredericks Named as Cross Country Designer for Adelaide Equestrian Festival CCI5*]

Max opens with memories from both Aachen and the World Championships (the event formerly known as the World Equestrian Games) — touchstone experiences that shaped her understanding of what elite eventing looks and feels like at its very best — opening a conversation about what it takes to build toward that level, both as an individual and as a sport. Max walks through her philosophy on the development of young riders and horses, with a strong emphasis on process, patience, and the kind of strategic planning makes careers. Mentorship sits at the center of that philosophy, and Max speaks on what meaningful mentorship looks like in eventing, what the O'Connor Method taught her about horsemanship and leadership, and how she tries to bring that education forward in her current roles.

The conversation turns to some of the sport's most pressing structural challenges: entry number downward trends, athlete migration, and the broader question of what eventing needs to do to retain the riders it grows and attract the ones it hasn't yet reached. Max addresses these with the candor of someone who has sat in enough rooms and read enough data to understand the picture clearly. She and Sally also dig into the operational side of the sport — the challenges facing event organizers, the realities of land management and venue sustainability, and the funding and support models that Max believes hold the most promise for keeping competition opportunities alive at every level.

The episode rounds out with a discussion on areas where Max sees genuine progress alongside continued opportunity: sponsorship, how bringing owners deeper into the fabric of the sport creates investment and longevity, and the continued evolution of safety technology and course design.

Follow along with Max:

Learn more about the USEA Grooms Program:

🎧 Tune In to Eventing Everywhere with EN

Head over to EventingNation.com to read all the latest from all levels of eventing across the globe. Connect with us @goeventing, or you can reach us anytime at [email protected].

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#GoEventing #EventingNation #WhereEventingLives

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The Go Eventing Podcast powered by Eventing Nation is your front-row seat to the heartbeat of eventing. From exclusive athlete interviews to behind-the-scenes insights, we bring you closer to the horses, riders, and stories that make our sport unforgettable.

Our vision: Celebrate the stories of eventing while connecting fans, riders, and supporters worldwide.

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