On this, the 200th episode of the USEA Podcast, we are joined by Eventing 18 Program List members Carson Richards, Sophie Tice, and Delaney Vaden, who attended the winter training sessions in Ocala, Florida and Temecula, California in January.

Carson Richards is a South Carolina native based in North Carolina for the winter, but she intends to spend the summer training with her aunt Julie Richards. Richards attended the training sessions with her 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, Fernhill Mr. Cool. She spoke about her partnership with Fernhill Mr. Cool and how they’ve developed together over the last four years, including their two trips to NAJYRC, what she hoped to get out of the training session, her plans for the spring season, and her goals for the future.

Next, we hear from 16-year-old Sophie Tice who trains with James Alliston and Helen Bouscaren in Castro Valley, California. Tice has only been riding for six years, and she tells the story about how she got into riding and how she got the news that she had been named to the Eventing 18 List. She has been leasing James Alliston’s 16-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, Mojo, since 2014, and she talks about Mojo’s history, personality, and their partnership together. She talks about how she benefitted from the training sessions, what specific elements they focused on, and what she’s looking forward to for this season and beyond.

Finally, Delaney Vaden shares the story of switching from riding Paso Finos to eventing and the early days of her eventing career, including how she found her current mount, a 14-year-old American Warmblood gelding named RedRox Jazzman, who was her ride for the winter training sessions. She talked about what she’s working toward with “Jazz,” including her focus during the training sessions. Even though she was nervous, she explained how honored she feels to have been chosen for the Eventing 18 List, and what it’s been like to work with Leslie Law as well as her fellow teammates.