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The U.S. Eventing Association is pleased to announce that Lamplight Equestrian Center will host the 2007-2009 American Eventing Championships, the national championships for the sport of eventing, which includes all levels of recognized competition, beginner novice through advanced.

Lamplight Equestrian Center, which is located in Wayne, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, is co-owned by Tom Moxley and Stephen Cooper, and is the site of more than 20 equestrian competitions each year including two horse trials, seven regional dressage shows, and six “AA” rated hunter/jumper shows with grand prix, including Lamplight’s two-week Equifest, which hosts upward of 1000 horses each week.

(One of the signature obstacles in the Du Page County Forest Preserve Pratt Wayne Woods is The Bank. At the right, Kelli Temple and Paris jumped up the second portion of The Bank, in 2005. In addition, Maui Jim is sponsoring an entirely new Water Jump for 2006, which will likely be used at the AEC.)

The AEC is expected to take place in September of each year. The horses will be stabled at Lamplight, and dressage and show jumping will also take place at the facility. The cross-country phase will be run across the street at the Du Page County Forest Preserve’s Pratt Wayne Woods Equestrian Area, which currently has six levels of cross-country courses, beginner novice through advanced, on over 600 acres.

Katie Lindsay, who currently organizes the Maui Jim Horse Trials, which also takes place at Lamplight and the Pratt Wayne Woods, has been named organizer of the AEC. She has been an organizer for 25 years, starting with the American Continental Young Riders Three-Day Event Championships in 1981. She introduced intermediate level eventing to Area IV in 1982, and through the generous sponsorship of the Centel Corporation and later Sprint, advanced eventing was added a decade later. Her lifetime love of the sport and vast experience as both an organizer and a licensed official, plus the expert team of volunteers she has developed over the years, will no doubt ensure the continued success of this destination event.

“I have some huge shoes to fill,” Lindsay said. “The Carolina Horse Park crew gave life to this competition, and I just hope I can live up to their standard of excellence. I’m excited by the challenge and look forward both to introducing Midwestern eventing to the rest of the country, and to working with the great USEA staff, in Leesburg, to make it all happen.”

The American Eventing Championships first ran in 2004 at the current host site, the Carolina Horse Park, in Raeford, North Carolina. The event will run there again this year, September 20-24. “Lefreda Williams, Gwen Parkins, and the rest of the Carolina Horse Park staff and volunteers have done a first-rate job launching the AEC,” said USEA CEO, Jo Whitehouse. “Without them, and the support of the Horse Park board, the AEC would likely have been one of those great ideas that withers on the vine.”

"We owe them so much for helping us make the inaugural AEC series such a destination event," said USEA President, Kyra Stuart. “We went into this project with the plan to move the event to a new host site every three years, and as much as we will miss the Carolina Horse Park, we feel it is important that we follow through on that goal. That said, we hope that Lefreda and her team will consider hosting the AEC again in the future, since we would love to return to North Carolina.”

For more information on the Lamplight Equestrian Center, visit www.lamplightequestrian.com. For more information on the AEC, visit the AEC page on the USEA website (www.useventing.com, click on the AEC logo on the homepage). And competitors – don’t forget to make plans for this year’s AEC, which includes the inaugural Beginner Novice division and over $100,000 in cash and prizes! To see if you’re qualified, visit the AEC page on the USEA website. If you haven’t yet made the cut, don’t worry. You have until August 21, 2006 to achieve your qualifying results.