The
United States Eventing Association Named the Rider of the Year, Lady Rider of
the Year, and Young Rider of the Year, on December 9th, 2002, at it's Annual Meeting,
in Cleveland, Ohio.
Australia's
Phillip Dutton, a resident of West Grove, PA, was named the US 
Eventing
Association's Rider of the Year, for the third year in a row. (Phillip is pictured
at right on Dusky Moon, on whom he finished 2nd at the Fair Hill International
CCI***, last fall.) In 2002, Phillip amassed 1,107 points to score a 447 point
runaway victory over second place Kimberly Severson. Phillip's major placings
included two divisions of the Red Hills CCI**; two divisions of the Morven Park
CCI**; first, second and third place finishes at the Bromont CCI**; second place
at the Fair Hill International CCI***; and 5th place, the highest placed Australian
rider, at the World Equestrian Games, in Jerez, Spain.
Kim
Severson, of Scottsville, VA, was the USEA's Lady Rider of the Year for the
second year in a row. Kim was victorious at the Rolex-Kentucky CCI****; the Red
Hills CCI**; and the Morven Park CCI*. Kim rode Winsome Adante, as a member 
of
the USET's Gold Medal Team at the World Equestrian Games, in Jerez, This pair
clocked up the fastest time on Cross Country of any competitor, with only 2.4
time faults, for an overall sixth place finish. Karen O'Connor was second in the
Lady Rider category with 586 points; and Amy Tryon was third on 306 points.(Kim
is pictured at left on Winsome Adante at the Head of the Lake, at the Rolex-Kentucky
CCI****, last spring.)
Fittingly,
Kim's WEG mount, Linda Wachmeister's Winsome Adante, was the USEA's Horse
of the year, on 247 points. Dusky Moon, ridden by Phillip Dutton, and owned by
his wife, Evie, was second, on 202 points. Heidi White's Northern Spy placed third
with 188 points.
Will
Faudree, of
West Grove, PA, a pupil of Phillip Dutton's, won the USEA's Young Rider title
on 175 points. Among Will's best placings were 
thirteenth
place at the Foxhall Cup CCI*** and fourth at the Fair Hill International CCI***.
Sara Hansel placed second in the Young Rider category, with 98 points, while William
Coleman III was third, on 81 points. (Will is pictued at right on Antigua, at
the Fair Hill International CCI***, last fall.)
Jessica
Moore, of Millis, MA, won the USEA Adult Amateur of the Year title.
Canadian
Bruce Mandeville won the USEA Mare of the Year title with his and Nicole Shinton's
Rose Tremiere. Bruce also tied for second with Franz Hollenbach's Larissa.
Also second was Diane and John Pingree's Ballymar, ridden by Karen O'Connor.
The
Ironmaster Award, named for a horse of great courage, loyalty and fortitude owned
and ridden by Neil Ayer's mother, Hilda Rice Ayer, was won 
by
Amy Tryon, of Redmond, WA. Amy had high placings at the Foxhall Cup CCI***,
the Rolex-Kentucky CCI****, and the Badminton CCI**** in the spring of 2002. She
was a member of the USET's Gold Medal Three Day Team at the WEG in Spain. (Amy
is pictured at left on My Beau at the Badminton CCI****, last May, where the pair
finished 12th.)
The
following appeared on the USEA's web site, under Breaking News:
"Amy
contributed greatly to the gold medal won by our team at the World Equestrian
Games in Spain. After a serious fall midway through cross-country, she not only
remounted and finished the course, but also completed show jumping the next day.
Despite the pain from her as yet unidentified injuries, she boarded a plane the
following day in order to be back to work on time. The plane landed at midnight,
many hours late, but she signed on for duty as required. Her supervisor, seeing
the tremendous pain she was in, sent her to the hospital where her injuries were
found to be a hairline fracture of the pelvis, a bruised kidney, a concussion,
and the separation of all sternal cartilage. Less than a month later,Amy was back
at work and to the amazement of all, was a demonstration rider at a clinic conducted
on the west coast by Captain Mark Phillips. Courage and fortitude are words that
definitely fit Amy Tryon."
