United States Eventing Association

A single rail decided the winner of the SmartPak Equine/USEA Training Three-Day event at the Texas Lions Camp Charity Horse Trials on May 22-24 in Kosse, TX.

At the end of the day, Delphine Largeteau of Houston, Texas and her 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare, Picante, pulled off the win with a score of 26.8. Karen Shull, of Bryan, Texas, finished just behind Largeteau after catching a rail during Sunday’s stadium round aboard Finale, a 6-year-old Paint gelding owned by Sharon Shull.

“It was a tight competition. I am walking on clouds!” Largeteau said. Neither she nor Picante had ridden in a long-format event prior to the T3D at Meadowcreek. Largeteau’s trainer, Lucy Chalcraft, encouraged her to set the Training Three-Day as a goal.

“I wanted to ride the roads and tracks,” Largeteau said. “My mare is a warmblood so I did a lot of preparation before the event to ensure she would be fit and ready. We had a few time faults, but she recovered nicely. I was very impressed with the help everyone got in the vet box after the endurance phase.”

While education is top priority at the Training Three-Day events, Largeteau and the other participants were introduced to roads and tracks the day before the competition, including instruction and a walk-through of the three additional endurance phases of the long-format.

Largeteau and Picante have been on a roll as this outing marks the pair’s fourth consecutive win at Training level in the past six months. She hopes to step up to Preliminary in the fall. “Overall it was a great experience,” Largeteau resolved, “and I’d like to especially thank my trainers Lucy Chalcraft and Rebekah Wesatzke and the organizers.”

The Training Three-Day Event at Meadowcreek Park was the second of the SmartPak Equine/USEA Training Three-Day Series which includes 12 events throughout the year in nine Areas.

About the SmartPak Equine/USEA Training Three-Day Series

Training 3-Day events are long-format events held at the Training level, and pride themselves on being fun, educational, and still competitive. Over the past few years, this series has taken the eventing world by storm, with horses and riders of all ages making these three-days their destination events!

Winners of each of the Training Three-Day Events take home a $200 gift certificate from SmartPak Equine, a pair of FITS breeches, a pair of Nunn Finer American Style open front boots, and also a pair of ProChaps. At the end of the year, two winners are chosen during a random drawing to receive a very special prize: a Stackhouse saddle or a year's supply of SmartPaks.

Want to learn more about the Series? Click on the T3DE logo.