Mid-South Eventing & Dressage Association

Grants

The deadline for grant applications is 1/1/2025

The MSEDA Educational Grants are awarded annually to applicants who desire to pursue additional honing of their equestrian knowledge and are committed to giving back to the sport in some manner.

REQUIREMENTS: To apply for a MSEDA educational grant, you must have a current MSEDA Membership and have at least 8 volunteer hours at MSEDA Sanctioned shows. 4 of the required 8 volunteer hours may be donated.

Please click here for the mail-in version of the current grant application, or click here to apply online.

Grant Descriptions

The $1,000 Christine Brown Memorial Grant is named in honor of passionate equestrian enthusiast Christine Brown. Known for her deep generosity to both humans and horses, this award is given in her honor each year.

The $500 MSEDA Educational Grant is awarded to a deserving MSEDA member in good standing to further his or her equine education.

The $500 MSEDA Junior Grant was established to further the equine education of the organization's younger members. MSEDA believes that by providing additional opportunities for the young riders in our association, Area 8 and Region 2 will continue to be competitive on a local, regional and national level for many years to come.

Helen Sproat Officials Training Grant - $1,000

MSEDA Competition Grant - purpose of this grant is to support MSEDA sanctioned competitions in purchasing useful equipment, tools, or objects that will enhance safety and quality of their shows for the future. The total value of the grant is $500, and will be reimbursed to the competition organizer upon submission of receipts of purchase. This is a good opportunity to invest in stakes for cross country jumps, safety cups, measuring equipment, a new jump, etc. Click here to download the Competition Grant Application.

Past MSEDA Grant Recipients

Laura Corsentino: Helen Sproat Officials Grant

Katharine Coleman: Christine Brown Memorial Grant

I have been a horse girl for as long as I can remember. I was 2 years old the first time I rode a horse and it has been my favorite place to be ever since. I did not grow up in a horsey town, so opportunities were very limited when I was young. I started taking lessons once a week in middle school, but didn’t start riding regularly and competing until I was in high school. I knew I wanted a career in the in the Equine Industry so I attended Midway College, where I had opportunities to ride on the intercollegiate team, and started eventing. After graduation, I worked on several different farms and taught riding lessons and camps for several years while I continued to event. I took a break from riding and eventually from the Equine Industry as a whole after I had children, but I always knew that I would get back to it when they were older. When Covid shut down most things, I had an opportunity to get back to riding and I have not looked back since. I plan to use the grant for lessons, clinics and shows, so that I can continue to improve and eventually move up the levels a bit more. I also recently completed the judging program and became an MSEDA Eventing judge.

For my give-back, I would like to organize a volunteer clinic to allow people to learn what is needed for each position at an event to hopefully increase volunteer participation in our area to continue to support and advance our wonderful sport

Dory Tuohey: MSEDA Educational Grant

As a Green Bay, WI native I grew up with horses in the back yard of my grandma's house. If I could catch them, I'd hop on and gallop around. As an adult, I realized there was such a thing as lessons and jumping and I was hooked. The first 8 years were spend on the hunters and equitation. When I bought my first horse, I let him decide what discipline he wanted to do and low and behold, XC was his absolute favorite-eventing it was! Currently, I still event with my newer partner in crime, Kevin. We are solid at novice right now, and I hope to continue to grow our partnership and be the best we can be.

I am thrilled to have received this grant and plan to use it towards clinics this year to further my riding education. I'd also love to audit more this year as I find that to be a great resource as.

Julia Bursten: MSEDA Educational Grant

I never meant to become an adult amateur eventer. I moved to Lexington, KY in 2016 to be a philosophy professor—a job that I had worked toward for over a decade. I applied to jobs all over the world, and just happened to land here. I grew up showing Quarter Horses in versatility and pattern events (primarily trail, western riding, and showmanship), and my childhood heart horse, Junior, was still with me when I moved to the bluegrass.

I found myself at a loss for purpose with horses when he passed away in 2019: we had been together for 20 years, but we hadn’t been working toward anything in particular while I was getting my PhD, and he’d spent his later career as a schoolmaster for a series of kids across Ohio and Pennsylvania. Before I moved to Kentucky, I thought I would be done with horses when he was gone.

Then I found myself settled in the Horse Capital of the World without a horse, and meanwhile the pandemic made spending time outside all the more appealing. Through some encouragement from MSEDA members in Lexington, I tried eventing for the first time in 2020. I borrowed a friend’s horse—and tack, and show clothes, and GoPro!—to run around the Horse Park at starter during Octoberfest. Since that first time through the finish flags, I have been hooked, and my OTTB “Temba” (Security Check Required, TJC name Verhalen) and I have been making enthusiastic and joyful fools of ourselves trying to figure out how to prance and hop together for the past three years. I’ve also taken on more care and management duties at the farm, and this fall I accidentally added a mustang named Levi to our family herd.

I am deeply excited and grateful to be the recipient of a 2024 MSEDA Education Grant. Beyond the financial support, the Grant represents a vote of confidence from my fellow MSEDA members, and I hope to live up to that confidence. I will spend my Grant taking Temba to clinics, including one with Mike Ippolito later this month, and taking additional lessons with my trainer in new locations and with new trainers around town. I ride proudly with Jhett Jenkins, who encourages me to learn from a variety of contexts and coaches, and who helps me to bring lessons from off-campus back home and put them to work. I am especially excited to work on my lower leg positioning, as it is one of my constant struggles in both dressage and stadium.

Before I found eventing to distract me from my job as a professor, I underwent training as a Registered Yoga Teacher, and my give-back for the Grant will be a series of Yoga For Equestrian Athletes videos that will be made available to MSEDA members online.

Midsouth Eventing & Dressage Association is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

MSEDA’s mission is to promote and preserve the sports of Eventing and Dressage in the Mid-South area, by providing leadership and education to its members and the community at large. To further these goals, MSEDA will provide educational opportunities, fair and safe competitions, promote the welfare of the horse and rider and reward the pursuit of excellence from the grass roots to the FEI level.