Getting into Eventing?

Right now I ride hunters but I really want to do eventing. The cross country appeals to me so much, and oddly enough so does the dressage. My barn is a hunter/jumper and dressage barn but my instructor has evented a couple times herself. She mainly does hunter/jumpers now though. I live in the suburbs of the Twin Cities in Minnesota, I know of Otter Creek in Wisconsin and Roebke's Run here in Minnesota but are there any others? Is there anything I should know before I even think about entering my first competition? I definitely won't be able to compete until next summer, I'm going off to college soon in less than a month. But I'll be coming back every summer to ride at my barn.

The USEA website is your first place to check for events in your area...Which is also mine! Welcome to area IV.

United States Eventing Association, Inc. - US National Combined Training, Horse Trials: Dressage, Cross Country, Show Jumping

Eventing is not nearly as intimidating as it might seem. Talk to people who compete or have competed, and there are some great check lists on the web for what to take to your first event. Try to get out to some cross country schoolings before hand, so you and your horse can get the feel of it. Trust me, the people are super friendly, and the riding is a blast! Welcome to the dark side.

Yeah, that USEA site is your best source of info. Maybe do a few clinics and then try a schooling show or two. Eventing is fantastic. Everyone is nice and the playing field is level since you are the only one allowed to ride your horse and it cannot practice the jumps before hand. Welcome to the dark side!

Something to note...you'll need a protective vest for cross country. You can get away with doing your dressage test in a non-dressage saaddle at the schooling/low level shows but they do require a vest for the cross country portion of your show.

Eventing is a BLAST! I did it for 3 years, it's what I learned to jump with (and my horse too!), we just recently, ironically enough, switched to Hunters because dressage was starting to get too stressful for my built-on-the-forehand long and low mover of a horse! So Hunters suits her much better! But I love cross country, so we still go on Hunter Paces to get our fix!

Feel free to PM me if you have any more specific questions about Eventing!