Didn’t see this coming:
Yeah, that was a surprise.
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You cant develop a winning program if you keep changing yhe head guy.
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This makes absolutely no sense to me. USEF better have one hell of an explanation…
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Don’t understand this decision at all if made by the USEF. The riders working with him all sung him praises…
Maybe, Erik’s decision?…
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Managing Director of Eventing Jenni Autry leaving too
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WTF. He was doing a good job.
I hope they boost Leslie Law up.
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I thought he was doing a pretty good job as well!
Coincidence or internal problems?
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The Eventing Nation article makes it sound more like they were both let go https://eventingnation.com/major-personnel-changes-in-usef-eventing-high-performance-leadership/
Very surprising, seemed like things were trending the right direction.
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Why??!!
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I hope the reason isn’t international performance because I seriously don’t know who could have done better given the circumstances.
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It definitely sounds like they were let go. Very strange.
And naturally USEF won’t deign to tell the unwashed masses anything about why.
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[edit]
It feels abrupt because it was unexpected (and in my opinion, not justified based on job performance), but their contracts were always set to expire this year. Most people just assumed they would be renewed because, you know, they’ve done a good job.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re trying to get Graeme Thom. He just left his position with the NZ team that he (coincidently?) took over from Erik in 2017. Purely speculation on my part but that’s the only strategic move that would hold some water.
For the record, I love Erik. It’s not just that the performances have been better and there actually seems to be a real strategy now, but he somehow really fostered a sense of comradery we’d been missing for a long time.
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[edit]
Duvander’s contract was up November 30th, so a statement on 12/2 seems appropriate… but… really scratching my head here on who could even replace him. The pool for the personalities needed for this type of position is not exactly deep.
curious about the back story on this one…seems like there is more than meets the eye
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Unwashed masses 
. I’m going to start using this in everyday conversation.
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That occurred to me too - nothing like this country to break something that isn’t broken in the hopes of ever-better. If they didn’t renew the contracts of two people who have, by all accounts and by all metrics, been doing a pretty good job just because they thought they might have a chance at someone better, I will be extremely disappointed. When someone is doing a good job, you let them keep at it!
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Agree, it’s a huge loss imo. I wonder how riders feel about it? And what about JA???
