The article kind of glossed over JA – wonder if she is leaving as a statement? Just a guess, I didn’t think her contract was up? It feels like yesterday that they announced JA’s onboarding.
I feel like if DOC had had results like these it wouldn’t have been nearly as acceptable nor touted as pretty good.
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I think she came on very soon after Erik, and as his preference.
I too am taken aback by this turn of events. I don’t know that I thought DOC did a great job, I remember much of the Rio Olympics as a debacle that caused a new FEI rule to keep half the horse jumping a narrow from getting a bronze medal and the team falling apart with Lauren being thrown under the bus and another horse running out at the water early. Bad sentence, but really not a great showing there. Leadership is needed to produce new blood for the future, and it appeared to me Duvander was producing. Phillip is aging, Boyd is a walking miracle. I thought we saw some real cohesion starting when Will Coleman won recently over the pond. I hope they do have someone surprising and worth it in the wings.
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Just be aware that the term is not new. It has been used since I was a pup and that was a long time ago… 
I am surprised by this development as well. Being an enthusiast who follows eventing and not a competitor, I am not privy to the view at the top, but it did seem as though the competitors were happier, were making better progress, and that the program was more cohesive.
Will we ever know why this has happened? Perhaps there’s a simple explanation. I hope so.
Let’s not go back to the way we were, or go the way of Equine Canada’s Eventing program and disintegrate completely. (You know I love you Canada.)
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Yep.
But wait - who pays the dues that support USEF?
Jus sayin’, USEF …
Boyd just made a post and although he was very political about it, you can tell that he disagrees.
Is there a link?
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USEF’s (non) explanation is quoted in the last paragraph of this article https://eventingnation.com/major-personnel-changes-in-usef-eventing-high-performance-leadership/
Translation: Don’t ask why, it’s none of your business.
That seems pretty arrogant and a bit defensive, to me.
Compared to all the niceties from Duvander and Autry that were aimed toward the riders, owners, horses and members of the team, USEF falls flat in the PR department.
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I found it some what odd that at Tryon Erik spent a lot of energy helping Liz with her horses, but I didn’t seem him helping Phillip, Will, or Boyd much at all.
Why did you find that odd?
Always good when the first 5* winner from the country in more than a decade has to be “saddened” by the loss of a coach he believes “changed his career” and to whom he “owe[s] a lot of [his] successes” - a coach who by all accounts seemed to have no objection to continuing on, and who was not renewed for no publicly stated reason. Really inspires confidence that someone up there knows what they are doing and has a great plan they have shared/developed with the impacted parties…
Boyd’s post:
I was saddened to hear that Erik Duvander’s contract will not be renewed. I have greatly appreciated what Erik has done for me over the last 5 years since coming on board as the American coach. I believe he has changed my career through his coaching and mentoring and I owe a lot of my successes to him. I loved working with him in all three phases and he really opened my eyes up to all different sorts of cross-training with my horses. He was always brilliant with the owners and very engaged with my other coaches. He sacrificed a lot, leaving his homeland and living on the other side of the world for long periods of time while he helped the riders here. I wish him all the best in his next chapter, and I hope #USAEventing continues its upward curve towards being competitive on the world stage.
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Thank you @Marigold.
It sounds like a sad day for U.S. Eventing when a coach who has that much of an effect on a been-there-done-that rider is let go without any explanation.
I don’t understand the secrecy. What are people supposed to think? Is USEF protecting E.D.'s reputation because he’s done something terrible? Has USEF done something terrible and is keeping mum about it?
Why not act like business people and be honest with your investors? Surely their reasoning for not renewing his contract can’t be that bad.
If it is indeed that bad, it brings up another issue of why transparency is important.
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The USEF lost my respect a good long while ago. This is just one more disappointment to add to the list. It seemed to me that the eventing team was finally going in the right direction and Duvander was building camaraderie and improving our top riders skills in a very methodical way. All of this while Covid impacted travel and training last year. There had better be a good reason, not that USEF would deign to explain it to their membership.
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I noticed this too and also found it odd. I happened to see a FB post sharing the link regarding the news about ED and the poster questioned the change in leadership. Someone commented “LHS is my guess”. Whatever that means
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USEF seems to be a poorly run organization but until people stop paying them dues, they will just continue doing what they are doing. The problem with these organizations that after awhile they become about just sustaining themselves and not about the sport.
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Meaning she doesn’t like him?
Yeah I guess helping the US get their first 5* win in how long doesn’t count as good results??
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People are often fired, let go, not rehired in many settings without explanations to people who would like to know - be they shareholders, clients, fans, whatever. So the lack of transparency is not surprising to me.
My guesses for the parting of the ways would be the usual - money or politics.
Eventually some bits will become known…
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Personnel choices are often confidential and they’re not always wrong when they are. Confidentiality is annoying because we always want to know there’s a good reason or who is at fault. But sometimes it’s better not to lay it all out in public. To run the national program is more than just being a great technical coach and sometimes it’s just not a good fit. It doesn’t have to mean anyone is terrible for that to be so.
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Canadian, New Zealand, British eventing organisations all stirred up, Danish dressage. Partly, perhaps, due to the Olympic cycle. Partly, internal politics perhaps. Partly, perhaps, because new and different opportunities open up for people when organisations are stirred up.
