A steward or technical delegate has many duties at a show, including protecting the interests of exhibitors, judges and competition management; investigating and acting upon alleged rule violations; reporting any misrepresentation of entries; supervising time-outs; measuring of horses and ponies for competition and much more. It can be a very rewarding experience that includes making new friends and traveling to new and interesting destinations.

The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) is licensing approximately 2,600 competitions every year, and there is a great need for stewards and technical delegates to serve at those competitions. Currently, USEF has less than 300 licensed stewards and 200 licensed technical delegates to cover those competitions. Then consider the median age of our currently licensed stewards is 59 years of age.

Stewards are licensed as Category 1, which covers hunter/jumper competitions, Category 2, which cover breeds/Western competitions or Combined Category, which covers both groups.

USEF has established a goal of providing more accessible applicant clinic sessions to be held during the 2007 competition year for individuals interested in becoming a licensed steward with the Federation. Two applicant sessions will accompany the continuing education clinic for Category 1 and Category 2 stewards. The remaining applicant sessions will be one day each and will be held in differing geographic areas as listed:
-May 19, 2007 – Elk Grove, CA (applicants only)
-May 25-27, 2007 – Devon, PA (applicant day is the 25)
-August 19, 2007 – Saugerties, NY (applicants only)
-September 28-30, 2007 – Lexington, KY (applicant day is the 28)
-September 30, 2007 – St. Paul, MN (applicants only)

Attendance at any of the one-day applicant-only clinics will partially fulfill the clinic requirements of the Steward Training Program.

Complete information and application material will be available at the following page on the USEF website: www.usef.org/content/licensedOfficials/clinic2007Calendar.php or from Chuck Walker, Assistant Director Continuing Education, at (859) 225-6970 or [email protected].

For complete information on the requirements for entrance into the USEF Stewards Training Program, downloadable forms and information are available at www.usef.org/content/licensedOfficials/enrollmentPromotion.php. Contact Mary Smith, Director Licensed Officials, at (859) 225-6948 or [email protected]; or Diane Shawback, Assistant Director Licensing, at (859) 225-2971, or [email protected], if you have questions about the program requirements, opportunities as a steward, etc.

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