(Lexington, KY) – Maria Partlow, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communication has announced that she will retire effective October 1st, 2007. She has been with the USEF since March of 2004.

“This is a life decision and one I have thought a great deal about,” she said. “My mother died very unexpectedly earlier this year, and her passing made me reflect on how fleeting life is and about how I want to spend the future. Although I love working at the USEF, I want to get up every morning, put my jeans and paddock boots on and head to the barn for however many years I’m still healthy and able to do it. I want to spend as much time as possible riding and breeding horses, and traveling with my husband, John Hines, and my family. It has been a tremendous privilege working with the entire USEF staff, and along side John Long and David O’Connor, we should all be very thankful for what they have done in leading our sport. I’m especially going to miss our Marketing staff, they are an extremely dedicated and very talented group of people. It’s been fun, I’ve learned so much, I’ve made so many new friends, and it’s rewarding that I enjoyed the very best part of my career at the end of it..”

“Since Maria started with USEF, she has revitalized how equestrian journalism is done in the United States, providing a vision of the way forward for our organization and setting the standard that will be upheld for years to come,” said David O’Connor, President of the USEF. “We all owe her a debt of gratitude and I wish her well in her retirement.”

"We owe Maria much and I wish her and John the absolute best,” said John Long, Chief Executive Officer. “Since her arrival in 2004, she has elevated the reporting of our national and international competitions. Her work in Athens, Aachen and most recently in Rio was literally world class. Under her leadership, EQUESTRIAN Magazine has grown both in editorial and graphic directions and her personal initiative in leading the rescue effort post Hurricane Katrina was something to behold. It was this project that most typifies Maria's passion for our equine friends in general and ‘Desi’ her APHA hunter, specifically. She leaves a strong team of marketing and journalism professionals which is always the best legacy. She has made the Federation better and I will miss her advice and counsel. In the interim, I'm looking forward to working with the Marketing and Sponsorship staff until a replacement for Maria is found."

For more information contact Stacey Meier at (859) 225-6974, or [email protected]