The USEF Dressage Committee met on July 1-2, 2008 and discussed the USEF Dressage Performance Standards Proposal. This discussion included a review of compiled results of the online survey that was developed to gather feedback from USEF and USDF members. These results were recently shared with the United States Dressage Federation (USDF) Executive Board and show that a majority of the approximately 1,250 respondents expressed support for the idea of having competition performance standards for the sport.

In comments received as part of the survey, several important concerns regarding the proposal were expressed, such as program costs, access for riders in parts of the country offering few shows, and recognition of good riding on modest horses. As a result, the USEF Dressage Committee is exploring new ideas to address these concerns, and will discuss possible changes to the proposal in the coming months with the organizations that will be impacted, including USDF.

Based on the feedback from the survey, the USDF Executive Board believes that a majority of USDF members support, in principle, the concept of competition performance standards. The Executive Board is pleased that the USEF Dressage Committee is listening to and taking seriously USDF member feedback and continues to make improvements to its Dressage Performance Standards Proposal that will better serve the sport. In a continuing effort to work together to find common ground, there will be a special session at the USDF Annual Convention in which the USEF Dressage Committee will discuss a revised version of its proposal with USDF members. This session will be held on Thursday, December 4, in Denver, CO.

Although this is a USEF proposal that will likely result in a USEF rule change, the USDF Executive Board believes that USDF is best equipped to provide the administration services that will be needed if the proposal is implemented. However, if USDF becomes the administrator, the USDF Executive Board does not intend to pass on the cost associated with program administration to its members, and intends to work out an arrangement with USEF to make that possible.