The United States Equestrian Federation and The EQUUS Foundation will once again honor the hard work and dedication of equestrians with the presentation of the Second Annual EQUUS Foundation Humanitarian Award to be presented during the Pegasus Awards at the USEF Annual Meeting in January 2011.

In 2009, the USEF and the EQUUS Foundation joined together to create the industry-wide award. Nancy Koch, Executive Director of CANTER National, was the first person chosen from a number of qualified nominees to receive this distinctive honor. Koch has successfully improved the health and welfare of young Thoroughbred racehorses which are injured or non-competitive and made life after racing a reality. CANTER (Communication Alliance to Network Thoroughbred Ex-Racehorses) was started as a solution to help racehorses find new careers by connecting buyers and sellers through posting racehorses for sale on the Internet. The program quickly became a national web-based phenomenon. Koch has developed all-volunteer CANTER affiliates across the country where racehorses are transitioned to be equine pets.

The EQUUS Foundation Humanitarian Award (presented by the United States Equestrian Federation) is a celebration of the humanitarian achievements made by a member of the equestrian world. Specifically, the goal of this humanitarian honor is to spotlight and exalt the selfless dedication one individual or a group of individuals has made, whether on a regional or national scale. From improving the health and welfare of the horse to promoting and expanding the general public’s appreciation and respect of the diverse role of horses not just in equestrian sports but also as aides to the general public, the recipient of this award will be someone who has devoted considerable personal time to make the lives and quality of life of our equine partners paramount.

The EQUUS Foundation Humanitarian Award is limited to individuals. Corporations, organizations, affiliate groups and businesses are not eligible. However, this may be amended in exceptional circumstances based on a case-by-case basis. While the winner of the award is limited to individuals, a group or organizations may serve as a nominator. Posthumous nominees will not be accepted.

Those individuals who are professionally employed in a full-time manner by a company or entity whose sole purpose is to work for the aforementioned qualities and philanthropic ends will only be considered as an acceptable nominee in certain circumstances. These include if their contributions have been widely viewed as exception beyond their required work performance or if their achievements and dedication is noted as being far beyond the call of duty.

Any member of the equestrian community may make a nomination for an individual to be considered for The EQUUS Foundation Humanitarian Award. A nomination form will be made available to any such person or group making a nomination and a definitive amount of information must be provided—in detail—in order for the nominee to be accepted. This information will include the following:

• An explanatory, written statement as to why the individual is worthy of the award;
• Biographical information of the nominee;
• Specific examples of their philanthropic work, including their involvement (time spent, duration of work, type of work, etc.);
• Supportive materials such as written testimonials or letters from those who have been affected by the nominees contributions; and
• Any additional materials deemed worthy by the nominator.

As part of the award, The EQUUS Foundation will provide a $5,000 grant to the equestrian or horse-related charity of the recipient’s choice. The nomination process for The EQUUS Foundation Humanitarian Award will begin on September 7 and close with a November 8 deadline. Nominations may be received my U.S. mail, overnight carrier and via the USEF website at www.usef.org.

The EQUUS Foundation was established as an IRS tax-exempt 501(c)(3) charity to raise public awareness of the value of horses in society through education and the award of grants to charities that use the horse to benefit the public, promote horse welfare and elevate the equestrian sport. The EQUUS Foundation has awarded over $1.5 million in grants since its first awards in 2003.

For more information, contact Trisha Watkins at [email protected].

ENDS