The annual mid-year meeting of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) ended in near-record time July 12th, owing to the cooperative spirit of more than 40 members of the USEF Board of Directors. The meeting, which has become a traditional mid-year “State of the Federation” report, played host to some 70 attendees in all at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Lexington, KY.

The Board of Directors worked diligently to pass a number of rule changes presented to them, including one in licensing procedures, which now mandates that, “Applications for FEI Competitions cannot be submitted to the FEI until the national competition has been licensed by the Federation.” Two coinciding rules were also passed for combined driving, mandating that all those who drive or ride in the vehicle during the obstacles portion of the marathon must wear protective headgear, and requiring members of the ground jury to eliminate competitors who don’t comply. In addition, a group of proposed rule changes referred by the Board from the January 2005 meeting were referred to the January 2006 meeting. A number of by-laws were passed as well, most of which deal with minor changes, adding clarity in references to Paralympic and ParaEquestrian athletes.

Other high points of the meeting included a series of presentations spotlighting the progress of the Federation.

Howard Pike gave details on the status of the implementation of the new license agreement, briefing the Board on the steps that would follow, and specifically, the creation of the competition evaluation process. Pike also re-iterated the need for input from every discipline and breed association. A group of rules regarding competition licensing was again referred to the 2006 USEF Annual Meeting by the Board, pending continued evaluation by the Competition Date Approval Task Force.

USEF Chief Executive Officer John Long also spoke to the Board, painting a forward-motion picture of the continually evolving Federation—one that includes headliner efforts to streamline productivity and better serve membership through outreach and improved technology. That also encompasses a recent announcement detailing internal restructuring, designed to clearly define the Federation’s sport and business processes. (For more information, see http://www.usef.org/content/newsDisplay/viewPR.php?id=659.)

Hank Collins, Chair of the Audit Committee, reported on the 2004 audit and explained the process and the role of the Audit Committee. He reported the Federation to be fully compliant and complimented the staff for their role in managing the affairs of the Federation, as well as their cooperation and involvement in the audit itself.

The 2005 financial performance of Federation activities was presented by USEF Treasurer, Kathy Meyer. Overall, the Federation has never been stronger financially, she reported. Of particular interest to the Board was a discussion on the financial performance of the High Performance Working Group and, specifically, the negative variance against budget. The USET Foundation spoke at length about its new campaign strategy and the expected late-year gift giving. At issue was a Board Resolution passed in May of 2003 requiring each of the four Working Groups to have cash on hand for current expenses and for anticipated expenses for an additional three calendar months. The Board passed a motion directing the High Performance Working Group to review expenses for the remainder of the year, and to report its findings to the Executive Committee at its July meeting.
~~~For more information, please contact Sarah Lane, Public Relations Manager at (859) 225-6974 or via email at [email protected]. USEF press releases are available on our web site – www.usef.org.