January is time for new beginnings. A fresh start.

It's also the time each year when the administrators, movers-and-shakers, the USEF general membership and the media gather together for a long weekend of meetings, discussions, debates and several of the year's most anticipated galas. It's known as the USEF Annual Meeting, and it's now underway in Louisville, KY.

As is tradition, Wednesday night serves as the Welcome Reception where everyone has a chance to party before the real work gets underway. This year was no exception with a fantastic cocktails served atop the downtown Hyatt hotel's 360-degree revolving lounge. But, making the trek from our hotel to the site of the reception – which was not that far, but through a series of Habitrail type connecting tubes from building-to-building – provided a tougher than expected challenge for those of us who are “directionally challenged.” You might say I'm the “dumbest smart person” you know.
With fellow staffer Jenny Van Wieren, we took off to find the food and fun at a place called The Spire. We were told to cross the connector, go through a covered parking lot, through another hallway to a set of elevators. Simple enough, right? Well, upon reaching the elevators, we noticed a bit of signage that read, “Use outer elevators…”. Looking at each other, and thinking the same thing, we decided we needed to find the OUTER elevators – as in those that were outside the level of the hotel in which we were standing. Back into the cold corridors that connect the buildings in downtown Louisville, we scratched our heads and laughed. What else could two people with advanced college degrees do? Right?

Soon, we found ourselves in a large group of 20 or so people who were both thirsty for cocktails and ready to sit down and have some fun and good conversation. Returning to the series of three elevators in line with each other, I looked at the sign again, still to be dumb-founded at what in the world “outer” elevators meant. Was this some cryptic language? A test of mental acumen? Was I being filmed and “Punk'd”? Would Ashton jump out and point and laugh as TV crews filmed my stupidity?

Out of the crowd comes one of my favorite “movers-and-shakers” – Cecile Hetzel Dunn. Of course, she walks to the front of the elevator bank and reads the sign – the WHOLE sign. This is where I dubbed myself the night's “dumbest smart person” in America. Just beneath the “Use the outer elevator” line was the really important part of the directions that I blithely choose to ignore – “Center elevator does not access the Spire.”
Right…I felt THAT stupid once I realized there was a series of three elevators – two outer and one inner elevator. After running all over the downtown Habitrail system and trying to find “outer elevators” in the 20-degree weather, all it took was one person who chose to read the whole instructions. Sheesh.

Finally, we made it to the party and it was in full swing. Great food (cheeses, chutneys, salmon, and desserts) and plentiful beverages were our reward for finally passing the challenge of finding our destination.

It's always a great reminder of the scope and breadth of our Federation at events like this. You see people you know from so many walks of equestrian life. A table of Saddlebred folks next to a table of cowboys from the reining community. A group of eventers socializing with the dressage contingency. It's a great meeting of the minds and a true testament to the idea that we are much more than the sum of our parts. As individuals (or single disciplines or breeds – we are one), but as a combine group we are much, much more. I think being reminded of this is one of my favorite parts of coming to the USEF Annual Meeting each January.

After the cocktail party, it wasn't time to turn in and get some shut-eye just yet. Diane from Equisure and Andrew from Lloyds of London insisted we join them for some more food and fun at a downtown favorite in the popular Fourth Street Live entertainment area – Ri Ra. This place is a really cool Irish pub and the name "ri Ra" seems to translate loosely into the idea of "devilment." Actually, it's much bigger than any Irish pub I've ever been to and the food and choice of authentic Irish beers was impressive. I chose the Ri Ra burger (with Irish ringer and a side of curry fries). It was great and was just enough to make me yearn for my pillow and a night of sleep. One of our tablemates – Abby – chose the authentic Irish breakfast as her meal, accompanied by a choice Irish pint. Abby said the sausages were cooked to perfection and the black and white pudding was excellent. Black pudding, for those of you who haven't tried it before, is a pudding (or int his instance a sort of soft fritter) made from pig's blood (the white pudding's main ingredient is animal fat). She was also served up some sautéed mushrooms and other items that took me back to Ireland. Karen Adams, who is the “right hand” of our President, David O'Connor, chose the traditional Irish pot pie, and I wanted to steal bites away from it when she wasn't paying attention. All-in-all, it was a lot of fun, and a great end to the first day of this year's meeting. With an onslaught of meetings and projects to put last-minute touches upon, it was time for bed and a good sleep. We all would certainly need it and be glad we had gotten it.
Today, Thursday, is packed with endless committee meetings and tonight's Silver Stirrup Awards, presented by the Performance Horse Registry (PHR). It will be a great celebration of the superlatives in owners, breeders and stallions, and another great event – just one of the many packed into the next few days.

Tune in tomorrow for a recap of today's events and some photos from tonight's celebration.