The following is an excerpt from the Summer 2024 edition of Equestrian Magazine.

We know asking the right questions to a teenage child can be difficult in the best of times, but if something seems off, finding the right question to get a responsive answer can be especially tricky. The complexity can rise if something is truly wrong, which makes US Equestrian’s newest initiative even more important.

This summer, US Equestrian is simultaneously launching a website and public service announcement (PSA) specifically designed to help parents and guardians ask the right questions around the topic of Safe Sport and adult-minor interactions.

"US Equestrian is committed to keeping all competitors safe, especially our junior competitors,” stated US Equestrian Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel Sonja Keating. “Our hope is that this PSA will raise awareness around subtle signs of grooming that often precede abuse and spark conversations between parents and their children. Teaching minor athletes about healthy relationships can help prevent abuse. The website, and the resources we provide, should be bookmarked on every equestrian parent’s browser to use as needed."

This website (found at USEquestrianSafeSport.org) hosts several resources for parents, including the PSA video, examples of questions to ask from each scenario in the video, and specific sites and tools.

“This idea was sparked when the U.S. Center for SafeSport released a PSA focused on asking the right questions in September of 2021,” stated US Equestrian Chief Marketing Officer Vicki Lowell. “As soon as Sonja and I saw these videos, we knew we wanted to produce one focused on the equestrian world. The Center was very supportive of us expanding their award-winning campaign concept.”

In the video, each actor focuses on a specific question that is meant to get everyone in the equestrian community thinking. While the focus is on parents and guardians asking the right questions, the hope is that junior equestrians, trainers, and more will pause and think further about healthy boundaries and relationships and the USEF Safe Sport Policy, including Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies.

Topics in the video range from direct communication and road travels to special attention given in a barn. The final question ties it all together with a question that simply poses, “I don’t want to ride anymore…want to know why?”.

“While some of the topics from the Center’s video could apply to the equestrian world, we felt that some in the equestrian community may think ‘those type of things don’t happen in our sport,’” stated Lowell. “Unfortunately, these problems persist nationwide in youth sports, regardless of the sport. We hope these videos will speak directly to the equestrian community and get people to think about their interactions more. These are topics that must be spotlighted further as US Equestrian continues to strive to be a leader in keeping our young athletes safe.”

Each of the topics discussed lead directly back to the USEF Safe Sport Policy, as well as to the Minor Athlete Abuse Prevention Policies (MAAPP).

It is important to note that a video this important cannot be made without a considerable amount of help. We would like to thank Charles Owen, Ariat, and Dover Saddlery for providing clothing, boots, and helmets for the actors in the video. We would also like to thank the Colorado Horse Park for the use of their facility, as well as the team at Image Brew for their work in filming and editing this campaign videos. Lastly, we thank the U.S. Center for SafeSport for sharing the campaign idea.

Importantly, we do recognize that these videos may be triggering for some who watch them. US Equestrian provides multiple mental health resources to our members, including counseling services that are available at no added cost to members.

To report a potential USEF Safe Sport violation, visit https://www.usef.org/safe-sport/reporting.

These topics are difficult to talk about. You can go here to find resources, such as a Parent and Guardian’s Handbook for Safer Sport and tips on talking to your kids about abuse and misconduct in sport. We hope that this new PSA and our website will help make asking the right questions just a little bit easier.