Budgeting And Safety Dominate USEF Annual Meeting

Amid celebrations and Horse of the Year awards, horsemen discuss serious issues in Cincinnati.

The night of the Pegasus Awards dinner U.S. Equestrian Federation CEO John Long was in the right place at the right time. When a fellow diner accidentally ignited a small fire at his table with a candle, Long immediately went into action.

“John dumped his water glass on the fire and put it out. Just like he put out fires on the budget all week,” joked Andrew Ellis, the chairman of the USEF Safety Committee, during the final USEF Board of Directors meeting. “John gets the USEF Safety Award.”

Indeed, Long, USEF President David O’Connor, the USEF Budget And Finance Committee and the Board worked hard to develop a realistic 2009 budget in Cincinnati, Ohio, Jan. 14-18, in this challenging economic climate.

While the 2009 budget already had been pruned before its presentation at the meeting, it would need more trimming before the board passed the document. As part of the agreement, the budget will be reviewed monthly by the board of directors to make sure spending stays on track.

It was not easy to arrive at the final $25.3 million total, which calls for a $2.15 million contribution for High Performance needs from the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation and some sacrifice from Federation employees. Raises will be put on hold, travel and office expenses are being cut and empty staff positions will not be filled.

“This will actually be a helpful exercise,” Long contended. “It will be painful in some ways, but when you run your business through a recessionary time, you find new ways of doing things. You slay some of the sacred cows, you become more efficient, and you question things that maybe had never been questioned. You become better, so when you get out on the other side, you actually are running a better organization.”

He added, however, that services are not on the chopping block and will remain intact. The organization is experiencing its first growth slowdown, and like so many entities, saw its investment portfolio hit hard last year, to the tune of nearly $1 million in unrealized losses. A decrease in competition entries also hurt, as did a decline in sponsorship and a downturn in advertising for Equestrian magazine, part of the publishing industry’s broad-based malaise.

In addition, the costs of the June Safety Summit, organized quickly after a series of eventing tragedies, affected the bottom line. As a result, expenses exceeded the budget for 2008 by 1.9 percent, raising a red flag for directors as they reviewed the 2009 spending plan.

Director Alan Balch, who served as president of USEF’s predecessor, USA Equestrian, sounded the alarm at the first board meeting, suggesting further detailed discussion of the budget. A closed-door session and several conferences yielded the final plan, which shows a $500,000 surplus as a backstop in case membership does not reach 2008 levels.

Only time will tell, however, if revenue projections are realistic in the face of uncertainty about how long the world-wide financial turbulence will continue.

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