Judy Werner was elected vice president and Ellie Brimmer was added as an athlete representative on the U.S. Equestrian Federation board of directions meeting Jan. 14, held during the USEF Annual Meeting in Lexington, Kentucky.

Werner, Waterloo, Illinois, brings a long history in USEF governance, having served on numerous committees and councils, including as vice president of the executive committee, hearing committee co-chair, audit committee chair and American Saddlebred committee member, and as the American Saddlebred Horse & Breeders Association representative to the National Breeds and Disciplines Council. Recently, she was chair of the amateur task force, which worked with the USEF membership to modernize the amateur rule in 2021 and 2022.

Werner is a successful American Saddlebred breeder and exhibitor. She was awarded a USEF Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014 and the Sallie Busch Wheeler Trophy for Distinguished Service to Equestrian Sport at the 2021 USEF Pegasus Awards Celebration.

Werner replaces outgoing Vice President Elisabeth Goth, who completed her second term in the role at this year’s meeting. Werner’s move leaves a vacant seat for an American Saddlebred representative, which will be elected by the National Breeds and Disciplines Council at its January meeting.

Brimmer, Wellington, Florida, is a para-dressage athlete representative and will serve a four-year term beginning in 2023. She is a member of the executive committee. Brimmer has been competing in FEI para-dressage since 2011 and is currently a USEF Para Dressage Development athlete. She was named to the U.S. Para Equestrian Association board of directors in 2022.

Additional Actions

The following are some of the additional key actions taken during the January board meeting:

• The board approved two resolutions to support the overall calendar management system. One permits the federation to hold all 2024 new, renewal or mileage exemption applications for USEF-licensed hunter and jumper competitions in California for the first trimester of the 2024 competition calendar for processing. This will allow the federation to contemporaneously review all requests for licensing after the competitions in the first trimester of 2023 have been completed and evaluate the effect of the calendar review project. The resolution can be accessed here.

The second resolution applies to the first trimester of the competition calendar in Florida and requests for 2024 mileage exemption applications. This replicates the resolutions approved in 2021 and 2022 and will allow the federation the opportunity to continue to review all of requests for mileage exemption contemporaneously once the 2023 competitions have been completed, a process that has proven very successful the past two years. The resolution can be accessed here.

• The amended bylaws were approved. The key changes included a new definition section at the beginning of the document, gender-neutralized language throughout consistent with the DEI Action Plan, a more narrow definition of a protected competition, increased integrity requirements to serve on board of directors, recognition of mediation for alternate dispute resolution, and amended definition for retaliation. The updated bylaws can be accessed here.

• A motion to adopt USEF rules for dressage, eventing, para-dressage, combined driving and vaulting to be in alignment with FEI rules passed unanimously. Additionally, a motion to approve six extraordinary rule changes passed unanimously. The six rules included amending several hunter, jumper and equitation rules to accommodate data processing for USHJA’s membership database, amending the prize money requirements and restrictions for hunter and jumper competitions, and amending the licensure review and appeal process for licensed officials and applicants.  The full listing of approved rule changes can be accessed here.