In response to repeated requests by its membership, the U.S Equestrian Federation formed two new task forces to conduct comprehensive assessments of both equine transaction transparency and the competition environment, including calendar management. These task forces will present their findings to the Board of Directors, including any policies and/or rules that need to be amended or developed to improve the issues raised by the membership.

“Clearly, equine transactions are an area of our sport that needs attention,” said USEF President Murray Kessler. “Bad business deals chase people away from our sport, stifle growth, and undermine the integrity of our industry. U.S. Equestrian does not need to be involved in the details of a transaction or be a party to a transaction. Nor does it intend to try to regulate prices or commissions. However, U.S. Equestrian can provide our members with the resources needed to make an informed decision when buying or leasing a horse, including the right to disclosure of the details between the parties to a transaction. This will be the primary focus of the Equine Transaction Transparency Task Force.”

“U.S. Equestrian continues to hear from its members about the lack of transparency involving the sale or lease of horses,” said U.S. Equestrian Vice President and Chair of the Equine Transaction Transparency Task Force Elisabeth Goth. “We recognize a distinct need for greater educational resources for our members to provide a better understanding of the relationship between seller and buyer and the reasons that commissions are a responsible component of equine transactions. There is also a need to educate people about the state and federal laws already in place that help protect our membership, including buyers, seller, and agents.”

USEF is also prioritizing the need to regularly conduct a thorough assessment of our competition licensing and calendar management processes. “It is good governance and in the best interest of our sport for U.S. Equestrian to regularly review the administration of our competition calendar to make certain we are utilizing the best methods for managing the competition environment,” said Kessler.

“As the National Governing Body for equestrian sport in the United States, U.S. Equestrian is charged by the Ted Stevens Act with administering the competition calendar in a manner that we believe best serves the developmental and competition needs of our human and equine athletes,” said USEF CEO Bill Moroney. “The dramatic changes to the competition calendar over the past five years dictates this re-assessment.”

There are regions of the country that are experiencing calendar management challenges across a variety of factors. These issues will be examined and solutions identified and implemented. The Task Force will be charged with analyzing several focal points related to competitions, such as competitor density, diversity of competition venues, competition sustainability, diversity of competition levels/ratings, major events, and accessibility to competitions at all economic levels while giving consideration to the management tools that support US Equestrian’s goals for effectively administering the competition calendar.

Calendar management encompasses the breadth of breeds and disciplines under USEF governance structure. The Task Force will be interacting with the various constituencies of the membership, including recognized affiliates, athletes, owners, and competition organizers during the course of their analysis. The chair of the competition calendar task force will be named in the coming days.

USEF invites its members to participate in the discussion on both topics by submitting comments or recommendations through the following e-mail addresses. For Equine Transactions, please e-mail Integrity@usef.org and include “Equine Transactions” in the subject line. For Competitions, e-mail Competitions@usef.org. US Equestrian members can watch Bill Moroney’s six steps to buying or leasing a horse, including the bill of sale, pre-purchase exam, and more in a video in the USEF Learning Center.