United States Eventing Association

The official start of the 2019 competition season is less than a month away, and that means it's time to take a look at the changes to the USEF Rules For Eventing for the upcoming year. The following changes, marked in bold italic text, will take effect on December 1, 2018. All USEA members are expected to be familiar with all USEF General Rules and USEF Rules for Eventing.

In an effort to make qualifications for the USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) easier to understand and bring the USEA up to standard with the USEF Rules for Eventingqualification requirements, the qualifications for the AEC have been updated for 2019.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has released the 2019 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods. This list comes into force on January 1, 2019 and is published three months ahead of coming into effect so that athletes and their entourage have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with any modifications.

There has been plenty of buzz over the last 18 months about the Fédération Equestre Internationale’s (FEI) decision to restructure the international event classification system, changing the system from four stars to five and changing CIC and CCI designations to CCI-S and CCI-L. This new five-star system will officially go into effect on January 1, 2019.

Situations occasionally arise where a competitor may wish to lodge an inquiry or a protest. Are you aware of the rules that govern this process? Read on below for rule EV 118: Inquiries, Protests, and Appeals. Text has been taken directly from the USEF Rules For Eventing, with emphasis added by the USEA.

One of the tenets of the USEA Mission is to promote the safety and welfare of both horse and rider in the sport of eventing. As part of that effort, the USEA formed the Cross-Country Safety Task Force in 2014 underneath the umbrella of the Safety Committee to examine and improve cross-country obstacle and design safety.

For 2018, the Fédération Équestre Interationale (FEI) created a new personnel category called Permitted Equine Therapists (PETs) who are allowed to perform “Restricted Therapies” at FEI competitions.

In November 2017 United States Equestrian (USEF) released the new 2018 dressage tests for eventing. Since the beginning of the competition year on December 1, 2017 those tests have been in use. In the early months of the competition season it was noted by organizers utilizing the Preliminary Test B, Intermediate Test B, and Advanced Test B that the approximate times on those tests were listed incorrectly.asso

Following continued monitoring of concussion research and Head Injury Assessment Guidelines and consultation with healthcare professions, the Chief Medical Officers for BE and the FEI and British Eventing Officials and Organisers, BE has implemented the rule that any competitor falling during their dressage test or on course of the show jumping or cross country phase will be eliminated and not allowed to continue on course.

While 2018 season is getting underway in the southern states, many competitors are getting ready to leave the start box for the first time this year while others are still planning out their goals for the season. Part of the goal-planning process is making sure you achieve the necessary qualifications to achieve those goals, so we’re taking a look at Appendix 3 in this rule refresher.