United States Eventing Association

This article was originally published in Eventing Magazine in 2011. It has been updated to reflect the current process.

I’ve never met an eventer without an opinion. We are all obsessed with our horses and our sport, and we will freely share our thoughts on eventing-related topics with anyone who will listen. But too few of us direct this enthusiasm toward the sport’s most crucial feedback mechanisms: the event and licensed officials’ evaluation processes provided by the United States Eventing Association and the United States Equestrian Federation.

After each competition, the USEA Area Chairs read all evaluations submitted about competitions in their respective areas. The evaluations are also shared with event organizers to provide feedback about their events. This information is taken very seriously by both the Area Chairs and the organizers. Evaluations are one of the best ways to identify issues that can be addressed before an event’s next running or to recognize an event for an outstanding effort.

Please complete the USEA and USEF evaluations after attending an event, even if you have comments about only one or two things. Your feedback can help identify trends across the sport and bring attention to issues the organizer may not know about. Of course, no organizer can be aware of every problem, or every positive experience, that occurs during hundreds of rides across hundreds of acres. Help them out by being their eyes and ears on the ground.

Don’t forget that although you can submit an evaluation after an event concludes, concerns that need immediate attention should be brought to the organizer, rider representative, or technical delegate, while you are still at the competition. Is the footing concerning? Is a stall board loose or unsafe? It is always better to address a concern at the event so steps can be taken to correct it, if possible.

What About Licensed Officials?

You may notice that the regular event evaluation forms do not include a designated section for feedback about licensed officials. Competitors sometimes include comments about judges, course designers, and technical delegates, on the USEA event evaluation form. These comments can be helpful to the organizer. However, if you want to provide significant feedback about a judge’s, course designer’s or technical delegate’s performance, or if you want the organization responsible for overseeing that official to know about a positive or negative experience, there is a separate process through the USEF.

All eventing officials are licensed by the USEF, not the USEA. The USEA hosts training and educational sessions for eventing officials. To provide feedback to the USEF about a judge, course designer, or technical delegate, you must submit a USEF Confidential Competition and Licensed Officials Evaluation Form.

The evaluation form contains six questions that allow you to rate different aspects of an official’s performance as positive, neutral, or negative. There is also space to provide additional comments.

You can submit an evaluation anonymously, but it can be more difficult to act on vague information. Regardless of whether you submit your evaluation anonymously, your identity will not be shared with the official you are evaluating.

When the USEF receives your evaluation form, you will receive an email confirmation. If you provide comments about an official, the information is flagged for review by the USEF Licensed Officials Department.

If the evaluation contains positive feedback, the department will share a summary of your comments with the official without disclosing your name. This helps recognize good work while avoiding potential bias in future interactions.

If the evaluation contains constructive criticism, the USEF Licensed Officials Department will investigate the matter. This may include reviewing the technical delegate report, reviewing competition results, or contacting you for additional information if you provided your name. Depending on the circumstances, the USEF Licensed Officials Department may also ask the official to respond to the concerns so the department can consider the official’s perspective.

This is a typical process for receiving complaints and feedback about licensed professionals. Although it may seem unusual that immediate action is not always taken against an official when a competitor files a complaint, individuals have certain due process rights once they are granted a license. The system for monitoring licensed officials through the USEF is consistent with the processes used by other professions, including medicine, law, engineering, and accounting. An administrative process must be followed in accordance with the Association’s rules.

Why Your Feedback Matters

What matters most to those of us who compete in and enjoy this sport is that feedback regularly reaches the people responsible for its governance.

If you have a concern or believe an event did an outstanding job in some way, tell your friends down the stall row, but also notify the associations responsible for governing the sport. Organizers and licensed officials deserve to hear from competitors, trainers and those who support the sport financially about what is working well and what needs improvement.

If there is one constant in eventing, it is change. It is our collective responsibility to maintain communication through the proper channels so the sport can continue to evolve in a way that benefits everyone, especially our horses.

If you have questions about the event evaluation process, please contact your Area Chair. For questions about the licensed officials’ evaluation process, contact the USEF Licensed Officials Department at [email protected].