United States Eventing Association

Introducing the New USEA Foundation

The USEA is proud to introduce the new USEA Foundation. Formerly named the USEA Endowment Trust, the USEA Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) organization specifically created to support the core purposes of the USEA and as such is dedicated to protecting, preserving and enriching the sport of Eventing.

Created in 1991, the Endowment Trust’s initial goal was raising the funds to build the USCTA (now USEA) Headquarters in Leesburg, Virginia. Thanks to the many members of our Association who donated to the Endowment Trust, that goal was achieved and the Neil R. Ayer Memorial Building was completed and dedicated in 1996. The intervening years saw the Trust transition into an organization that was focused on building reserves for the long-term security for the USEA and the sport in the event of financial or other crises impacting the sport (such as an outbreak of equine disease that might make competitions impossible to hold in a given year). In addition, interest from the investment of those funds provided a measure of financial support for the USEA’s many educational programs.

Over the past several years, the role of the Endowment Trust has evolved and expanded, as it has increasingly become a major force in the development and administration of key developing rider grants, the funding of critical safety and equine medical studies, and the furtherance of other strategic initiatives that are critical to the future of our sport. This evolution has led the trustees of the Endowment Trust to undertake a thorough re-evaluation of its purpose and structure. Specifically, in the months since the December 2014 USEA Annual Meeting, the trustees have worked closely with the members of the USEA Development Committee in examining, analyzing and brainstorming ways to make the Endowment Trust relevant to the issues that are most fundamental to the Twenty-First Century sport of Eventing, and, not incidentally, more relevant and accessible to our members and Eventing enthusiasts worldwide. The name change to USEA Foundation, while the most immediately visible of the changes that have been implemented on the recommendation of this group, is just the tip of the iceberg. Moving forward, the USEA Foundation, in close collaboration with the Board of Governors of the USEA, will play an increasingly significant role in the funding and management of educational grants benefiting riders at every level of the sport—Juniors, Young Riders, Adult Amateurs, as well as international level riders—as well as key safety and horse welfare initiatives. The USEA Foundation will additionally collaborate with the USEA on fundraising campaigns targeting these worthy goals and strategies.

In pursuing these exciting objectives, the USEA Foundation will never lose sight of its enduring core purpose of preserving and protecting the future of Eventing in the United States.

The USEA is looking forward to an exciting future working with USEA Foundation to enrich the sport for each and every one of us, as well as for generations to come.

Donate to the USEA Foundation