United States Eventing Association

The USEA Membership Committee has been busy working to find ways to grow the membership of the USEA and to respond to several issues raised by the members. One important question has been how to bring riders at the grassroots level into the membership. The grassroots level includes those riders who need a little extra support prior to competing in recognized Events because they are either inexperienced or have been disheartened due to encountering difficulty on a Beginner Novice cross-country course.

There are many lower level riders, such as young children on small ponies or adult amateurs who need confidence-building support while Eventing to ensure successful completion of a competition. In addition, there has been a disproportionate number of riders eliminated at the lower levels of horse trials in recent years. A quick review of recent recognized Event results on Startbox Scoring showed numbers as high as 36 percent of a single Beginner Novice level division being eliminated as well as 50 percent of the competitors with a cross-country refusal. These numbers do not bode well to the health of Eventing. The eliminated riders become discouraged, lose confidence and this often results in a loss of these competitors to other disciplines.

Members of the Professional Horseman’s Council (PHC) teach many such riders. Several trainers in the PHC have sought ways to initiate these competitors successfully into the sport of Eventing or to increase the confidence of those who have been discouraged by elimination at previous events. For these riders and trainers, we have proposed a new division, the Beginner Novice - Assistance Allowed division (BN-AA). This proposal was enthusiastically passed by the USEA Board of Governors in August. In addition, thanks to the efforts of Membership Committee co-chairman, Julie Hook, a rule change proposal regarding cross-country course design (Appendix 1 of the rule book) was submitted to the Board of Governors with the intent of encouraging the design of more inviting cross-country courses at the lower levels. This too was well received by the Board of Governors.

As an unrecognized division, the BN-AA division is to be used as a Test as defined in the Rules for Eventing. This Test includes dressage, cross-country and show jumping and is run with the same specifications as the Beginner Novice division for those competitors who are not quite ready to ride in a Horse Trials independently or those who have lost confidence due to elimination in previous Events. This Test is designed to provide a means for an educational and successful experience for competitors and horses with the intent to prepare them for a successful progression to recognized Horse Trials.

The guidelines of the BN-AA are designed to allow a competitor’s coach to verbally assist him or her during any phase of the Horse Trials Test. The assistance allowed may be as simple as having a dressage test read to a competitor as is seen at recognized USDF competitions and occasionally at U.S. Pony Club D level Rallies. Or it may entail providing a verbal assist to a rider during the jumping phases. The coach may give verbal assistance to the competitor related to direction of course or anything necessary to ensure safety. In addition, competitors have the option of bypassing obstacles on the jumping courses and are allowed more refusals than those permitted in a recognized division. Except for the fall of horse or rider or for dangerous riding, rider eliminations are to be avoided to ensure that these riders have as positive and educational an experience as possible. In addition to introducing riders to the Eventing world, we hope that the BN-AA will help retain these riders who have bad experiences and provide them positive, educational experiences while Eventing. The desired outcome is that these competitors will eventually become competent, confident competitors in recognized Events and ultimately become members of the USEA.

This BN-AA will be “test run” at several Events next year and the results will be reviewed and discussed by the Membership Committee. There are a variety of tests that presently exist. This proposed BN-AA test is one designed as another option for organizers to choose if they feel there is demand and space for this option at their Event. There will no doubt be detractors who feel this goes against the heart of Eventing to allow such assistance during a competition, but if this verbal assistance is all that is needed to give new, young or disheartened riders the positive experience and confidence to come back and attempt a recognized Beginner Novice division, then it is well worth the effort. As the highly respected course designer and builder, Pete Costello, once said, “If everyone in the Beginner Novice division goes clean, I’ve done my job.”

This is but one of the strategies the Membership Committee has produced to bring in and retain lower level Eventers in the sport. It is the Membership Committee’s hope that the implementation of the BN-AA division and the committee’s proposed rule change on the design of lower level courses will contribute to more success for the lower level riders. It is imperative that various means to achieve positive, encouraging and educational Eventing experiences be provided to lower level competitors if we are to grow the sport. These riders are the backbone of Eventing.

(The author of this article wishes to thank Julie Hook, Membership Committee Co-Chair, Mark Hart, VP of Membership and the other hard-working team members of the Membership Committee for their valuable input on these initiatives.)

Thoughts on the proposal? It will be discussed at the 2015 USEA Annual Meeting and Convention this December.