Dear USEF Members and Competition Organizers (Licensees and Managers),
We are all anxious for equestrian sport to start up again and for our families and friends to return to their normal lives pre-COVID-19 Pandemic. We also understand the financial pain that this is having on so many in our industry. We, too, at USEF are feeling that pain. However, we are not through this yet. The pandemic continues to cause unprecedented impact throughout the world. The Las Vegas World Cup Finals were canceled. The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics are being rescheduled. So, we must all work diligently to address the situation. We greatly appreciate those of you who have joined us in our community-wide effort to responsibly address the COVID-19 virus outbreak by canceling competitions and choosing not to compete during this critical period. This is the only way to flatten the curve of this virus and let us all get back to some level of normal. So as promised, here is an updated position on USEF competitions.
The original 30-day suspension that became effective March 16, 2020, is being extended through May 3, 2020. Effective today, all USEF owned events, selection trials, training camps, clinics, and activities will be suspended through May 3, 2020 consistent with recommendations by the CDC. Due to the importance of keeping the members of our equestrian community and their families safe, USEF strongly recommends that competition organizers suspend all USEF licensed competitions across the country and that equestrians do not compete for this same time period. For those competitions that choose to run and can do so in accordance with the CDC, State, and Local recommendations, there will be no accumulation or points, scores, money won, qualifications, or rankings toward any USEF award programs, USEF owned events, or selection to a US team during this time period. This includes USEF National Championships.
Again, we are cognizant of the ramifications that extensions have on the lives of our members, support personnel, and the events that fall within this time period, and the significant impact they have on qualifications for, and the operation of, major events that might be occurring later in the year. With that in mind, our President, Murray Kessler, has already informed me he intends to use his Presidential Modification authority to waive mileage rules and allow for major events to be rescheduled later in the year and has instructed us to develop a fair method for altering qualifications for these events. With that direction, USEF has already implemented mechanisms to provide for flexibility and the ability to make necessary modifications to responsibly manage the competition calendar in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are engaging with organizers daily and continue to review situations on a case-by-case basis.
Important Reminder: If you need to cancel a license or have questions about postponing your event to another date, please contact Katlynn Sacco at [email protected].
We continue to closely monitor the situation and we pledge to keep you informed about any updates to our position as circumstances warrant or as instructed by Public Health authorities.
If you need assistance or have any other questions that fall into the following areas, please contact the person listed below using their email address.
Competitions | Lisa Owens | [email protected] |
Competitions | Katlynn Sacco | [email protected] |
Licensed Officials | Alina Brazzil | [email protected] |
FEI Sport | Will Connell | [email protected] |
National Sport | Terri Dolan | [email protected] |
Marketing & Communications | Vicki Lowell | [email protected] |
Finance | David Harris | [email protected] |
Information Tech | Justin Provost | [email protected] |
D&M Office | Dr. Stephen Schumacher | [email protected] |
General Counsel | Sonja Keating | [email protected] |
CEO | Bill Moroney | [email protected] |
The equestrian community is a resilient one and despite these times of uncertainty resulting from the virus outbreak, we are confident that by working together and persevering, we will overcome the obstacles and come out the other side to once again enjoy the horse sports we love so much.
With the goal of creating a pathway for young horses in the U.S. and participants of the USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) Program, earlier this year the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and USEA joined forces to launch the USEF/USEA Developing Horse Eventing National Championships for 6- and 7-year-olds.
The United States Eventing Association (USEA) is pleased to announce that Gina, owned by Corwin Sport Horses, LLC, is the likely recipient of the 2023 Holekamp/Turner Grant and The Dutta Corp. prize. Gina (Gentleman x Ballerina) is a 7-year-old Hanoverian mare ridden by Chris Talley and was bred by Hartwig Von Holten in Germany.
At the August USEA Board of Governors meeting, a proposition was brought forth to officially recognize what is commonly referred to as “Starter level” as a USEA division. For many years now, Starter level has been offered as a test at USEA approved events. The decision to recognize the level officially would allow those competing in Starter level divisions to receive recognition on the USEA Leaderboards and to compete at the Starter level at the USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) in the future. The motion was approved to recognize this level, and the USEA staff have been hard at work preparing all of the rules, guidelines, and standards that will go along with this level’s recognition for the 2024 season.
Karma is developing into one of the fastest and most-reliable cross-country horses in the West. The 9-year-old bay Oldenburg mare and James Alliston won their third-straight blue ribbon together at either the four-star or Advanced level in the CCI4*-S at the Twin Rivers Fall International in Paso Robles, California, with the only double-clear cross-country round on Saturday.