Sonja Keating, General Counsel for US Equestrian (USEF), led a session about SafeSport at the 2018 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention. Keating began the session with a summary of the changes to the SafeSport program that have taken place over the last year, covering changes in federal law as well as policies of the U.S. Center for SafeSport and the policies of the USEF. She also discusses the history of USEF’s policies to protect minor athletes and shares that a Task Force has been appointed to determine other safeguards that can be put in place to protect athletes that comply with SafeSport and are not an imposition to members.
Following her summary of the SafeSport changes, Keating described the requirements for the SafeSport Training Program. For all USEF adult competing members, the training needs to be completed
Keating addressed the questions of the session attendees, including questions on due process and protecting members’ rights, the process that’s followed when an allegation of misconduct is submitted to the U.S. Center for SafeSport, law enforcement’s involvement in SafeSport cases.
Keating stressed the US Equestrian’s dedication to promoting a culture of reporting and transparency and reminded attendees that resources are available on the US Equestrian website.
For details on the SafeSport Training Program, click here and here. To complete the SafeSport Training Program, visit the US Equestrian website.
Riders in both the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S and the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L are sharing similar sentiments about this year's cross-country courses: course designer Derek di Grazia didn't play around this year. Here is what some of the riders across both divisions had to say about the tracks they will aim to conquer on Saturday.
Off The Record decided not to let Michael Jung be the only record-breaking entry at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event this week and delivered a career-best score in the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S on Friday morning. He and Will Coleman delivered a test that received a score of 21.8, not only marking a personal best for the horse but also securing their position at the top of the leaderboard going into cross-country tomorrow.
Boyd Martin and the 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding Commando 3 were the last pair to go in the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L field on Friday afternoon and were warmly greeted to the bluegrass with an impressive downpour that outshined anything the other horse and rider pairs had to combat throughout the day. But that didn’t stop this pair from putting their best foot forward and impressing the judges enough to earn them a score of 26.0, just 0.2 points ahead of second-place pair Tom McEwen (GBR) and Brookfield Quality.
Please always remain vigilant when it comes to sending any personal communications via email or text. Every year we receive reports of members and leaders of our sport receiving phishing attempts both online and by phone. These are often communications disguised as being sent from USEA staff or other leaders. As the years go on, the phishing attempts appear to be more directed and tailored.