USA Equestrian, the National Equestrian Federation of the United States, announced today that attendance at its Annual Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, continued the growth of recent years. Total meeting attendance was 460.

"We are particularly gratified that we achieved another increase in attendance this year," said Lori Rawls, Executive Director, "since we had an unfortunate date conflict with the United Professional Horsemen's Association (UPHA) meeting this year. We don't anticipate another such conflict in the future."

The Federation's president, Alan F. Balch, who has attended nearly every annual meeting for well over 20 years, also expressed his appreciation. "I was thinking at the Thursday board meetings that I had never seen so many people in the room for such a meeting. It was absolutely packed, with standing room only available, and people standing in the doorways. This was despite our having more chairs in the room than ever before, and the public broadcast of the meeting going out over the Internet. Also, I'm told that both major social events, the Pegasus Dinner honoring Frank Chapot and Todd Minikus, and the Horse of the Year Awards Dinner on Saturday night, were near sell-outs."

Rawls added that this year's meeting attendance was achieved despite the United States Equestrian Team's (USET) not having scheduled a joint meeting. The first year the USET annual meeting was held separately was 1996. In 1997, the USET and then-AHSA held meetings together in San Diego, and in all years since then separately. Attendance at the Federation's convention dipped in 1998 at Hilton Head, and since then has grown steadily to surpass all recent previous years.

"We know that the attendance and participation is still not what it should be," said Rawls. "Having rule changes every year helps attendance, but we need to make the convention schedule much more attractive to the broad membership, with more events of general interest, entertainment, and education, than just rule-making. With a greater consolidation of the sport possibly on the horizon, I think we can make many improvements."

The 2003 Annual Meeting is scheduled for Lexington, KY, on January 15 through 19. In 2004, the meeting will be held in the Southwest or far West, possibly Las Vegas, on January 14 through 18. In 2005, the site is Colorado Springs, on January 12 through 16. In 2006, the site will be in the East once again, in 2007, tentatively Lexington, in 2008, the West, and in 2009, Colorado Springs.