Champions, Records and So Much More Make the Annual USEF Convention A Must Go To Event

Bringing the USEF On The Road And More

The next person to bring forth some innovative ideas was Kathy Meyer, Treasurer of the Board of Directors, who talked about a way to take the USEF on the road. Meyer showed visuals of the types of shows that could be provided through traveling vehicles that could either be geared towards promoting the USEF in general or specifically. These customized vehicles would provide such things as a photo display and navigation panels where people could interact with a computerized system that would provide them with answers and information about the organization.

While the idea is an ever evolving one Kathy talked about kiosk work stations, free standing displays, revolving logos for sponsors, the ability to provide USEF data such as standings, stream video and even some innovative things such as a trivia challenge, ways to capture databases of potential members and so much more.

Photo by Diana DeRosa

“The horizon is infinitely broad and will take a collaborative effort to figure out how we walk people through this friendly environment. This could be used as a promotion for equestrian sports, a cyber café, a press conference center, a technical questions answer site or more. The design and thought process and flexibility are what we need,” concluded Meyer.

O’Connor mentioned that they would like to have one of these vehicles equipped and ready to go in time for the Rolex Kentucky Event in Lexington in April.

Jay Hickey of the American Horse Council was next on the agenda and while he touched on a number of topics the one that hit home for me and so many others was that of Immigration Reform. “We have immigration issues,” explained Hickey. “We need to have a systematic process so that we can rely on alien labor because we are having a hard time finding Americans to do it.” And so the AHC is looking into how a program could be implemented that would focus on working through the red tape.

The financial soundness was talked about at many levels and rather than get into this in any depth the bottom line is that the organization is in good shape financially and things look very promising going forward with the potential for grants for worthy programs and more.

Reining Brings a New Problem to the USEF

One other interesting topic focused on something the organization has really never faced before and this involves the Reining world.

O’Connor set the groundwork by explaining that “Reining is no longer just a National Association. They have international Board Members that control funding, etc. Because of that this is a very murky area since we (the USEF) provide funding for American athletes. The Federation is struggling about our support of the NRHA and whether they qualify under the bylaws.”

Dr. Kim Sloan of the National Reining Horse Association explained the situation and how they intend to resolve it but noted that the process is a lengthy one.

“We have a plan that we have pulled together that we need to bring before our membership. A number of years ago we were a true National Organization and under those auspices we signed with the organization but since then we’ve morphed into an organization which is 25% directed by a non US representation. Right now we don’t have a National Organization but we are planning to form a separate organization just for the United States.

“This strategic plan will be introduced on February 16 and then 160 days later the bylaw changes will be voted on by the membership. After that we have a 60 day period when it all gets voted on.” He continued but ultimately came up with the fact that in reality they would not have a true separate national organization until 1/1/08 and so the USEF has to decide how to proceed until that happens. Sloane added, “We had hoped we could do something in 2007 but we realized that we could not do that because of our legal obligations.”

The USEF has not made any decisions just yet on how to deal with this situation but they are working with the NRHA to come to a mutual meeting of the minds on how best to proceed.