The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Board acted on a round of extraordinary rule changes at the November meeting. Below you will find a few of the highlighted rule changes, all of which take effect December 1, 2023.

Equine Safety & Wellbeing

GR838.4 – Cruelty to and Abuse of a Horse
The scope of the rule change amends responsible persons to include “any person” rather than just “a competitor.” It also modifies the rule to include evidence of actions considered excessive which may include raw, bleeding, or irritated skin, or welts consistent with excessive use or inappropriate use of equipment.

GR901.8 – Veterinarian Contact Information
To ensure USEF veterinarians can quickly reach competition veterinarians for biosecurity and other concerns, the amendments above require competition organizers to submit the name of the designated competition veterinarian or veterinary practice to USEF using the USEF Competition Dashboard no less than seven days before the start of the competition and update with changes as necessary.

Coach Identification

GR 108 – Defining Coach Status

This amends the previous rule to remove remuneration as part of the definition of coach, focusing on persons who have or share responsibility for instructing, teaching, schooling, or advising a rider, driver, handler, or vaulter in equestrian skills. Per GR908, all coaches must sign the entry blank.

Important Information for Rule Implementation:
• This is a personal responsibility rule, and it is the personal responsibility of anyone acting as a coach to sign the entry blank.
• A coach signing the entry blank must be a USEF Senior Active Member
• Signing an entry blank as a coach does not automatically impact amateur status.
• It is not the responsibility of the competition officials or organizing teams to police and enforce this rule unless they have knowledge of non-compliance and choose to willfully ignore that knowledge.
• By definition, a coach does not have responsibility for the care, training, custody, or performance of a horse and would not assume that responsibility by signing the entry blank as coach.
• If the coach is acting in a manner that indicates they have the responsibility for the care, training, custody, or performance of a horse, then that coach falls under the definition of a trainer.
• The coach is required to sign the entry blank before the competition ends.

Competition Management

GR 310.1 – Local and USEF Lite Competition Prize Money
This amendment allows for local and USEF Lite competitions to award more than the previous $500 maximum prize money with USEF approval. This provides more incentive and flexibility for smaller competitions to license or continue to license with USEF.

Hunter Competition Management

HU 160.2 – Hunter Prize Money
These amendments clarify that only cash prize money can be used to meet the minimum prize money paid as required by the relevant Hunter Rating. Additionally, the combined total of cash prize money and in-kind prizes cannot exceed the maximum prize money permitted in the relevant Hunter Rating.

Click here to view all rule changes approved at the 2023 November Board meeting. For more information on USEF Rules, click here.