News - Competitions and Officials

E-Newsletter, December 2009

2009 E-Newsletter December Issue!

Welcome to the December issue of the 2009 e-newsletter! Replacing the old print Newsletter for Competitions and Officials, this format will allow us to more rapidly distribute information to you, our membership. Use the navigational buttons to the left to browse through the different sections of the newsletter. You will find an email link to the author at the bottom of each article if you wish to contact them to ask for more information.

2010 USEF MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES AND CARDS

The 2010 USEF Membership cards are shown below along with the membership categories applicable to each card. Both USEF and USHJA have established a three-year membership starting in 2010. There is a new 2010 USEF Equestrian non-competing membership category, Collegiate. This new category will be printed on the blue card with the white horse. The two other non-competing memberships, USEF Equestrian and Club E are printed on the blue card, also. The effective dates of membership (both USEF and USHJA) will be printed in bold print on the back of the card as “Valid 12/1/09 to 11/30/10”. The three year membership will state “Valid 12/1/09 to 11/30/12.” The sentence “Competes in all Br/Discs” will no longer be printed on the cards, since all Life, Senior Active or Junior Active members can compete in all Breeds/Disciplines.

If you have questions, call the USEF Customer Care Center and a personal agent will assist you. You may call (859) 258-2472. Monday through Friday, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm [ET]

USEF Competing Equestrian (Senior and Junior Active)	Three-year USEF Competing Equestrian (Senior and Junior Active)
USEF Competing Equestrian (SR and JR Active) & USHJA Active Also Three-year Competing Equestrian & Three-year USHJA Active	USEF Equestrian, Club E, Collegiate (non-competing)
USEF Competing Equestrian – Life Member	USEF Competing Equestrian – Life and USHJA Life Member

Competitor Falls

As a reminder: when a competitor falls or is otherwise injured during a USEF Competition, the qualified medical personnel hired by the competition (according to GR1211.5) should have the ultimate authority, within their scope of practice and according to all state and local laws, to provide care to any competitor who is injured. If another participant at a USEF Competition would like to assist or assume care of an injured competitor, the participant must provide proper identification to the qualified medical personnel at the competition, follow all laws governing the transfer of care and must have the consent of the injured party.

A competitor who is suspected of having a possible concussion/head injury/loss of consciousness may be cleared by the qualified medical personnel at a competition and the competitor may immediately resume competing without further evaluation or treatment. The easiest way to do this is to use the current version of the USEF Accident/Injury Form (available on the USEF website). Medical personnel treating the injured party may indicate “No” on question 18, “Possible Concussion/Head Injury”, to show that there are no signs/symptoms of a concussion. If there are initial concussion symptoms, but further evaluation by the medical personnel for the competition show that the symptoms have resolved, the follow-up question, “If yes, was person cleared to return to Competition?”, may then be marked “Yes” and the person may resume competing. If the new form is not available, a statement may be written that identifies the qualified medical personnel and includes clearance for the competitor either on the form available, or on an addendum to the report.

Contact: Leigh Anne Claywell, Director of Competitions

2010 USEF Rule Book

The 2010 USEF Rule Book is online and can be accessed using this link: http://www.usef.org/_IFrames/RuleBook/2010.aspx. If you have a memory stick version of the rule book , please update it at least once a month. In addition to any possible new rules or corrections, the licensed officials’ roster also updates on the memory stick.

The hardcopy 2010 rule books will be mailed from the printer/mailing house in mid-November.

Competitions

2010 Eventing Competition Organizers

If you wish to conduct an existing competition in the 2010 competition year, the online renewal Application MUST BE completed and payment must be received by USEF no later than November 30, 2009.

In order to do the online renewal you will need to set up an account under the licensee number if you have not already done so. To set up the account, please go to the USEF website and log into the licensee's "My USEF" Account". The link to the My USEF Account is . Individuals who are licensees should log on under their personal “My USEF” Account. Licensees which are farms, businesses or other organizations may have to create a new “My USEF” Account under that Licensee number.

If the licensee does not have an account or does not know their ID; the ID can be found on the license agreements and license renewal applications. If you still need assistance, please contact the Competitions Department at (859) 258-2472.

Once you are signed in, a section labeled “2010 Competition Year” will be at the top of the page. Here you will click on the link labeled “License Renewal”. This will bring up all the competitions available for update, payment and renewal. Click on the "Select" option next to the competition you want to choose and this will take you to the information screens related to that competition. Please review the competition data and make any changes as necessary under the “Other Requested Changes” box.

Payment of the dues can be made three ways; by credit card, by echeck or by a paper check. Choose which option you would like on the payment section of the form and supply any requested information. If you prefer to pay by paper check, you can fill in the information online, print it out and mail it in with your payment. Please make all checks payable to USEF. If you are unable to access the online renewal please e-mail or fax your information with the competition number, name of licensee, name of competition and date of competition to Michele Hoskins at mhoskins@usef.org or via fax at (859) 231-6662.

DEADLINE FOR RENEWAL OF & PAYMENT FOR YOUR 2010 USEF COMPETITION LICENSE(S) IS NOVEMBER 30, 2009.

Contact: Michelle Hoskins, Account Analysis Representative

USEF Online Competition Renewal And USEF/USDF Joint Online Competition Renewal

In an effort to make the 2010 competition renewal and licensing fee payment more streamlined, the online competition renewal that will allow licensees to update, make a payment and submit their 2010 competition license renewal online. 2010 competitions wishing to have USDF recognition must complete their USDF application online during the process.

In order to access the online renewal please go to the USEF website and log into the licensee's "My USEF" Account". The link to the My USEF Account is https://www.usef.org/_AUAIFrames/login/default.aspx. If the licensee does not have an account or does not know their ID; the ID can be found on the license agreements and license renewal applications. If the licensee is a business, farm or organization, you will need to create that account by clicking on the link for Businesses and Organizations. You will need the Licensee Number and the Zip Code of the Licensee’s address in order to register for a “My USEF” account. If you need assistance or have questions about this process, please contact the Competitions Department at 859-258-2472.

Once you are signed in, scroll to the bottom of the page to the area labeled "2010 Competition Year" and click on the link "License Renewal". This will bring up all the competitions available for update, payment and renewal. Click on the "Select" option next to the competition you want to choose and this will take you to the information screens related to that competition.

If you prefer to pay by check, please fill in the information online, print it out and mail it in with your payment. Please make all checks payable to USEF. If you are paying for a jointly recognized competition, USEF will remit the application fee to USDF. If you are unable to access the online renewal please e-mail or fax your information with the competition number, name of licensee, name of competition and date of competition to Michele Hoskins at mhoskins@usef.org or via fax at 859-231-6662.

Contact: Michelle Hoskins, Account Analysis Representative

New Dressage Levels

As of 12/1/09, all dressage competitions will be categorized by level according to criteria available on the Dressage Levels chart. Please notify the Competition Licensing Department of the Level you intend on holding for your 2010 competition at your earliest convenience so that they may update your competition listing. Contact Amy Alley, aalley@usef.org or (859) 225-2047, to update your competition level. If you have any questions, please contact Leigh Anne Claywell, Director of Competitions at (859) 225-6959 or via email at lclaywell@usef.org. To view the dressage level criteria, click on the following link: http://www.usef.org/_IFrames/competitions/compManagement.aspx.

Contact: Leigh Anne Claywell, Director of Competitions

Dressage Competition Reminders – Test of Choice Classes & Adding Classes to Your Show

Please keep the following rule reminders in mind if offering “Test of Choice” classes as part of your USEF/USDF-Licensed Dressage Competition:

• A class named “USEF Test of Choice” can only offer USEF tests – not FEI. • An “FEI Test of Choice” class can only offer FEI tests.
• A general “Test of Choice” class can offer both USEF and FEI tests.
• Freestyles should be offered separately or as a separate “(USEF or FEI) Freestyle Test of Choice” class from other “test of choice” class(es).
• Para Equestrian and Young Horse tests may not be offered as part of a “Test of Choice” class with other tests. Per Rule DR118.5, tests for Para Equestrians may be ridden only in classes, including Test of Choice classes, that are limited to Para Equestrians. Young Horse tests may be ridden only in classes, including Test of Choice classes, that are limited to Young Horses.
• Per Rule DR119.1, no horse may be ridden more than once in any Dressage class (including separate tests offered as part of a single “test of choice” class or even with different riders – a horse may only compete ONE time per class).

Also, if considering adding classes to your competition after the publication of your prize list, certain rules must be followed in order for these class results to be considered valid. Per GR904, “If the prize list must be changed after it has been distributed to potential exhibitors the following procedures must be followed. Notification of specific changes to a prize list must be made to the Federation and exhibitors via e-mail or mail as well as being posted on a competition’s website.” Therefore, all competition managers/secretaries must notify the USEF Competition Services Department, in writing, of any addition of classes to your competition and prize list in order for the results from these added classes to be recorded as valid.

Contact: Diane Popp, Director of Competition Services

Officials

2010 Licensed Officials’ Renewal Forms

That time of year is here and the deadline is NOVEMBER 15th for licensed officials to renew their memberships and licenses! The annual licensed officials’ renewal forms were mailed in September to all current national and FEI licensed officials. You will also receive an email notice if you have a valid email in our database.

Points to remember:

• Sign the form.
• Check your addition, remembering to include the $15 insurance.
• If you choose the new 3-year membership option, you will still need to renewal your licenses on a yearly basis. Your membership card will reflect a 3-year membership but state the licenses expire 11/30/10.
• Send in the entire form, including the payment portion at the bottom of the form. Not having the entire form will significantly delay the processing of that official’s membership renewal.

We will print the Roster of Licensed Officials for 2010, so the usual November 15th deadline for membership and license renewal applies. In addition, licensed officials will receive a hard copy of the rule book as long as the inventory lasts, unless a memory stick is requested. Individuals who received a memory stick in 2008 or 2009 will not be eligible to receive another memory stick in 2010 but will be asked to update the memory stick with the 2010 Rule Book. The memory stick update will also include the licensed officials’ roster.

Licenses can be renewed along with memberships through the USEF website. Go to “SIGN IN” in the bottom right side of the opening page, log in, and choose 2010 renewals.

Please contact a Licensed Officials Department staff person if you have any question about eligibility to renew. Remember, December 1 is the start of the new competition year. Do not get caught without a valid license!

Contact: Mary Smith, Director of Licensed Officials

Newly Formed USEF Steward/Technical Delegates Committee

Hello from the newly formed USEF Steward/ Technical Delegates Committee, co-chaired by Beverly Bedard and Cecile Hetzel Dunn. Back in January, the USEF Board of Directors approved a new standing committee to represent Stewards and Technical Delegates. The members, in addition to the co-chairs are Bob Bell, Veronica Holt, Malcolm Hook, Jean Kraus, Matt Kwapich, Bill Moroney, Ron Rhodes, Reese Stansfield and McLain Ward. The committee has met 3 times in conference calls and is working, among other projects, toward the improvement in Steward and TD evaluations and Measurement procedures. With that in mind, I do have some reminders for Stewards and Technical Delegates:

1. You are urged to check on the USEF.org website for updates to the Rule Book. Some of you use the online Rule Book, which is current and updated frequently. Others use the printed Rule Book, which is sent to us prior to the start of the current competition year. It is here in the usage of the printed Rule Book, that there appears to be problems. You must go online to the web site and check updates to the rules and new rules passed monthly by the Executive committee, print those out and incorporate them into your printed Rule Book. I also want to remind you to reference these changes back to your Rule Book or, when you look up a rule, if there is a change and you have not referenced it, you could make an incorrect decision. This actual situation has already happened a few times this year – incorrect decisions made due to not referencing new rules. The link to the changes is: http://www.usef.org_Frames/RuleBook/Changes/2010.aspx.

2. You are encouraged to prepare for your upcoming competitions prior to the show by reviewing rules pertaining to the type of competition you are working. This is important in that, when you go to your competition, you need to be prepared for whatever questions you are asked or whatever your duties will be there. Those questions and duties can vary from Local to Regular member competitions, and from Breed to Hunter/Jumper shows. It is your responsibility to be prepared. You have many resources immediately at hand. You have your Rule Book, you have the Comments on the Prize List that the Competitions Department send out, you have Rule Changes available, you have the USEF or Breed Affiliate staff, and you have other Stewards or Technical Delegates who may be more familiar with the particular competition than you are.

3. There is the weekend Hotline, which is available to you also. It is for officials, including competition managers and secretaries, only and not for exhibitors to use, and it is for emergency questions about rules or situations happening immediately at a competition, such as a horse or human fatality or serious injury of an exhibitor. It is not to find out if someone is a member or not, or to find out a height of an animal or to answer questions about programs run by affiliate organizations. The staff members who answer the weekend and holiday Hotline are prepared to help research applicable rules for the situation facing stewards and technical delegates in the field. They appreciate the lessening of inappropriate calls (verifying membership cards or measurement cards) over the past year and appreciate the research done by the officials prior to calling the Hotline number.

This committee is in place to help you as Stewards and Technical Delegates. If you have questions, complaints, situations needing clarification, additional help with applications or evaluations, measurement questions, or anything concerning the duties of Stewards and Technical Delegates, contact our committee liaisons, Chuck Walker or Leigh Anne Claywell, or the co-chairs, Bev or Cecile, or any committee member. We will bring any problem, situation or question to the attention of the entire committee and be there for you if needed. Use us, we want to help you and work for you.

Bev Bedard, Co-Chair
Stewards and Technical Delegates Committee

Contact: Chuck Walker, Director of Education

Dressage Apprenticing Guidelines

To: Managers of Dressage Competitions

From: The USEF Dressage and Licensed Officials Committees

Last year many competition managers again encountered problems with the apprentice candidate judging program. We regret that this important activity created difficulties despite us having informed all candidates of the appropriate conduct and way of working for this program. Our committee has overhauled the Guidelines for Sitting and Apprentice Judging. Please know that all candidates receive the guidelines. We include a copy of these guidelines so that all managers know the instructions that candidates are instructed to follow.

We wish to emphasize that organizers are under no obligation to allow candidates to apprentice-judge at their competition. However, this activity indeed is vital for the training of future dressage judges. We therefore would like to ask our organizers to allow a minimum of apprentice judging at their competitions. We know that this is a burden for them, as it is for the officiating judges that have to spend additional time for an interview and the ensuing paperwork. To provide some relief, we now allow more group apprentice work. We have had very good feedback on these group sessions. The candidates make their own arrangements for this activity. After receiving approval from the competition manager and the Licensed Officials Department, they hire their own judge/instructor, secure their own scribes and chose the classes and number of horses needed for their promotion. The only thing they need from management is the daily schedule of classes and tests and an agreed upon location for the apprentices and their scribes to sit.

For the one-to-one apprentice judging, candidates must obtain your permission before they may contact the judge with whom they want to work. If a candidate appears at your competition but has failed to obtain your permission, he should not be allowed to apprentice-judge, even if he did make arrangements with an officiating judge.

Only one candidate may apprentice-judge or sit and observe with any one particular officiating judge.

We want to re-emphasize that candidates may not interfere with the competition in any way. They should bring their own scribe, table, folding chair, copies of tests, and carbon papers if necessary. They cannot demand to sit at a particular spot.

The organizer should communicate with the competition secretary about any arrangements they may have made with the candidates so that the secretary knows to what extent she/he needs to assist them.

We are most grateful for your continuing support. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact Mary Smith, Director of the Licensed Officials Department. The Licensed Officials Department has prepared a manual detailing the specific guidelines for Dressage Apprentice Judging that may help you. Locate the manual on our website below, or call if you have questions that cannot be answered in the manual.

Guidelines for Sitting and Apprentice Judging

Contact: Mary Smith, Director of Licensed Officials

Staff Directory

Competition Licensing, Evaluation & Safety Department

Leigh Anne Claywell, Director, lclaywell@usef.org (859)225-6959
Diana Campbell, Assistant Director, dcampbell@usef.org (859)225-6914
Becky Francis, Competition Reports Analyst, bfrancis@usef.org (859)225-6980
Amy Alley, Competition Evaluation Representative, aalley@usef.org (859)225-2047
Beth Ann Taylor, Administrative Assistant, btaylor@usef.org (859)225-6981

Licensed Officials Department

Mary Smith, Director, msmith@usef.org (859)225-6948
Diane Shawback, Assistant Director, Licensing, dshawback@usef.org (859)225-6971
Jan McKinney, Continuing Education Coordinator, jmckinney@usef.org (859)225-6988
Abigail Cook, Project Development Coordinator, acook@usef.org (859)225-2057

Education Department

Chuck Walker, Director, cwalker@usef.org (859)225-6970
Amanda Bassett, Assistant Director, abassett@usef.org (859)225-2044

Regulation Department

Emily Patrick, Director, epatrick@usef.org (859)225-6956
Julie Bernier, Assistant Director, jbernier@usef.org (859)225-6953
Adrienne Dumke, Regulation Representative, adumke@usef.org (859)225-2048
Terri Grothpietz, Regulation Representative, tgrothpietz@usef.org (859)225-6917
Kristen Brett, Regulation Representative, kbrett@usef.org (859)225-6945

Weekend Emergency Hotline
(859) 312-5186

Drugs and Medications Hotline
(800) 633-2472