Competition Management

As the US Equestrian Human and Equine Safety and Welfare Committee sat down in person this spring to evaluate their priorities for the next two years, they knew they wanted to focus their efforts on having a meaningful impact. They’ve created a priority list based on group discussions and member inquiries, and as it continues its work, the Committee wants to involve membership and other stakeholders to gather feedback to guide their priorities. “The committee wants to involve...

As we all look forward to spring, we know many members are creating their competition calendars for the upcoming season. For those who have battled cold and snow this winter, the prospect of entering the first shows of the year sounds refreshing. And yet, we’ve had many members tell us they wish the horse show entry process could be easier. Some show offices are still working off paper entries, while others are frustrated with the amount of manual checking they need to do between their...

Lexington, Ky. - US Equestrian is pleased to announce the launch of the 2026 USEF Combined Driving Chef d’Equipe Apprentice Program, an initiative designed to identify talented individuals with the potential to be developed into future Chef d’Equipe positions. ©Christine Rivet/US Equestrian The selected Apprentice will work alongside the Chef d’Equipe, supporting a variety of tasks to gain first-hand experience with a deeper understanding of the responsibilities required...

Lexington, Ky. - US Equestrian would like to remind eligible competitions of updates made to the USEF Lite Grants, which provide funding to USEF Lite licensed competitions. Lite licensing is designed to give competition organizers and athletes a lower cost, more relaxed competition environment which still has the benefits of US Equestrian’s rulebook and oversight. USEF Lite Grants provide further savings by offering financial assistance to competitions to hire necessary staffing, with up...

The cost of everything is going up these days – for competitors, trainers, horse owners, event organizers, venue operators, and others. We understand that not all competitors want to point to championships or accumulate points, and that’s ok! Many equestrians do want to compete in a regulated environment with rules and policies that support safety and welfare for equestrians and their horses, but don’t want to spend a lot of money to do it. That’s where USEF Lite comes...

Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian offers annual combined driving grants designed to strengthen the pipeline of opportunities within the U.S. driving community by supporting licensed competitions, developing organizers, and providing education and experience for current or aspiring licensed officials. The application deadline for the 2026 USEF Combined Driving Grants for Competitions and Licensed Officials is January 1, 2026. 2026 USEF Competition Grant for Combined Driving Grants may be...

©Andrea Evan/US Equestrian US Equestrian appreciates the dedication of our competition managers to operating safe and fun licensed competitions. While we all work hard to prevent any emergencies, safety issues, and human or equine injuries in many different ways, preparation is still essential. That’s why we’ve just published an Incident Response Guide for Competitions, which is available at this link . This guide gives competition management a blueprint for how to coordinate...

Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian encourages competition organizers, licensed officials, and athletes in the vaulting community to review the updated grant criteria for the 2026 competition year. The USEF Vaulting Sport Committee recently reviewed the discipline grant programs and made changes to more strategically allocate funding. An overview of the grant applications is outlined below. General Athlete Grants Athletes interested in being considered for a grant for travel associated with...

Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian is pleased to announce updates to the USEF Lite Grants, which provide funding to USEF Lite licensed competitions. Lite Licensing is available to competitions that have not been licensed with the Federation in the past three years or meet other criteria as stated in GR310.6(2) . It serves as an opportunity for organizers and participants to test drive the USEF competition environment with lower costs. USEF Lite Grants provide financial assistance for...

The USEF Compliance Department works to ensure that competition facilities, such as stabling and arena footing, are safe and up to standard. ©Taylor Pence/US Equestrian US Equestrian licensed competitions are required to maintain a level of quality and service for participants in order to maintain their affiliation. When an aspect of a competition’s facilities or related services isn’t up to standard, the path to resolution goes through the dedicated staff within US...