If you’ve ever attended a horse show thought, “Maybe I could do that,” after watching a judge, steward, technical delegate, or course designer perform their duties, but didn’t know where to start, this is for you. During a July webinar titled “Becoming an Official: Steps to Success,” Alina Brazzil, US Equestrian Director of Licensed Officials, outlined the steps involved in becoming licensed.
The application process can be broken into five basic steps.
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Read the LO Policies and Procedures (P&P) Document
This document outlines everything you need to know about becoming licensed for your desired role in your breed or discipline. While US Equestrian has general requirements that apply to all licenses, each breed and discipline also sets their own. Regardless of which license you’re applying for, you must be a senior competing member, be compliant with USEF’s Safe Sport Policy, and complete a background check.
The licensing requirements are reviewed and amended every other year on a split schedule, so half of the breeds and disciplines will review requirements this year, and the other half will complete that process the following year.
“We want to keep up to date with the standards,” said Brazzil. “Maybe we learn that applicants are missing something, so we tweak the requirements.”
Once you begin the application process, the requirements for your license are set, so even if the LO P&P is amended while you are in the middle of your application, nothing changes for you. That’s why it’s important to use your application checklist, which is found on your Licensed Officials Dashboard, as other applicants may have started at a different time and therefore have different requirements.
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Start a License Application
You can start a license application under the Licensed Officials Dashboard tile on your USEF Dashboard and can apply for more than one license. Each license has its own eligibility requirements, which you should have completed before starting a license. These requirements could include participating in your breed/discipline as a competitor, trainer, volunteer, etc. for a certain amount of time, or have competed to a certain level, and can be found in the LO P&P document.
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Complete the Application Requirements
Once the US Equestrian Licensed Officials Department has confirmed you’ve met the eligibility requirements, you will be able to access your online application, which outlines what you need to complete for your license application and the deadline. Most applications must be completed within three years.
Licensing requirements typically include some form of education, apprenticeship, and final examination. Education could be anything from in-person clinics to, webinars, and/or online courses. For some breeds and disciplines, we work with the recognized affiliate who host licensed official education directly, and we post all clinic information on our website. You can find a list of scheduled clinics here.
Apprenticing is commonly used to give applicants practical experience, and we offer guidelines for best practices when apprenticing. You can use the licensed official or competition search on the US Equestrian website to find an official to apprentice with. The Licensed Officials Department is also available to help you review your apprenticing plans.
“We have all kinds of applicants reach out to us to make sure the requirements are met as intended,” said Brazzil, who encouraged applicants to share their apprenticing plans to ensure it meets the requirements.
When finding an apprenticeship, you must check with the competition manager and the official you’re apprenticing with. In addition, the steward/TD needs to know if there’s someone apprenticing during the show, as it’s included in their Steward/TD rReport. If apprenticing with a judge, it’s also good practice to check in with all judges at that competition, as there’s potential for those classes to get moved around and you’ll need to sit with a different judge.
All license applications culminate in a final exam, which can be oral, written, practical, or some combination. The exact format varies based on breed/discipline and license type.
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Submit Your Application
Once you’ve completed all requirements on your checklist, your license application can be submitted to the Licensed Officials Department. While you can submit your application at any time, we review them based on specific deadlines throughout the year.
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March 15; decision by May 15
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July 15; decision by September 15
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December 15; decision by February 15
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Applications are Reviewed by the Federation
Once the application deadline has passed, the Licensed Officials Department completes a final check to make sure all the requirements were completed properly. The Licensed Officials Committee then reviews the application, including a summary of the work completed by the applicants, clinic information, final examination scores, and apprentice evaluations. If you’re already licensed and applying for a promotion, the Licensed Officials Committee will also look at licensed official evaluations and review whether you’ve had any suspensions previously. Finally, the US Equestrian Chief Operating Officer reviews the application, and the applicant will receive an email notification on whether they will receive the license.
We know there’s a cost associated with completing in-person clinics and apprentice requirements for obtaining a license or a promotion, so USEF offers licensed official grants each year, and many of our affiliates also offer grants, which can be found here.
US Equestrian also offers a library of resources and educational opportunities for licensed officials such as webinars, FAQs, and online training modules through TalentLMS. We also offer specialized insurance provided annually with license renewal, and new this year, we added administrative hearing coverage. If an incident occurs at a competition and the licensed official needs to attend a hearing, that coverage helps cover the expenses of participating.
Review more information on the Become Licensed webpage. If you have any questions about becoming a licensed official, you can email the Licensed Officials Department at [email protected].
You can access the webinar here, and find the PowerPoint slides here.