As the national governing body for all levels of equestrian sport – not just the Olympic levels of equestrian sports – we get a lot of questions from members who wonder whether their hard-earned membership fees are paying for an upper-level rider to send their horse to a faraway European destination to contest a high performance event like a championship.
The term “high performance” encompasses US Equestrian’s programs dedicated to identifying, developing, and supporting athlete-and-horse combinations capable of representing the United States at the highest levels of international competition — including the Olympic Games, World Championships, and Nations Cup teams — with the goal of achieving sustained competitive excellence. High performance teams are high visibility for USEF as training, selection, and funding of the US Equestrian Team is a part of the Federation’s mission and responsibilities, but it’s important to know that high performance programs and teams don’t rely on our 83,000 competing members’ fees for support.
This chart comes from the Federation’s 2025 financials, which will be published later this week in the For The Record section of our website. Audited financials and tax disclosures are released annually in accordance with USEF’s bylaws and U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) requirements.
The chart represents the cost of high performance sport programs, which is inclusive of travel, training, and coaching. The portion of high performance not included here is the salaries of staff in our Sport Department because full-time staff in USEF’s Sport Department are designated by breed or discipline and not by competition level. For example, staff members who work in jumping deal with athletes at all levels, from an Olympian headed to World Championships to an amateur participant with a rules question ahead of their 0.70-meter round this weekend, and everyone in between.
The USOPC is one major funding source for high performance sport programs, and the US Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation is another. USET is the philanthropic partner of USEF and raises money to support competition, training, coaching, travel, and educational needs of elite and developing horses and athletes at the high performance level. Last year, the USOPC and USET Foundation combined support equated to $3.55 million, or 56% of the cost of high performance sport programs.
Athletes who enter high performance competition are subjected to dues beyond the standard $100 competing membership, and also pay fees associated with applying to high performance programs, competing abroad, and other elements of entering top level competition. This amounted to about $661,000, and paid for 11% of the cost of high performance sport programs last year.
The remaining $2.07 million, or 33% of the high performance sport programs budget in 2025, is paid for from sponsorship money. There is a range of sponsorship and advertising opportunities available to brands we work with, but some specifically seek the exposure that comes with the official sponsorship of an international team, or they may choose to create sponsorships based solely around high performance events to reach their target audiences. This portion of sponsorship funds high performance programs because it’s brought in by those high performance teams or events.
Even with assistance from USEF, owners and athletes at top performance levels are always still paying costs associated with travel and upkeep related to top level sport. USEF’s programs serve as support, but not full funding of these expenses for high performance participants.
Stay tuned to future USEF Insider issues for more answers to questions about how the numbers work behind the Federation.