Lexington, Ky. – As dialogue continues around USEF calendar management, Chief Executive Officer of US Equestrian Bill Moroney and President-Elect Tom O’Mara hosted an hour-long review of member feedback submitted to the USEF following the first Competitions & Conversations member discussion hosted in early December. As part of the 2021 US Equestrian Annual Meeting, Moroney and O’Mara reviewed member suggestions and comments, as well as the select results of the comprehensive Competition Environment member survey distributed in December.

USEF leadership continues to gather and analyze member feedback, which will be provided to the repopulated USEF Competitions Task Force that will present recommendations to the Board of Directors. The task force members will be appointed by the President and announced on or before January 25^th. The goal of leadership is to create an environment where members feel encouraged to provide their feedback that can be carefully analyzed as part of our ongoing efforts to advance equestrian sport.  

Member responses regarding calendar management have mostly fallen into the following five categories: competition licensing, standards and compliance, cost and opportunities, recognition, and other considerations. Highlights of ideas put forward are outlined and categorized below. Watch the full Competitions: Member Feedback, Survey Results and Next Steps presentation on USEF Network for a comprehensive review.

Competition Licensing Suggestions and Comments:

• The goals of the licensing process need to be clear.
   
• The Mileage Exemption process needs to be more efficient and consistent to better accommodate the needs of members.
   
• Mileage expiration for licensees who have hosted a certain number of consecutive weeks of competitions or held a license for period of consecutive years, and whether greater protection should be considered for “owned/long term” facilities making a significant investment into the sport.
   
• Calendar needs are different for different levels, but ultimately the products must meet the needs of members without diluting the market with too many competition variations, which cannot remain viable enough to meet the standards.
   
• Consider the aggregation of dates, consecutive yearly licenses, levels, quality of facilities, and total licenses per licensee as part of reviewing and managing the calendaring process.
   
• Ensure that a licensee cannot “lease” a USEF competition license to another individual or entity.
   

Standards & Compliance Suggestions and Comments:
“Sometimes you have to measure what you might be willing to sacrifice for certain benefits. If a competition standard costs significantly more for an organizer to activate on, that cost, in all likelihood, would be passed on to the exhibitor.” – Bill Moroney

• Clear and objective standards are easier to enforce and can be scaled to commensurate with the competition rating and the size of the competition.
   
• New avenues for submitting feedback need to be introduced for members.  Consider reporting evaluation results to the membership so the evaluation process is transparent and allows for the review of how standards, compliance, and member feedback may affect license renewal.
   
• Consider rating facilities regarding what level and rating of competition they can hold. The environment needs to encourage competition organizers to continue investing in their facilities and the standards should be the same at the start of a competition as they are at the end, though facility investments are separate from amenity and aestheticbased investments.
   
• Attendance and entries could be used as a standard. A minimum attendance requirement could be enforced for certain levels of competitions or the number of horses required to enter could impact the continuation of a National and Premier rating for licensees.
   
• An identified score on the Show Standards Report Card must be attained to avoid violations, such as potential revocation of mileage protections, which could allow new competitions to enter the market in the same region.
   
• Review the roles and responsibilities of Stewards/Technical Delegates onsite and how they play into the expansion of the compliance department.
   

Cost & Opportunities Suggestions and Comments:
“We can always create another level or class height or derby or product…, but how does that encourage people to enter? What would those products look like? What is being created for the entry level? That’s something for us to look at.” – Tom O’Mara

• Simplifying the sport, particularly the rules, could help increase exposure and generate interest, and ultimately access. It could also allow for better visibility of the value propositions of the organization.
   
• A tiered membership structure that provides opportunities to enter the sport and compete at little to no cost could help expand the competition environment and encourage more participation at a lower cost.
   
• More public transparency of the average cost per exhibitor at competitions may also be a way to selfregulate and address rising costs.
   
• The evolution of alreadyexisting products, like USEF Show Pass, could be an effective way of converting new members into competing members and allow for an easier entry pathway to competing membership for new participants in the sport.
   

Recognition Comments and Suggestions: 
“I like experiments. You try something, but you have to follow it and monitor it, review it, reassess and see if it actually works. I think we can see where these go and the Task Force is going to give consideration to all of these things.” – Tom O’Mara

• Meaningful recognition at all levels is essential for growth at all levels.
   
• In order for participation and engagement to increase, there must be a better system and structure for recognition outside of the point system, which may be unattainable to certain segments of the membership.
   
• Prize money is a leading discussion point when it comes to recognition suggestions. Submitted ideas span the spectrum of what could be leveraged in relation to prize money and licenses. Suggestions have included establishing stronger minimums and maximums of prize money or implementing a system that analyzes prize money distributed versus points at Premier rated competitions.
   

Other Consideration Comments and Suggestions:

• Consumer reviews should play a role in the licensing process. These reviews could also be more formalized into a member log or database, similar to Yelp, where reviews could be aggregated based on the competitions being reviewed.
   
• There is a difference between amenities and standards, and they should be measured with a systematic approach in relation to customer satisfaction.
   
• Time limits on competition improvements should be given to licensees who do not meet a minimum score or review level. Ultimately, if the time limit expires with no change, the rating of the license should be downgraded or another competition in the same region should be given the opportunity to apply for a show at the same level. 
   

Survey & Poll Feedback

• Nearly 4,000 members responded to the survey, with 77% of respondents having been a member of USEF for 5+ years and predominantly representing the hunter/jumper membership.
   
• Demographic data was segmented by member interest or discipline/breed participation, allowing the Competitions Task Force to take a tailored approach of review of suggestions from each breed/discipline.
   
• Only half of respondents were aware of the Competition Evaluation Survey and its purpose, which immediately prompted the team to adjust the website to make the form more accessible and visible for all members.
   
• More than 3,135 open ended responses were submitted, identifying and explaining key decisionmaking process of attending competitions. The leading factors indicated were location (over 1/3 said distance was the #1 priority), footing, and cost.
   
• Based on live polls activated during the first Competitions & Conversations member discussion, nearly 61% of attendees believe there should be a limit to the number of consecutive weeks of competition that are eligible for mileage protections. Nearly 85% of responses agree that there should be different competitions standards for the different ratings/levels of competition to ensure the highest rating/level of competitions are held to the highest standards.
   
• Almost 77% of live poll responses agreed that member feedback/member evaluations should play a larger role in the competition licensing process. More than 76% of respondents would like to utilize a public star rating system for competitions based on member feedback/evaluation.
   

Importantly, USEF leadership announced a new Feedback tab within the Compete menu and a new landing page on USEF.org to provide improved access to the Competition and LO Evaluation Form, proposed rule change input and competitions task force feedback.  Members are encouraged to continue submitting their ideas to the Competitions Task Force.