Dear U.S. Eventing Athletes, As the 2023 season gears up, we would like to take this opportunity to remind you of the new Minimum Eligibility Requirements (MER) for national levels. All MER specifications can be found in Appendix 3 of the USEF Rulebook . All Minimum Eligibility Requirements (MER), except Classic Three-day Events, must be obtained within a 4-year period. One MER must be obtained within 12 weeks of the event for which it is needed when moving from one level to the next. E.g.,...

USEF Chief of Sport David O’Connor, University of Kentucky Equine Science professor and member of the FEI Equine Ethics and Welfare Commission, Dr. Camie Heleski, and Chief Executive of World Horse Welfare, Roly Owers, spoke to the USEF Annual Meeting about equestrian sport and the social license to operate. Here are five takeaways from their presentation. 1. Social license to operate is an unofficial but essential piece of the puzzle. Owers describes social license to operate as...

Lexington, Ky. – The national federations of the FEI North American Youth Championships are pleased to announce they are now accepting applications to host the 2024, 2025, and 2026 FEI North American Youth Championships (NAYC) for Dressage and Jumping, in addition to a National Eventing Team Championship for Juniors and Young Riders. US Equestrian and the organizing committee National Federation must receive applications before 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday, Feb. 6, 2023, for consideration. 2022...

As the start of the 2023 competition year approaches and new rules come into place, USEF has received feedback from members requesting clarification about the qualification process for the 2023 Devon Horse and Pony Show, Pennsylvania National, Washington International, and the National Horse Show. Additionally, there have been questions raised about how awards separate from prize money affect HOTY standings or qualifications for these competitions. Earlier this Fall, a Presidential Modification...

Strides for Equality Equestrians (SEE) is pleased to announce the award of its Winter 2023 Ever So Sweet Scholarship to Micah Green, 23, of Jacksonville, FL. As the fourth recipient of the Ever So Sweet scholarship, Micah will receive fully-paid training and mentorship from Sara Kozumplik at her winter base in Ocala, FL. Micah, who is a repeat applicant for the Ever So Sweet Scholarship, demonstrated determination and a clear-cut vision of his intentions should he be chosen as an ESS recipient....

Lexington, Ky. - Due to international vaccine supply shortages, September 8th the FEI Board approved temporary measures to require vaccine boosters every 12 months vs. every six months, and not within seven days of arrival at the FEI event, effective October 1, 2022 to April 1, 2023. The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) will comply with the implementation of the temporary FEI vaccination changes but will still require horses that are competing in national classes adhere to GR844 (USEF...

Attention Regular and Local competition organizers: Please note that the below US Equestrian rule changes that involve hosting Open Dressage classes will go into effect for the 2023 competition year. These changes only affect dually USEF/USDF licensed dressage classes, not Western dressage classes. Only Regular and Local competitions will be impacted by these changes; Lite licensed competitions are not eligible to host Open Dressage classes. The first notable change requires Regular and Local...

Lexington, KY – US Equestrian is committed to providing a fair and level competition experience and actively promotes integrity and sportsmanship in the competition environment. USEF is aware that instances occasionally occur where exhibitors in a class intentionally do not perform the required gaits or movements or purposefully make a mistake (i.e., pick up the wrong lead, break gait, etc.) to ensure they are not placed high on a judge’s card. US Equestrian has received reports of...

Wellington, Fla. – Eleven young athletes had the opportunity to work with some of the country’s most accomplished equestrians at the in-person session of the 2022 USEF Horsemastership Training Series held January 7-9 in Wellington, Fla. The training session started with a flatwork demonstration and lesson with Anne Kursinski. The following day, they navigated gymnastics exercises with Lauren Hough. The training session concluded with riding a two round, Nations Cup style course...

Lexington, Ky. – A Presidential Modification to WD130 has been approved for the 2022 competition year. The Presidential Modification clarifies the recently updated rule, to now include “in the same competition year” at the conclusion of the added sentence, “To be eligible for Intro Level, a horse/rider combination must not have shown in a Western Dressage Test at First Level or above.” WD130 should be followed as written below for the 2022 competition year: 1....