The United States Equestrian Federation
Arabian Division Committee

Jill Frieders - jfrieders@obrienwolf.com

The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) is the governing body for our rated  horse shows.  They maintain and enforce the rules at all of our rated shows including Nationals and Regionals.  USEF also licenses judges, stewards and technical delegates.  And, USEF is in charge of drug testing.  Although USEF is in charge of the rules, the Arabian Horse Association (AHA) has a great deal of input in the formation of the rules that affect our shows. 

There is a joint committee called the USEF Arabian Division Committee that serves both AHA and USEF.  It meets regularly by phone, email, and in person at the USEF convention and the AHA convention.  All USEF rule changes that affect or potentially affect Arabian shows go through the USEF Arabian Division Committee for review.  The recommendations of the committee are then forwarded to the USEF president and the USEF Board. 

The Minnesota Arabian Horse Association has very strong representation on that committee.  Laura Mickelson, Larry Hoffman and Jill Frieders currently serve on the Committee.  Laura is a past chair of the committee and Jill Frieders is serving her third term as chair.  Other members of the committee are Lance Walters, Myron Krause, Bill Hughes, Bill Pennington, Janet Holloway, Debbie Price, Ray Cerniga, Mary Jane Brown, Cecile Dunn, Mickey Hegg, Jan Decker, Tony Conner, Shirley Nowak, Cynthia Clinton, Robin Lohnes, and Janet Henderson.

Changing a USEF Arabian Division rule is a two-step process.  First the rule change proposal is voted on by the Arabian Horse Association (AHA) delegates.  Once it is past by AHA, it is then forwarded on to USEF for approval by the USEF Arabian Division Committee and the USEF Board of Directors.

In November of each year the Arabian Horse Association (AHA) holds a convention.  The main purpose of the convention is to pass rules.  In addition to voting on USEF rule change proposals, the delegates vote on a wide variety of topics including, but not limited to:  AHA By -Laws, AHA dues and fees, qualifying for Regionals and Nationals, Scoring Systems, Welfare of the Horse and the Arabian and Half Arabian Registry.  (MAHA sends delegates to the AHA Convention.) 

The Arabian Horse Association President, the AHA Board, clubs, regional boards, and committees may submit resolutions including USEF rule change proposals to the AHA convention for consideration.  All properly submitted resolutions are reviewed by the appropriate AHA committees/commissions/boards in meetings during convention. At these meetings voting delegates and convention attendees can voice their opinions. After debate, members have three options. They can: approve the resolution as is; approve it as amended; or; disapprove it.  The proponent of the Resolution may also choose to withdraw the resolution.

After the resolution is reviewed by the committees, the resolution is then sent to the AHA convention floor where it is voted upon by the entire delegation. The delegates can:

  • approve it as is;
  • approve it with an amendment;
  • refer it to committee for study;
  • withdraw it; or
  • Disapprove it.

When the AHA delegates pass a rule change that creates or modifies a USEF rule, the rule change proposal is sent to USEF for review at the USEF January Convention.  The rule proposal is reviewed by the USEF Arabian Division Committee (again).  In addition it is reviewed by any other USEF committees that might have an interest in the specific proposal.  It then goes to the USEF Board for final approval.

Generally speaking rule change proposals past by the AHA convention are adopted by USEF.  On rare occasion, USEF will question our rule changes.  As an example several years ago, the AHA convention passed a drug test rule that created a more stringent testing regiment for Arabians.  It would have been very costly to implement.  With approval of the Arabian members on the USEF Board, the rule change was tabled while USEF did research on the cost and need for the more stringent testing.  The following year armed with more information, the AHA convention withdrew the rule change proposal.

There are also times when an emergency exists and we recommend rule changes to the USEF Board midyear.  As an example, the USEF Arabian Division refers to the USEF dressage rules for its Arabian Dressage classes.  The USEF Dressage Committee passed a rule stating that if two horses tie for first place the tie shall remain and there will be two first place horses.  This was a potential problem for Nationals and Regionals.  AHA cannot have two Regional or National champions from the same class in the same year.  So, the USEF Arabian Division Committee working closely with the AHA Dressage Committee came up with the protocol for breaking ties at our shows.  This was done midyear and outside of the normal rule change process.

The USEF Arabian Division Committee is a very proactive committee.  It is currently working at improving the Hunter Pleasure rules.  Last year we passed major revisions to the Hunter Pleasure Attire and Class Specifications rules.  This was done to give judges and exhibitors more guidance.  This year we are hoping to clarify things further by publishing pictures of hunter pleasure horses going in the appropriate frame along with pictures showing horses in unacceptable frames. 

Another area that we see a need for more guidance is in the County Pleasure rules.  We have established a subcommittee to study and recommend rule changes in that area.  We have also set up a subcommittee to study the current rating system to see if it can be improved upon.

In addition to dealing with rule changes, the committee is frequently asked to clarify rules throughout the show season.  We have been asked to clarify a myriad of things.  At out next meeting we will discuss how to deal with time outs in concurrently judged classes.  We are also getting lots of questions about the new hunter pleasure attire rules.  I suspect that we will be issuing a clarification on that too.

Another matter that the committee is involved in is nominating horses and individuals for awards such as Horse of the Year and Horseman of the Year.  (Larry Hoffman is the chair of the USEF Awards committee.)

If you have any questions about USEF or would like to suggest a rule change, please talk Laura Mickelson, Larry Hoffman or Jill Frieders.