USA Eventing is part of USEF. USEA is the United States Evebting Association and is a separate organization. They are the organization who was not notified until last Friday night. The USEA Foundation (charitable arm of the organization) is who administers the International Developing Rider grant that he traveled to Burghley on.
It is not clear to me yet whether there is a definitive process/protocol for communication between USEF (USA Eventing specifically) and USEA (United States Eventing Association) when serious complaints and subsequent investigations like this arise.
My assumption is that it isnāt in the USEF protocol to notify entities other than USEF. It would be interesting to know the reason WHY but I wonder if this is another area that USEF attorneys decided the best course of action legally is through FEI alone. Perhaps because USEF has no jurisdiction or control over USEA and didnāt want to muddy the waters for FEI by getting USEA involved?
Between this abuse with Andrew McConnon, the thread of CDJ and all the abuse listed there by various ātrainersā my head feels like it just might explode. It seems everywhere you turn there is another nasty story about horse abuse. It is really disappointing when you find out (and no, I am not that naive) so many UL riders and others that we admired, are nothing more than low level abusers. I wish there were more stories of kind and patient trainers and stories like āthis is how we got here and no abuse was involvedā. I certainly hope things will be changing in the future. Even is SM is the reason as it appears the governing bodies cannot police their own. Kudos to the brave individuals who have the courage to come forward when nothing was being done. And to those in the industry that offered no help, shame on them.
Bewareā¦ this is gonna be a long one. I have read through the FEIās Statutes, General Regulations, Internal Regulations and Tribunal regulations, in full. Some thoughts, notes, links, etc.:
The FEI Tribunal
The FEI Tribunal Committee is comprised of a chair, a deputy chair, seven members and three clerks.
Agreements submitted to FEI Tribunal for approval: 3
The Equestrian Community Integrity Unit (ECIU)
The Equestrian Community Integrity Unit (ECIU) supports the FEI in the investigation of any potential violation brought to their attention. For the purposes of such review, the ECIU may upon the FEIās request and approval, conduct specific investigations and collaborate with relevant public authorities.
The role of the ECIU is to perform the following functions:
Review and/or investigate (if applicable) any alleged breaches of the FEI Codes of Conduct, FEI Code of Ethics, or any other FEI Rules and Regulations that are referred to the ECIU by the FEI; The ECIU is authorised to appoint third parties to conduct the investigation and/or assist them with conducting the investigation, subject to FEIās prior approval.
May review and/or enquire regarding investigations conducted by the FEI and/or on behalf of the FEI and/or in cooperation with the FEI to ensure that they are reasonable, proportionate, and in compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, and policies of the FEI.
The ECIU must not disclose any confidential information to third-parties other than persons under appropriate burden of confidentiality and who are required to have the information in order to carry out the discussions regarding the investigation. In particular, the ECIU shall not communicate publicly on any investigation unless agreed by the FEI or required by law to do so.
If necessary, propose to the FEI specific expertise that may be needed in support of the investigation.
Provide an independent report to the FEI following an ECIU investigation, if requested by the FEI.
Report to the FEI President or their designee(s) and in accordance with Article 43.3 of the FEI Statutes if applicable; and
Provide a written Report to the FEI General Assembly on the activities of the ECIU.
The ECIU was passed unanimously as a permanent entity in FEI Statutes in 2011
The ECIU is an Independent Body with its chairperson reporting directly to the FEI President or his or her designee(s).
Per a May 2011 press release by the FEI:
Quest (now Monitor Quest), the company which ran the ECIU in its first year of operation, will continue to operate the Integrity Unit, ensuring its independence.
Monitor Quest is a risk advisory firm helping clients respond strategically and operationally to a range of integrity and security issues.
Monitor Quest is now known (once again?) as Quest, and they offer both corporate and sport-specific services
Baseline services of an Integrity Unit include and operate as follows:
Assessment: Preliminary assessment of report of if there is a case to answer.
Allocation: Analysis of report and allocation as applicable, either to relevant division of sports organisation, independent investigation or criminal authorities.
Investigation: If an investigation is undertaken, terms of reference are agreed with sports organisation and the investigation is carried out, and recommendations are made to the IF who has the authority and mandate to issue sanction.
Resolution: Close case and submit learnings to sports organisation.
Following the recent scandal concerning the award-winning STS Safety Irons and the conduct of the Equestrian Community Integrity Unit, there is an urgent need for the FEI General Assembly to introduce a tender process for a new and independent integrity unit.
Brought into effect by the former FEI President Princess Haya, Quest Ltd was contracted to prevent a repeat of the 2008 FEI Dressage Committee scandal, whereby members abused their position and power, without accountability, giving rise to serious concerns of misconduct.
Of grave concern is the implication of the FEI and its appointed integrity unit in two matters related to equipment testing, which have been grievously prolonged by both parties with minimal regard for horse welfare and rider safety in FEI-level competition.
Comments:
āQuest Limited have had the contract for eight years and during that period may have formed friendships that could be affecting them to be impartial and perform their duties.ā
āThey may not want to investigate and upset the FEI President in fear of losing their contract.ā
āJust another conspiracy and cover up.ā
āBased on the information, they have not acted as an independent integrity unit and should be replaced.ā
āIf a horse is drug tested by the FEI laboratory and claims it was positive but then refuses to supply the test results and refuses to supply them to the ECIU if the rider complains, this is absurd and so is, the FEI not supplying the STS irons rider testing equipment reports.ā
For the FEI to regain the trust and confidence of the equestrian world and the National Federations, the 2018 FEI General Assembly and stakeholders need to make urgent changes to ensure transparency and integrity are honoured by all members of the FEI. Further they should be compelled to answer all emails in a timely fashion to honour the FEI code of ethics.
The FEI Tribunal averaged just under 5 cases per month last year, there is no excuse for the lack of an interim decision or for two-week long lapses in communication
The FEI spends over a quarter of a million dollars every year on an Integrity Unit that could be leveraged to investigate, even if the FEI Tribunal Committee Members are too busy with their small number of cases
The Integrity Unit has come under scrutiny without resolution
FEI has so much money itās wild. The fact they still havenāt come out on this is pretty badā¦when they have been pushing horse welfare and social licensing non stop.
How does Vittoria P from Italy get 4 years for missing a drug test and yet AM is still currently free to compete. Just crazy.
Yes, precisely. Thank you for taking the emotion out of it. @Mondo wondered who pissed in my cheerios, and as a person who is generally (very) direct but tactful, I missed the mark. As it turns out, one should stay away from the keyboard when one puts down their early retiree. Apparently everything but my tact was prepared for that (planned) decision.
But to both amberly and your point, this is not a new issue for USEF, and anyone wanting to be taken seriously on this issue would do well to take time to understand the history (legal and otherwise), especially one that has had the contentious past this one has had.
Because of that history, I damn sure want the first case that USEF takes on to be a stone cold, iron clad victory. AHSA really suffered even in their minor victories and no one needs another glefke debacle. It needs to be done right, it needs to withstand a challenge in the courts and it needs to be decisive. Anything else will be sending the worst possible message to the worst possible offenders, many of whom have deep pocket backers to bring legal challenges that can financially endanger the NGB.
Thanks VHM, I did understand that already (no snark intended) but I find it really incomprehensible that they would push everything up to the FEI and not tell anyone at USEA.
I did correct my former post which said USAE. Pretty bad form to call people out on getting the acronyms confused and then do it myself!
USEA is one of many organizations which are members of the USEF. Guessing no one thought to send the information down the ladder to the USEA. May have also felt the lid would stay on longer if fewer people knew. All speculation!
Iām guessing that the ball was dropped, probably due to it being a bit of a new process for everyone. USEA is the NGB affiliate so it should know about pending actions against members. Iām not certain how much authority it has to do anything about it as it relates to any punishment. All its rules are promulgated through USEF and refer back to the USEF general rules for things not relating to competition criteria (except points /awards, which are in the GR section), so it would have to be referred to USEf no matter what. But itās just a good practice to keep your affiliates in the know about these things.
I skipped ahead in these posts, but I wanted to chime in on a couple of points. Hopefully this isnāt repetitiveā¦
I think itās smart to remain silent in the face of an FEI investigation. This situation is different from Charlotte. Charlotte could not risk being on the team in Paris and being the reason a team medal was stripped once the FEI got around to deciding to suspend her. Plus, they would want to get their alternates settled as well by relevant deadlines. The timing was critically important to her needing to do some PR for herself and protect the British team.
We donāt have that here, and the primary purpose of the public sharing of the videos is to get the FEI to stop delaying, not to get an apology.
How many times do people come on here in the middle of a controversy when they should probably stay quiet? It is usually not a good look.
USEF canāt reverse course on this compared to their policies and decisions on jurisdiction. If they decide to find a code of conduct loophole now, then that means they were wrong on Parra and others. That is why we have the new rule making, and so I think they are going to maintain this policy until the new rule takes effect. Meanwhile, for FEI registered riders, USEF will reciprocate any suspension handed down by the FEI.
I do think USEF should have clued in USEA. The decision to put him on teams when an investigation by the FEI was recommended (and presumed to be in progress) is a WTF moment even if not for the Olympics .
THIS! Abuse, mistreatment, un ethical care comes in ALL shapes and forms and honestly has 0 correlation to level in which you compete.
Iād argue both groups can claim to love their horses and yet both groups can intentionally or unintentionally participate in abuse. Two things can be true at once.
Abuse can and does look like:
Fluffy being punched in the face for a run out.
Fluffy who spends 6 weeks at a show with only hand walking and no turn out.
Fluffy who is getting free choice alfalfa and close to foundering
Fluffy who doesnāt get hard feed leading up to a show
Fluffy who really isnāt sound in any leg, but gets constant injections and āmaintenanceā
Fluffy who tolerates a bouncy rider with bad hands
Fluffy who is left in side reins in a round pen
Fluffy who is forced to adjust to barefoot without boots
Fluffy who does not have free choice forage
Fluffy who is denied friends or social interactions
Fluffy who is so backed off a fence but is kicked around anyways
Fluffy who is iced up until the minute they jog
Fluffy who lives on previcox just to be pasture sound
Obviously there is different size and scope of these grienvances, but it is unfair to say unsightly things ONLy occur at the top of the stop. These things happen in nearly eery single boarding barn in the US if you (general) open your eyes.
List goes on and on.
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