Skydy, Mary was directly involved in the actions and inactions that lead to a $5000 fine being levied by USEF against USHJA. I’m afraid I have to disagree with your representation of her character.
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I thought they were partner organizations. How would USEF have the authority to fine USHJA? And what was the fine for?
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Quite a few things have happened during her tenure that give me pause, even if she’s otherwise a delightful person.
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There’s a thread on this. USHJA refused to award a trophy at Sallie Wheeler to the winner until they were forced to.
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Ah. I was wondering if there would be repercussions from that debacle.
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I hope people understand that the President of the USHJA is not a dictator.
From the Town Hall after the USHJA International Derby finals in Kentucky;
“There was no jog at Derby Finals (although I believe it was in the prize list) then two horses were eliminated after their rounds for being unsound,” wrote in Illinois amateur Leslie Coolidge. “Wouldn’t it have been better to jog first?”
Pre-derby jogs were removed this year from regular qualifying classes—instead competitors must trot a circle on a loose rein after their trip—but the prize list for this year’s derby championship did specify there would be a jog the day before they jumped. And during the competition last week, two horses were awarded no score after their classic rounds.
“You fight a lot of fights in your life, and you don’t win every fight that you fight,” Knowlton said. When this was brought to USHJA executive committee, I would have voted to keep the jog—but I only vote in case of a tie. Only one other member voted against changing the jog to the circle.
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Completely off topic, but I don’t think anyone gets blues from ‘WEF is over’. By the end everyone is exhausted and looking forward to Upperville, Devon, Etc.
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I almost didn’t post this because it’s horribly negative, but some of Britt’s responses and visions really rub me the wrong way. If I was involved in an org and I read these responses from my future president… yeesh. I’d be concerned. Mary’s responses are so professional and classy by comparison…
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I joined a Task Force- I feel like I actually have a “say”/vote now
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Right. And anyone who ever had the “pleasure” of interacting with her during her tenure at Princeton would agree with you. Power trip, much?
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I had a negative interaction w Britt for no real reason other than he was prickly to me at Princeton. It was so dumb. I just read the course charts and said “oh we handy today.” Talking to myself. And he said something and I was just like oh we normally handy the second day. So he asked me in a sarcastic tone “have you never been to a show that changes things” or something to that effect. I was just a tired amateur who got up early to school 3 horses before 8 am, and I was just like oh. So I think he’s a bit of a d!ck. Also can’t be that smart because the hunters went in the big international ring (wchr week), and every other course designer knows that to save time when you have Hunter rounds in a HUGE ring you put a line to an in out (say an 8 to a 2) to avoid another extra turn in the round which takes up time. Not surprisingly there was a huge debacle w Junior hunters showing at 7 pm and then being halted due to a tornado coming. They had to finish the class the next morning, delaying everything. Then had to change the course since it couldn’t be changed the day before as the juniors had to compete over the same course as prior competitors. Total nightmare. Everyone mad. Somehow they kept their wchr status but that’s a whole other debate.
I looked into joining a committee and the only one I really think I’m qualified for is the finance committee. The oath you have to tAke to never disagree w the organization turned me off.
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But meanwhile she had to clear everything w Andrew which didn’t go so well WCHR week in July.
I think I was there! Lol.
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Totally forgot about that! It can be an… interesting show for a few different reasons.
I’m there right now and it looks like they’re trying to implement a few things to improve the overall experience, but I’m still skeptical given that I’ve recently offered a ~$10k in-kind contribution that would go directly to trainers and they asked for more cash out of pocket, so I don’t know how much they really care about actually making things better for exhibitors and trainers.
When we had the few very rainy shows last year during Mary’s tenure as “head of security” or whatever they called her, I was physically unable to park my car (small, low RWD sports car) in the red clay mudpit of a parking lot. I got stuck multiple times and had to be pushed out, so one day, wanting to avoid that and possibly fishtailing into someone else’s car, we asked permission for me to safely park in the far, far back corner of the gravel ship-in parking lot and were told no. Not wanting to risk damaging my car, I did it anyway and got one of the nasty violation stickers on the window where they literally threaten to ban you from showing there again if you get two more…
Anyway, that’s largely my own personal rant, but Mary was very heavily involved in the day-to-day of the shows there and I’d be hardpressed to say that she made anyone’s lives easier or more pleasant. 
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Andrew is all about the Benjamins. He has the last say on everything. When trainers met at WCHR and agreed they prefer to drop a class than show at 6pm Sunday then drive home, Mary said ok I’ll ask Andrew. He said no. That’s a nice time of day to ride.
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At least this season they’ve finally moved the Grand Prix to Saturday afternoon versus Sunday so maybe people will actually stay to watch it.
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I don’t think this story puts Mary in the bad light you think it should. You were told no. Having been in Mary’s position (much lower stakes of course) and having competitors be told no only for them to do it anyway, it’s frustrating. Every competitor thinks they should be an exception to the rules. It’s why many venues and events start to shut their doors. Just my two cents being involved in my org’s show organization; a thankless job.
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I fully acknowledged that it was largely a personal story that was frustrating (and, of course, not necessarily Mary’s fault that the venue doesn’t have safe exhibitor parking, even though I think that’s a reasonable expectation and a valid complaint). But anyone who interacted with her in her role at the show would likely agree with me that’s it not “what you say, but how you say it” and that’s the issue. This is a multi-million-dollar facility hosting more than a dozen shows per year and charging $350-400 per week for stalls, not a grassroots organization staffed by sweet volunteers.
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I think the parking is likely not changed because the town is so strict about all its rules. They probably can’t have that much space be impermeable due to water management concerns.
I agree it stinks. I have a big truck at shows, but when the clay is wet it is slippery. I’ve slipped and almost fallen on foot.
I’ve had positive interactions with Mary at the show…
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I agree that this is likely a problem. There are ways around this issue. But they would cost money.
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