It has been a month since I ran for and lost the election for the USHJA Amateur designated board seat to the current head of USHJA Competition Management. This seat purportedly was created to give the Amateurs the voice in governance they have been asking for and the selection of a non- competing show manager to represent our voice sparked disappointment and consternation among the amateur community.
In response, I wrote an article for “The Chronicle of the Horse"
in which I promised to write an “Amateur Bill of Rights” to energize Amateurs to find our voice and use
our economic power to demand the changes and representation we deserve to have in our sport. There have been many online discussions among the amateur community that highlight the pressing need for comprehensive rule changes to redefine the
definition of an Amateur. However, before this can take place, we need to have acknowledgement from the USHJA and USEF that they have heard us. To date, this has not happened. There was a push for the USHJA to place a non-voting, actively competing Amateur on the board until new elections in 2022. I had hoped that the Amateur card holding members of the two boards would have reached out by now to address some of the pressing Amateur issues. I have heard that both the USHJA and USEF believe we Amateurs will walk away from this and do nothing to hold them accountable. We are the economic engine that fuels this sport, we have the voice and the time has come to use it.
Amateur Bill of Rights
- Respect for the Largest USHJA Contingent (47%)
Amateurs comprise the largest contingent of USHJA and USEF membership. We should be treated with respect and have a strong voice and representation where decisions are made.
- Equitable Amateur Representation on Board and Significant Committees at USHJA & USEF
As the largest USHJA and USEF membership contingent, amateurs should be adequately represented across organizational leadership and committees through the selection of engaged and actively competing amateur members who represent the diverse socio-economic exhibitor amateur population.
- Transparency, Accessibility & Opportunity for Feedback
USHJA and USEF must increase transparency in disseminating information on potential actions that affect amateur competition. There must be creation of user-friendly mechanisms for ama- teurs to submit actionable feedback and increase amateur accessibility to and participation in the USHJA and USEF by means such as virtual USHJA and USEF Town Hall meetings. Lists of board and committee membership should have a designation to identify them as amateurs, professionals, licensed officials, competition management, or board members.
- Review & Rewrite Amateur Rules
The Amateur rules and Amateur definition need to be re-written using input from diverse stakeholders in amateur sport. The rules should be revised to reflect the current and evolving needs of the USHJA and USEF membership and discipline-specific amateur constituency, to improve readability, comprehension, and enforceability.
- Improving Cost Barriers to Competing
Many amateurs believe competing at rated shows is increasingly cost prohibitive due in part to layers of fees and little or no opportunities to win back substantial prize money to offset competition expenses. Prize money is consistently tied to fence height, which allocates the most prize money to the least populated divisions of a competition. The USEF and USHJA should review prize money requirements to distribute prize money more equitably, including increasing prize money to amateur-restricted classes to better allocate prize money to the divisions that are funding the competitions.
- Eliminate the Mileage Rule to Increase Options
Amateurs overwhelmingly believe in increasing choice for competition venues, the best competitions should be able to succeed without protectionism. There needs to be more opportunities for B and C competitions to run without regard to the mileage for A competitions, which would allow more opportunities for members to compete at different price points and improve cost barriers to competing.
- Promote Professional Best Business Practices
Create programs and guidelines to improve ethical and professional conduct in the business practices of USEF professional members to better support and protect amateur competitors, such as developing rules for professional responsibility similar to other fiduciary agency-based industries, that must be agreed to during the membership renewal process.
- Compliance Due Diligence
Deploy compliance officers from USHJA and USEF that are independent from competition managers to randomly inspect competitions to check for unsafe conditions, rule enforcement and other violations to include strict inspection standards for competition grounds including footing, warm up rings, lungeing areas, and stabling. This would incentivize shows to comply with rules and guidelines, while lessening the burden on competitors to police compliance. Relaunch the USEF email program to solicit competition evaluations to increase participation among
exhibitors.
