I would agree with you and IMO this nice argument used by faithful followers of these Organisations, “ go and get involved, tell them what should change” is a joke. It doesn’t work 
. This organizations are not really interested in wishes of their members because there are enough and most of them will always pay their fees… Getting involved simply serves their cause and otherwise is a waste of time…. I remember that a couple of years ago Lorilu went to the convention with the clear purpose to prevent USDF to raise membership fees. Well in the end she voted happily for a raise of fees…… I know she hates me saying this and will jump on me again, But IMO this needs to be repeated every time she tells people to get involved because she was used without even knowing it…… it doesn’t work to get involved and make proposals!!!
In the weeds™️ correction addendum:
Piping up to say, I was wrong about the five percent rule. While the IRS mandated minimum for family foundations to give away, usually in the form of outgoing grants, is five percent, public so-called educational not-for-profits, USDF and USEF for instance, have no minimum grant requirement. (!!!) The most onerous rule is that 10 percent of their operating expenses be contributed by “the public.” As long as our horse-centric organizations continue to have the membership and fee structure they do, this seems an easy threshold.
Many, many groups (I’m thinking of a local child cancer granting group and many helping with uninsured health care bills) operate above and beyond the family foundation minimum, and 990s are a great way to see how generous or, umm, self-preserving they are. I am willing to do the digging if anyone wants to suggest a non-profit from the horse world that might be fulfilling its promises while maintaining a nest egg, as opposed to a hoard. Also, if someone has a working definition of what constitutes preservation rather than hoarding, I’m all ears.
AGAIN, I WILL EXPLAIN. I voted for the increase due to information I was given at the convention. The discussions and conversations convinced MOST delegates that it was important. BEFORE the Convention, before we had all the budget etc info and before we had many conversations between ourselves, it would not have passed.
That is the value of GOING to the COnvention, or GETTING involved, or ASKING why something has not happened, or GIVING SUGGESTIONS to your RD.
So very tired of explaining this to you, Manni. If you think I feel somehow ashamed that I changed my mind, or that I care if somehow folks will think “less” of me because I changed my mind in light of new information,
Think again.
Yes, but those are groups that were created for the purpose of making grants.
I am on the BoD of a 501.c.3 Dressage and Combined Association. OUR mandate is to provide education, and to promote the sports of Dressage and Combined Training, which we do by hosting clinics and competitions (both recognized and unrecognized). We do “give a way” some money (scholarships, and subsidizing entry fees for riders competing on “our” teams), but is is a small percentage of our budget, as intended.
There are LOTS of non profits that are not in the business of “giving away” money- local public radio and public television stations, for instance.
I understand. Educational institutions do not escape my critique. A number of private colleges are famous for sitting on obscenely huge endowments rather than helping more financially challenged students attend their schools, or, for that matter, making life better for the students they have.
If your groups educate those who need financial help at the highest level you can possibly manage, (including publicizing that the support is available) that’s wonderful and just right. I would love to feel as confident that USEF’s $35 million dollar nest egg provides proportionally beneficial education.
I’m a longtime HS teacher, and my default is: give broke students who want to learn all the money – okay, maybe not all the money. But you get my drift.
And as a one time public radio announcer, I’d argue much of what public radio produces is on par with education and better than money. (I’m old enough to remember when public TV was called “educational television.”)
I don’t think you need to be ashamed and really it’s not about you…. believe it or not I had the same experience. Many years ago I did believe that if you go to conventions and get involved you can change something…. And I was a member of a huge organisation comparable to USDF… so I went to the yearly convention and it was a great atmosphere. I guess everybody present felt superior to the ones not present and there were big discussions and then all the votes were pretty simple…
I felt good when I left the convention to drive home and then on the long way home I started to think what was changed that year… And believe me this organisation has some huge issues (and still has) And the more I thought about it the more I got frustrated. Somehow NOTHING changed. everything was exactly as before…. All these discussions somehow ended nowhere
I went there for several years because I was still motivated and wanted to go there the next time better prepared. I was never able to change anything. I learned a lot about how these organisations work.
I think you can simply adapt to that organisation and turn into a supporter and than you can enjoy things the organisation provides or you get more and more disappointed and might finally turn your back to the organisation…. But you will not be able to change anything……
No. That’s not at all what we are saying. We are saying that since so many people who qualify to go, don’t end up going, that you really aren’t sure if you are seeing the best in the country. No one is expecting Finals to be comprised of “the elites.”
I was fortunate enough to qualify for Finals last year for the first time. I loved it! I know it’s not the best in the country but I still qualified to go and that means something to me. I loved it despite the horrible weather, despite the 11-hr drive, despite the huge cost, despite having a GP rider in my 1st level test, despite having to get into the Altech Arena at 6am to hand walk my horse round and round and round (and round and round)… It was special. It is the highest level of competition that I’ll ever achieve, which is why I don’t care when I hear trainers call it the “amateur Olympics”. I don’t know about you but when I was a kid going to the Olympics was what I dreamed of, but it’s not going to happen. Going to finals is achievable even if winning is not likely. It’s still a big deal that you overcame whatever obstacles (qualifying, distance, costs, lame horse) to be there; not everyone can.
(I’m not saying it’s perfect and can’t be made better, just that it’s not all bad.)
I don’t think it’s bad. And congratulations for achieving it. It IS a lofty goal. I don’t want to take anything away from anyone who goes to compete at the Finals. I am simply pointing out that not everyone who qualifies or is invited can afford to go. That’s all.
So you qualify for Finals, spend the money and time to go, do well, then have a bunch of rail birds saying you didn’t really do well because you’re just competing against people who made the drive and not the “best of the best.”
Then someone wonders what is killing recognized shows.
Or folks dragging a perfectly qualified rider through the mud because they happen not to like what she wore or how her horse was clipped that day. Woohoo, aren’t we just a fun bunch? 
Right. Asking for an answer that’s right in front of us.
I knew someone who sat on a committee and people would call them at home and harass them for not picking a facility they preferred.
THIS. It’s a huge accomplishment to make it to Finals and it’s demeaning to pretend it’s not.
I would think that people who really think they have a shot of being National Champion move heaven and earth to get there. I know I would. Would I go if my scores were such that, looking at previous years, I knew I didn’t have a snowball’s chance of a ribbon? Probably not.
We need to be more supportive of each other. We are all chasing the dream in one form or another. I personally am thrilled for my friends who do well, at any level.
Wow. Just have to say that is really freakin rude of them.
This.
The auto-renew feature for USDF and USEF has saved me a few times. I’d say there must be an integrations solution for the coggins paperwork - APIs are ubiquitous - rather than uploading a coggins for each entry. But that would take time and money to implement.
Thanks for posting this article! It appeared on my FB feed this morning. My last recognized show was a cluster regarding the entries. I thought everything was taken care of using EQ Entries but, no, there was more paperwork I needed to submit. I didn’t see that requirement anywhere, so it was confusing. After paying all the fees and for stabling, my entry totaled over $500 to ride two tests. Those days are over for me.
Ditto. I usually only rode 1 or 2 tests a year. Typically, decided upon at the last minute when I felt the horse was ready to show. I like training rather than showing, so typically this was done to put show miles and scores on a horse I expected to sell.
I agree with the premise of the article…that you need way too many memberships.
To compete at a local recognized show where you want to be eligible for recognition, hence the entry to a recognized show, you need numerous memberships. I calculated that I need at least FIVE memberships.
Snip–
Both my horse and I are registered with the United States Equestrian Federation, not to be confused with the fact that both my horse and I also need to be registered with the United States Dressage Federation. Lastly, I needed membership in my local organization, and for some people, there may be several local organizations to join, not to mention breed organizations, so I was being exceptionally generous by limiting it to just FIVE.
Snip–
Now I am fortunate enough to have two daughters who love dressage as much as I do, but I am now responsible for 15 separate memberships. SERIOUSLY. My eldest daughter is trying for the North American Youth Championships so I get the joy of two more memberships for both her and her horse to the FEI, and we are up to 17. Oh, and don’t get me started on the FEI passport.
