I couldn’t figure out which discipline to put this in, but I’m sure a few people in all of them have this question.
I’m planning for next year, and am going to start showing at recognized shows and am confused by all of the things I need/should have memberships for. USEF, USDF, USHJA, etc…
Could anyone help clear this up?
Should I be joining my state association/society or the national one, or both? What does my horse need registered in?
To show what kind of recognized shows? ie what discipline(s)?
Eventing and dressage, but it would be nice to know what’s needed for hunter/jumper too
Usef registration for yourself and horse
usdf registration for yourself and horse
usea membership for yourself and horse
Ushja membership for you and horse
Is it required to have the state membership too? For example, would I need Oregon Dressage Society membership as well as USDF membership? From what I can tell ODS members also get USDF membership, but at a different level than normal USDF membership.
Yes you generally need registration with the hosting organization as well, but as with anything you can always elect to pay non-member fees. Best do the math to figure out how many of what shows you are going to do and whether it would be more socially prudent to get registrations or pay added fees at individual shows.
This depends a lot. Around here, you do not need to be a member of a GMO, and won’t have to pay any non-member fees at most shows. I understand the opposite to be true in California.
[This is re: dressage. I can’t speak to H/J or eventing.]
Here is the checklist for dressage: https://www.usdf.org/competitions/competitors/membership-checklist.asp
Generally speaking, you can show at a dressage show by paying USEF and USDF non-member fees as long as your horse has a Horse ID number from USEF and USDF. However, if you’re going to do 2+ shows, or want to qualify for awards/Regionals, you should just get memberships. If you join your local GMO, you get a Group Membership to USDF included. This is good enough to attend shows and earn rider awards, but not to qualify for Regionals/Finals. To do that, you need to join USDF directly as a Participating Member. With that explanation, I think the chart linked above should make sense 
For recognized events, you don’t need USEF membership until you’re planning to show Preliminary (which you have to qualify for with satisfactory results at Training and/or Modified level). I believe you can enter Starter level at recognized events without being a USEA member, but anything higher than that DOES require USEA membership.
Re: horse registration for USEA, similar rules to the rider. Horses at Prelim & above need Full registration status, but those competing Beginner Novice through Modified can have Limited registration status. I’m not positive whether Limited registration status has any effect on qualifying for awards/championships and the like.
For dressage, the rules are different and as mentioned above, can be more driven by the organization hosting the show. As a general rule, you’ll need USEF membership for USDF rated shows, but if you’re not planning on doing many dressage shows, you may be better off paying the non-member fee.
The USDF has a nice table on their website that outlines the differences between Group Membership (what you’d have as a member of the Oregon Dressage Society or any other GMO) and Participating Membership (what you have if you join directly via USDF). Again, if you’re only planning to do a handful of shows, Group Membership may be sufficient, but if you’re planning to campaign/want to qualify for awards/championships, you’ll likely need the Participating Membership. (And yes, you can have both!) Again, if a GMO hosts recognized shows, they may require you be member of their organization or pay a non-member fee.
Do you have a trainer? If so, it probably makes sense to talk with your trainer about showing plans for the next year. Your choices on membership will be governed by your goals.
Local dressage and eventing clubs often will offer year end and series awards. My eventing club runs two recognized dressage shows and horse trials, as well as schooling shows. If offers lots of year end awards. Plus there is a GMO membership to USDF.
Showing recognized is not cheap. I just finished campaigning a mare for a USDF All Breed award. It required participating USDF membership for myself and my rider. My trainer could get by on the GMO membership. It also required USEF membership. My estimate is that the membership fees plus the competition entries to get an All Breed award ran about $2500. Eventing above starter requires membership and a horse registration. I don’t go after USEA awards, but stick to the local eventing club awards, so my horses show unrecognized and that saves considerable money. I can make no comment on the H/J requirements aside from the cost of showing at the A level is pretty expensive. My younger sister did it for a while and she could go through $XXXX in fees in a single weekend.
The good news is that you can get the memberships as you need them. Yes they run on a particular time period, but why pay for something you don’t need until you do? That’s why having a plan on what the show season looks like is important.
In any case, have fun showing!
For dressage, if you join the Oregon Dressage Society, you will have a group membership (GMO) with USDF. The GMO is a full USDF membership, however you are not eligible for year end awards.
One thing to note - if your horse is owned by someone else, the owner will also need participating usef/usdf memberships if you want to qualify for regionals or year ends.
For Eventing, you (and your horse) will need to be registered with USEA even at the Beginner Novice level (but NOT for “Tests”). No need for USEF registration until you get to Prelim. Owner does NOT need any registration (until Prelim)
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