Skip to Main Content

United States Dressage Federation

Home » About » About USDF » Executive Board » Summary of Actions at Spring Executive Board Meeting

Summary of Actions at USDF Spring Executive Board Meeting

April 21-24, 2005
Las Vegas, Nevada

The following people attended the meeting: all 13 Executive Board members, Executive Director Stephan Hienzsch, and several USDF office staff members.

Instructor/Trainer

Fern Feldman made a motion, seconded by Janine Malone, to appoint a Working Group to draft a program for training young horses to be added to the Instructor Certification Program. Lendon Gray and Scott Hassler will be asked to recommend names for the Working Group, to be approved by the Executive Board. Motion carried.

George Williams made a motion, seconded by Terry Wilson, to (1) hold a trainers conference in 2006, which will include both national and FEI levels, and (2) explore the concept of a Global Forum for 2007. The Planning Committee recommendations concerning the Global Forum will be forwarded to the Instructor Trainer Council for consideration. Motion carried.

Fern Feldman made a motion, seconded by Sue Hughes, to forward the Planning Committee recommendations concerning the structure of the 2006 trainers conference to the Instructor Trainer Council, including whether it should be a two- or three-day conference. Motion carried.

Fern Feldman made a motion, seconded by Gaye McCabe, to provide a USDF Marketplace listing for Certified Instructors as a benefit of their annual fee. Motion carried.

Awards/Scholarships

Gaye McCabe made a motion, seconded by Sue Hughes, to approve the Breeder of the Year Award proposal from the Sport Horse Committee, which was approved by the Awards Council, to begin with the 2006 competition year. Motion carried. If sponsorship is obtained for this program, prize money could be given for the award.

Fern Feldman made a motion, seconded by Gaye McCabe, to allow the Youth Executive Board to increase its annual convention scholarship from $750 to $1000 in 2005 based on funds generated for this year's scholarship. Recipients will pay only one-half of the convention registration fee. The scholarship does not include the cost of the Symposium. Future $1000 scholarships will be awarded only if sufficient funds are raised by the Youth Executive Board. Barbara Funk made an amendment to the motion, which was accepted, so that scholarship awards must be based on the prior year's silent auction proceeds and other fundraising efforts. Motion carried.

Kat Kyle made a motion, seconded by Terry Wilson, to approve in principle the concept of a young rider athletic and academic achievement award. A more fully-developed proposal should be submitted to the Executive Board for approval. Motion carried.

Linda Landers made a motion, seconded by Sue Hughes, to approve a Youth Volunteer of the Year Award beginning in 2006, based on the proposal submitted by the Youth Executive Board, with several modifications. Motion carried.

Linda Landers made a motion, seconded by Alison Head, to allow the FEI Pony Team and Individual Tests to be equivalent to Second Level for Horse of the Year, Junior/Young Rider, and All Breeds award calculations, effective October 1, 2005. Motion carried.

Gaye McCabe made a motion, seconded by Terry Wilson, to approve the Intercollegiate/Interscholastic Membership Organization (IMO) scholarship proposal from the Intercollegiate/Interscholastic Committee. Motion carried.

Alison Head made a motion, seconded by Kat Kyle, to support the concept of an award to be given as a scholarship based on scores earned in CDIs that are recorded for Horse of the Year awards. Motion carried.

Sandi Bishop made a motion, seconded by Janine Malone, to change the permanent deadline for receipt of nominations for Hall of Fame members and Lifetime Achievement Awards to May 1. Motion carried.

Councils/Committees

Sue Hughes made a motion, seconded by George Williams, to develop a multi-step plan to (1) review the mission and goals of each council/committee, (2) investigate opportunities to combine councils/committees, (3) place several related councils/committees in a division (a sample group), (4) appoint a division leader who will be invited to attend Executive Board meetings as a non-voting member, and (5) re-evaluate the plan to determine the next steps. Motion carried.

Barbara Funk made a motion, seconded by Linda Landers, to approve the six speakers for University sessions at the 2005 annual convention, recommended by the University Subcommittee of the Adult Education Council. Motion carried.

Kat Kyle made a motion, seconded by Sue Hughes, to discontinue the mentoring program portion of the Advanced Young Rider Graduate Program. Motion carried. This was done because the mentoring program has been ineffective.

George Williams made a motion, seconded by Alison Head, to recommend to the Test Writing Committee to combine movements one and two, instead of movements seven and eight, in USDF Introductory Test B. Motion carried.

Fern Feldman made a motion, seconded by Kat Kyle, that Gaye McCabe and Sue Hughes represent the Executive Board on the Bylaws Committee for 2005. Motion carried.

Regional Championships

George Williams made a motion, seconded by Terry Wilson, to approve several rule change recommendations from the Regional Championships Committee for the 2006 Championships. Motion carried.

Linda Landers made a motion, seconded by Gaye McCabe, to recommend to the Regional Championships Committee to consider suspending the National Championships fee. Motion carried. If the fee is suspended, it could be reinstated if a national championship is planned.

Fern Feldman made a motion, seconded by Kat Kyle, to recommend to the Regional Championships Committee to consider approving the concept of allowing non-U.S. citizens to compete in the Regional Championships. Motion carried. If USDF recommends that this occurs, the final decision will be made by the US Equestrian Board of Directors, which would pass judgement on a US Equestrian rule change proposal.

Kat Kyle made a motion, seconded by Terry Wilson, to appoint a subcommittee of the Planning Committee in 2006 to provide advice to the Regional Directors on the host site applications for the 2007 Regional Championships. The subcommittee should comment on items such as the management team, the host site, and the dates. Motion carried.

Administration

Janine Malone made a motion, seconded by George Williams, to support the concept of producing a USDF rule book, which may become part of the annual USDF Directory. Motion carried. This would consolidate all USDF competition policies and procedures into one publication.

Sandi Bishop made a motion, seconded by Kat Kyle, to appoint the following people to the Rule Book Working Group: Sally Davenport, Robert Higgins, Veronica Holt, Theresa Hunt, Janine Malone, and Cindy Vimont. Motion carried.

Alison Head made a motion, seconded by Kat Kyle, to approve many Policy and Procedures changes. Motion carried.

Miscellaneous

Linda Landers made a motion, seconded by Gaye McCabe, to authorize Regine Scheck-Seberger to make site visits to Miami and Orlando, which are the top two choices for the 2007 annual convention. Motion carried.

Kat Kyle made a motion, seconded by Sue Hughes, to hold the 2006 Spring Executive Board Meeting on April 28-30 in Lexington, KY. Motion carried.

Sandi Bishop made a motion, seconded by Gaye McCabe, to authorize Stephan Hienzsch to proceed with a bank construction loan for the USDF National Education Center. He should seek advice from knowledgeable people before selecting the contractor. Motion carried.

Barbara Funk made a motion, seconded by Fern Feldman, to designate the Management Committee of the Executive Board to administer the National Education Endowment Fund. Motion carried.

George Williams made a motion, seconded by Gaye McCabe, to investigate changing the status of the USDF Connection from non-profit Standard A to periodicals class mailing status. The potential increase in advertising revenue should be weighed against the postal rate increase. Motion carried.

Samuel J. Barish
USDF President

Janine W. Malone
USDF Secretary