Making a major life change or spending a big chunk of money is never an easy decision.

And it’s even harder to convince 20 or 30 people to agree to do either one, especially when the organization they’re charged with protecting is running in the red.

But it was just such a tough decision that the U.S. Eventing Association’s Board of Governors made during their convention in Charlotte, N.C., on Dec. 1-4.

Their conclusion to proceed on a proposal to take over administration of the Morven Park Equestrian Institute in Leesburg, Va., is one they could regret mightily within just a year. But it could also be one that, in 10 or 20 years, their successors will hail as courageous and far-sighted.

“This is an opportunity we must look at in every possible way, and I promise that not a single rock will be left unturned. But this is simply a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we cannot ignore,” Kyra Stuart, the USEA’s president for the last year, told the governors in her annual report at the Friday board meeting.

And after the governors had voted unanimously on Sunday to enter negotiations with the West-moreland Davis Foundation’s directors, who own and operate Morven Park, Stuart exclaimed triumphantly, “Now we can get to work!”

The Westmoreland Davis Foundation’s leaders approached Jo Whitehouse, the USEA’s chief executive officer, about six months ago about taking over the extensive equestrian facilities because they could no longer afford to administer them. The foundation is funded almost exclusively by an endowment left by Westmoreland Davis, a Virginia governor in the early 20th century, and dwindling dividends have left them cash-strapped.

The USEA and Morven Park have a long history together. Many of the same people who founded the USEA–Alexander Mackay-Smith, Ed Harris, Stewart Treviranus, Phillip Hoffmann and Capt. Jack Fritz–founded the equestrian center in 1967 to train instructors, and many remain influential instructors and trainers today. But the instructors’ school declined, only to have a brief revival under Tad Coffin and Raul de Leon in the mid-’80s, before closing in 1991.

In the meantime, Morven Park became an important competition site, and today it hosts several horse trials per year from novice to advanced and, since 1999, the Morven Park CCI*. Various organizers also hold dressage and hunter/jumper shows there; the beautiful race course hosts two meets a year; and local Pony Clubs use the site for rallies and lessons. Plus, the Paul Wimert cross-country schooling course opened 10 years ago. Several community groups also stage events there each year.

Stuart and Whitehouse observed that Morven Park would be an ideal home for the Instructors’ Certification Program and that they could host clinics for course designers, at which they could build actual fences for the courses.

“There are a lot of things that could be done for the USEA there,” said Whitehouse, who’s already devoted hundreds of hours to the project.

Six Reasons
The governors considered a sheet listing “Six reasons to pursue the Morven Park project,” prepared by task force leader Andrew Temkin and Whitehouse.

The reasons were: 1) To create a true national presence for the sport of eventing and the USEA; 2) A fully booked Morven Park would be profitable and would provide a third revenue stream, critical to the USEA’s survival; 3) Preserve one of the most desirable horse venues for eventing and other equestrian activities; 4) Create a venue to more fully develop the schedule of equestrian clinics, schools, camps and other educational opportunities; 5) Develop non-equestrian/ community uses that support the park goals and increase revenue/ underwrite costs; 6) Provide a model that could be replicated in other communities trying to preserve equestrian venues.

The entire property is 1,050 acres on the edge of Leesburg, the capital of Loudoun County, the nation’s fastest-growing county in 2003. The equestrian facilities comprise about 350 acres.

To lease the facilities, the USEA board would found a new non-profit entity, whose founding documents would direct it pass on its net income to the USEA. The USEA board would maintain control by populating the majority of its Board of Directors.

The tentative agreement also requires a one-year trial period, during which the USEA’s leaders would fully investigate the costs and benefits (actual and potential) of this arrangement. At any time during the trial period, the USEA’s leaders could elect to finalize or cancel the lease, expected to initially cover five years.

Several governors expressed doubt that such a facility could be run profitably, but Whitehouse and others countered that Morven Park’s income potential is largely untapped. And Whitehouse said that an online survey about Morven Park she sent to members in areas I, II, III and VIII showed their commitment.

“Within five minutes of sending out that survey, I had a pledge of $5,000, and in 48 hours I’d collected $109,000,” she said.

Kentucky Moves To Save The Three-Day
The contentious theme of the 2004 annual meeting was saving the classic-format three-day event, and the subject remained on many people’s minds in Charlotte. In fact, one reason for some governors’ enthusiasm about Morven Park is that it hosts a long-format CCI*.

This year Janie Atkinson, director of the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** and one of the long format’s most outspoken proponents, had an electrifying announcement for a packed room of about 50 people at the forum on saving the classic format. The directors of Equestrian Events Inc., which organizes Kentucky, have agreed to her plan to offer a long-format World Event Horse Championship at Rolex Kentucky in odd-numbered years, providing they can raise the necessary prize money.

Atkinson won’t have the Federation Equestre Internationale sanction the cham-pionship in order to save the costs involved and because FEI policy is that all eventing championships through 2009 will be short format. Atkinson will only run it in odd-numbered years because Rolex Kentucky is the U.S. selection trial for the World Champion-ships and Olympics in even-numbered years and needs to be run in the short format then.

“I’m hoping to make this like the Tour de France or the Boston Marathon. It’s different, and it’s harder to win, but if you win it, you’re the best,” said Atkinson.

Atkinson also plans to emphasize the breeding of the horses who compete in the championship. Atkinson plans to run an open long-format CCI along with the championships, to which horses will have to be nominated by their national federations.

A key component will be the prize money, to induce U.S. and foreign riders to contest the long format. The pot would be between $319,500 and $534,500, depending on fund-raising success. The wining owner would receive $75,000, the winning rider $50,000, and the winning breeder $25,000. If they can raise the larger total, the second- and third-placed riders and breeders would get checks between $50,000 and $10,000.

Rolex underwrites $150,000 of the current $200,000 purse, and FEI underwrites the rest. That still falls at least $119,000 short.

Since funding seems the key to making the Kentucky plan work, members of the Classic Three-Day Event Task Force voted unanimously to give their 2006 budget of $2,000 to the prize fund. It’s not much, noted Chairman Kevin Baumgartner, but it’s symbolic of the members’ commitment.

Budget Busting
The underlying theme to both the Morven Park and Kentucky initiatives was funding, a worrisome topic for the USEA’s governors, for whom 2005 was the third consecutive year with a budget deficit, this time of $194,000. Consequently, said Treasurer Gary Stegman, they decided it was time to act in a more fiscally conservative manner. And they raised membership dues by $5 and starter fees by $1 for 2006, the first increase in seven years.

They also made tough decisions to cut some programs. One was the course advisors’ program (at a cost of $18,000), under which for the last 13 years Capt. Mark Phillips and (more recently) Derek di Grazia have inspected the country’s advanced and intermediate courses. But, as Stegman said, “Boy, was that a bad decision, and we heard from the membership how important it was to them.”

The topic came up early in the Thursday afternoon open forum, when Whitehouse confirmed the plan in answer to a question about it.

Karen O’Connor observed that Phillips and di Grazia look at more than just the advanced or intermediate fences when they inspect an event. “It’s money we have to spend. If it saves even one rider or one horse, it’s worth it,” she said.

That caused Stegman, organizer of Poplar Place (Ga.), to ask of the riders, “Will you come if I pay for Mark to come? If I can get 10 more people to come because Mark’s inspected it, it’s worth it to me to pay for it.”

Stegman’s question then prompted Bob Wilmarth, organizer of Richland Park (Mich.), to offer a $2,000 donation toward re-instating the program. Within minutes, other organizers had kicked in $13,000 more (including $5,000 from the Rolex Kentucky organizers and $1,000 from Stegman), and advanced riders had kicked in $3,000 to reach the total.

Stegman noted it was an impressive level of commitment, but he warned that begging for specific programs is no way to balance a budget. Still, the directors have embarked on an ambitious fund-raising program, the first national program not under the auspices of the USEA Endowment Trust. The goal of the program, being directed by consultant Sandra Renner, is to raise $1.5 to $2 million over the next three years. The 2006 goal is $175,000, an amount needed to avoid another year of deficit spending.

To kick off the project, an anonymous donor offered a $10,000 matching grant if it could be raised during the convention. Just before the noon deadline, the total reached $10,675.

Amateur Agreement
Malcolm Hook, the USEA’s vice president for competitions, breathed a sigh of relief when discussion of the proposed amateur rule change for 2007 drew no resistance. It was, he noted, a far cry from the heated debate at the 2003 convention in Boston.

Of course, Hook made a clever tactical move by postponing the rule’s discussion until the end of the forum, when more than half the attendees had departed.

The proposal that will be sent to the U.S. Equestrian Federation convention in January uses the USEF amateur definition with one change–it allows USEA members to earn $2,500 a year from riding or teaching. This caveat allows camp counselors or riders who teach a Pony Club clinic or two a year to compete as amateurs.

A companion rule allows organizers to offer amateur divisions at all levels.

The first rule on the agenda caused far more, at times, impassioned debate. It was a proposal by the Eventing Committee (primarily by Capt. Mark Phillips) to raise the maximum preliminary show jumping height from 3’7″ to 3’9″, in line with the FEI’s CCI rules. But the packed room’s consensus was to scuttle the proposal.

Richard Jeffery, the grand prix course designer who also designs the show jumping at the Rolex Kentucky CCI, worried about the allowable height range (from 3’3″ to 3’9″).

“A 3’9″ square oxer is a hell of a jump, and if you’re not careful you’re going to scare off half the horses,” he said.

A proposal by Philip Sawin, organizer of Pine Hill (Texas), to have mandatory directional flags any time the next fence can’t be seen from the succeeding fence (EV139.b) was edited to suggest the markers, not require them.

A proposal from the Eventing Committee to disqualify competitors who refuse medical attention or advice after a fall (EV112.1c) caused discussion but will go forward as written.

Under EV113.a, full boots won’t be required in all three phases. In line with FEI rules, riders can wear “a full-grain leather leg piece and leather boots.” Half-chaps aren’t allowed, though.

EV105.8 will be reworded. The proposal’s intent is to prevent organizers from keeping the entry and stabling fees for horses withdrawn after the closing date if horses on the waiting list replace them. Competitors are especially eager to get stabling refunds and don’t like it when organizers don’t refund their stabling fees but fill the stall with another horse.

“We agree on the intent, but not the wording,” said Hook.

Speaker Warns: “You Have To Be Self-Sufficient”
Dr. James Hamilton, a partner in the Southern Pines (N.C.) Equine Associates, had a sobering message for U.S. Eventing Association members as the keynote speaker at Saturday’ annual meeting.

Hamilton charged that Americans suffer from a crippling misconception about disaster preparedness.

“People believe that, somehow, our government–federal and local–will make a safety net in any disaster, that they have a plan for everybody. Well, as it turns out, that could not be further from the truth,” said Hamilton, who’s been working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for 10 years and spent four weeks in Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina.

“If there is a message you take home from here, I hope it’s that we all must be quite a bit more self-sufficient than we really are,” added Hamilton.

As a veterinarian in an eventing hotspot, and one of the official veterinarians at all events held at the Carolina Horse Park, Hamilton could assure USEA members that they’re unusual among U.S. horse owners in the level of the care they give their horses. The problem, he said, is that animals, including horses, get ignored by many owners and by most emergency responders during disasters.

Just look at all the dogs, cats and horses left behind as residents fled Katrina’s flooding. Hamilton said that post-Katrina, as in all other disasters he’s seen, about 80 percent of the horses who end up in shelters are either never claimed by their owners or are returned after a few days because the owners can’t care for them.

Hamilton urged USEA members to invite their local fire department or their county’s emergency planners to their farms. He advised that they show fire department personnel how to find the property and where they can find water and escape routes; and he suggested seeking their advice on how to prevent fires, floods and other disasters.

Animals, even horses, simply aren’t a priority in any disaster plans. Saving human lives is all that’s required. And, he said, many first responders either don’t like or are afraid of horses.

What can horse owners do? Hamilton advised: Embrace your role as the guardian of your animals; lead by example and be proactive by developing an animal disaster plan within the community or just among your neighbors; become self-sufficient by having fire extinguishers, ample water supply, generators and trailers to evacuate your horses; and “hope for the best and plan for the worst.”

Odds And Ends
– Some 354 U.S. Eventing Association members registered for the convention in Charlotte, N.C., the lowest attendance since the 1996 meeting in Reston, Va. Meeting coordinator Jan Zwak noted that the Area II leaders who organized it faced a monumental task in just nine weeks. The convention had been scheduled for hurricane-ravaged New Orleans.

– The USEA’s unaudited 2005 financial statement shows a deficit of $194,811 on expenses of $2.48 million. It was the third consecutive deficit, following a loss of $17,689 in 2004. The 2005 budget predicted a surplus of $7,600. The primary reason for the loss, said chief executive officer Jo Whitehouse, was that membership dues and starter fees fell $94,00 below budget. Plus, the USEA board voted to buy a commercial on the NBC-TV broadcast of the Rolex Kentucky CCI, which hadn’t been budgeted.

– The USEA’s 2006 budget will be balanced, said Treasurer Gary Stegman, although the budget projects a loss of $95,057 on expenses of $2.73 million. But the revenue doesn’t show the expected income from fund raising and doesn’t include area finances.

– USEA membership dipped from an all-time high of 14,041 in 2004 to 13,912 in 2005.

– The number of USEA-recognized competitions also decreased, from 267 in 2004 to 242 in 2005. Whitehouse said that 20 competitions were permanently lost in 2005, while 10 new ones came on board.

– The Instructors Certification Program now has 78 approved instructors.

– Four training level three-day events are scheduled for 2006, at Waredaca (Md.), GMHA (Vt.), South Farm (Ohio) and Cottonwood (Calif.).

– The Classic Three-Day Event Task Force has merged with the Training Level Three-Day Event Task Force to focus on maintaining the classic format at the training level and one-star.

– Phillip Dutton won the Rider of the Year title for the seventh time and rode the Horse of the Year, Annie Jones’ The Foreman; Kim Severson won the Lady Rider of the Year title; Tianna Coudray of Ojai, Calif., was the Young Rider of the Year; Bruce Davidson’s Jam was the Mare of the Year.

– Rebecca Broussard, owner of Rebecca Farm in Kalispell, Mont., and organizer of the advanced horse trial there, received the Wofford Cup as the non-rider who’s done the most for the sport.

– Governors’ Cups, which also honor volunteers, went to Jennifer Akers, Tom Angle, Margaret Good, Robert Hewlett III, Heather Jan and J.J. Johnson. Derek di Grazia received a new award, the Neil Ayer Trophy, as the course designer of the year.

– Area IV will host the 2006 convention in St. Louis, Mo.

USEA Officers For 2006
Eight people were elected to be the U.S. Eventing Association’s officers for 2006:
President–Kyra Stuart
Vice President, Strategic Affairs–Andrew Temkin
Vice President Administration/ Treasurer–Gary Stegman
Vice President, Area Affairs–John Sheets
Vice President, Competitions–Malcolm Hook
Vice President, Education–Beth Lendrum
Vice President, Promotions–Roger Secrist
Secretary–Kevin Baumgartner