Dressage Letters January 2020

January 2020 ~ Dressage Letters ~ Page 4 in several years. There was not much new, as the main thrust of the meeting is to urge delegates to obtain their credentials and to prove their attendance by log-in at the beginning of each session of the Board of Governors. Delegate credentials are a sticker on the back of the name tag, with log-in code and the number of votes the delegate carries. Roll call vote procedures were explained: by Region with each Region’s delegates lining up at the voting booth where computers accommodated three delegates at a time. Although it takes a while, it is a vast improvement over the actual name by name by name roll call votes that we suffered through for many years. Region 7 Meeting Next, the Region 7 meeting where Director Carol Tice whips us into shape. No, I mean to say that Carol goes through the Meeting Agenda with us to make sure that there is someone available to attend each of the Committee meetings. Our initial thoughts on any possible controversies always pop up in this meeting. Mercifully, there was no Freestyle percentage controversy as there was last year and we left this meeting looking forward to a relatively peaceful Convention. On Friday, before the Board of Governor’s meeting, the Regions delegates meet again to share information. Nominating Committee You would not think this could be interesting but here I learned that one of the Regions has developed a Travel Fund for their Convention delegates. The fund is administered through USDF and funded by events such as silent auctions. It struck home as the trip to Savannah was relatively expensive and the hotel pricier than some in past years. CDS…hint? Hint? DSHB Although not their official meeting, I popped in on a presentation that focused on the Sport Horse Committee’s attempt to improve the judging of Materiale classes. The presenter was Kristi Wysocki, Chair of the Sport Horse Committee. A comment that stuck with me – the mark should be the “best that I see” and it is therefore expected that scores for the horse in Materiale will be higher than what that horse might receive in a Young Horse test. Kristi used several videos to illustrate this point and she shared that the actual scores of the horses in the videos did not line up with the judging protocol of “best that I see”; the actual scores received had been universally lower. Materials scores do matter; there are awards for overall Materiale Horse of the Year and additional awards in the All Breeds division. Every class at a USDF/USEF recognized show is a qualifying class. An on-line education module is projected to be available by the end of 2020. Further information from the Sport Horse Committee included a heads up that in 2021 there will be a Four-year old gelding prospect category for DSHB competitions. Rules – By-Laws - Membership Of these three committees, the most (only) controversial agenda item seemed to be a “Non-competing” membership proposal that was slated to come before the Board of Governors (BOG). In a nutshell, the Education Membership category is not doing well and USDF would like to offer a non-compete membership for a similar amount of money but with more benefits. Comments included: “Non” sounds negative. Well, no kidding. There were passionate arguments for re-naming it, with none striking a universal chord. National Finals Kentucky Horse Park is contracted through 2023, and if the contract is not renewed, the possibility is that the dates would be lost for future shows. That is a reality when dealing with popular facilities. If this show is ever to come West, the four Regional Directors (5, 6, 7, 9) would have to agree on a facility AND then the treacherous contract negotiations with that facility and Kentucky for alternate (or whatever) dates would begin. Awards There were people sitting on the floor for this committee’s session even though there seemingly were no controversies and they did not bring any motions to the BOG. Peter Lert used to constantly remind CDS that the carrot (awards) could easily become the driving force for CDS. The same is true at USDF – don’t take any award away and let’s have us some new ones. Competition Management/Technical Delegate This joint meeting focused on the recent survey of competition managers that asked for evaluations on their experiences with Technical Delegates. The majority of the Technical Delegates are doing a great job, according to the survey. However, based on the detailed and passionate descriptions of actual occurrences, it is clear that there is room for improvement. TDCommittee Chair JeanKraus calmly lead the attendees through the problem areas. Briefly, competition management teams have varying perspectives on what they expect from Technical Delegates and vice versa. Competitors are an important part of the mix as they often do not know their rights, it appears from the survey. Although unpleasantness is not the norm, there is no room for bullying and/or less than cordial behavior and actions. The survey provides a wealth of material for education for TD’s, competitions and for competitors. Board of Governors (BOG) After the Regions met on Friday morning, the Delegates convened for the BOG. We heard from President Lisa Goretta and Executive Director Stephan Hienzsch (I always have to look up the spelling of his name!) report on the health of USDF and provide hints as to areas of future progress and growth. Treasurer Lorraine Musselman graciously complimented USDF staff for making her job easy. USDF is in good financial shape, and the 2020-2021 proposed budget did not “seem to” have any controversial items. Although not discussed in depth, concern was expressed that the addition of responsibilities formerly undertaken by USEF is bound to push the Budget. The only money coming from USEF for taking on these responsibilities was the $.45/test fee collected by USEF from shows. Although a help, it is not expected to cover all of the new expenses. Bill Moroney of USEF spoke on the subject of Safe Sport, telling the Delegates that USEF is aware of the stated concerns about the handling of cases. The “why” of the Safe Sport program needs to be more effectively communicated and he promised to do so. Miraculously, there were just two or three actual votes during this year’s BOG. The issue that generated the most debate was presented by the USDF/USEF Joint Age Divisions Task Force. It was a proposal for a separate JR/YR Division and it was sent back for MICHELE VAUGHN WITH KEVIN REINIG, NEWLY ELECTED USDF VICE PRESIDENT AND ELLEN COROB PHOTO BY JENNIFER BRYANT