Photo by Leslie Wylie.
Eventers around the country have expressed mixed responses to Friday’s announcement that USEA Membership will be required for competitors at the Beginner Novice level as of December 1, 2016.
The decision was voted into being at a USEA Board of Directors meeting last month. The reasoning behind the change is twofold.
When the Beginner Novice level was first introduced nearly 15 years ago, it was intended as a gateway wherein riders could try out eventing without having to pay a membership fee. Since then, other gateways to the sport have emerged while BN has become an increasingly standardized level.
In recent years there have been more opportunities available to be introduced to the sport such as Intro and Starter Levels, Coaching Allowed Test (CAT) and DX Eventing … The Beginner Novice level is now one of the most popular levels offered by the USEA in recognized competition and the offerings of the Beginner Novice level mimic all those offered in other USEA divisions.
For BN as with all other USEA recognized levels, membership has always been mandatory to be eligible for year-end awards or championship competitions. The USEA explains that this has been a continual source of confusion for non-member competitors.
In the past several years the USEA office has been inundated with calls of confused members who did not understand why they weren’t listed as qualified for Area Championships, the Nutrena USEA American Eventing Championship (AEC), and the USEA Leaderboards. In almost every case the confusion related to that member having competed at the Beginner Novice as a non-member.
The USEA notes that of the 4,254 riders who competed at the BN level in 2015, about 390 (less than 10%) were non-members.
The horse registration requirement, which allows a horse to compete from Beginner Novice through Training with a Limited registration, will not change. For 2017 a 14-day grace period from the start of the horse trial will be allowed for Beginner Novice riders and horses to bring their registration into compliance.
Reactions on the USEA Facebook page to the new membership requirement have ranged from dismay …
… to shoulder shrugs …
… to support.
What do you think about the membership requirement, Eventing Nation?
[USEA Membership to be Required for Beginner Novice as of December 1, 2016]
