This year’s USEF Annual Meeting, which took place January 12 – January 14, met under the theme of “Our Future Is Now” and featured keynote presentations on the subjects of biosecurity, horse behavior and welfare, and social license.
Social license to operate — public acceptance of an activity — has been a big buzzword in the horse world for a few years now, and for good reason. Public opinion of an activity can have a detrimental effect if the opinion is negative and modern social media can have amplifying effects. Case in point, ironically the same weekend as the USEF Annual Meeting took place a video from a recent USEF Horsemastership Training Series clinic went viral.
This seminar is presented by legendary event rider and current US Equestrian Chief of Sport, David O’Connor, along with Lisa Lazarus, CEO of the Horse Racing Safety and Integrity Authority (HISA) and it’s a long but very interesting watch! You can also access the other keynote presentations on biosecurity and horse welfare on the US Equestrian YouTube page.