Good morning from beautiful Scottsdale, Arizona. Today is the first major day of the USEA convention and there are a staggering 17 items on the Thursday schedule [convention schedule]. If you have never been to a USEA convention, they are a fun but sometimes strange experience. I say strange in the sense that I’m not used to seeing everyone dressed in normal clothes and sitting in formal meetings. Eventers can dress really well when they try. Each day at the convention there are a variety of open and closed committee meetings as well as educational presentations for the USEA members. It’s like the AECs without horses: complete sensory overload. Here are my top 5 questions as the convention starts:
1. How much will the leadership transition from President Baumgardner to President-Elect Brian Sabo affect the USEA? Personally, I will really miss President Baumgardner, whose three year term concludes on Saturday. President Baumgardner is widely respected by eventers whether or not they agree with his policies because they know that he treats issues fairly and honestly. President Baumgardner met my mother at Rolex this year and was kind enough to have a long conversation with her on what I am sure was a very busy day for him. Incoming President Brian Sabo is going to do a great job, but we’ll miss President Baumgardner a great deal.
2. One word — Helmets. With the massively increased awareness regarding the helmet safety issue in 2010, every equestrian governing body has had to figure out where it stands on helmets. The USEF has proposed a rule change to make helmets mandatory at national events, and the discussion of helmets this weekend will have an impact on whether or not the USEF rule is passed.
3. What are the USEA’s financial and membership figures after another year of a bad economy? The tough economy has hit everything, including eventing, and I will be interested to see how the USEA membership has fared. The word early in the year was the membership had declined and it will be interesting to see if the numbers have recovered. During last year’s convention I was very impressed with how the USEA handled the bad economy in 2009. Hopefully the same is true for 2010.
4. Will there be any breaking news this year? Last year some major news broke at the convention when it was leaked that the FEI would delay implementation of its decision to make NSAIDs legal. Conventions are typically more about policy than breaking news, but you never know when things will get exciting.
5. Thank you. That’s not really a question, but it needs to be said. I’d like to thank the USEA in advance for putting on what I am sure will be a fabulous 2010 convention. I am notoriously bad about forgetting to apply for media credentials, and Emily at the USEA is always fabulous about fitting me in at the last moment. Also, thanks to our great EN sponsors who made this trip out to Arizona possible. Last year there is no way EN could have afforded to fly across the country and spend four days in a hotel–now we can thanks to our sponsors. SmartPak, Ecogold, and FLAIR are all also sponsors of the convention.
By now, you know how this works. Sit down and strap in for 96 straight hours of sleep deprived and over-caffeinated coverage here on Eventing Nation, as well as our links to the best convention coverage from elsewhere across the interweb. One last thing to consider is that we are two hours behind the East coast so the daily reports will be later than normal four our East coast readers. Go eventing.
