Gladstone, NJ and Lexington, KY—January 17, 2002—USA Equestrian and the United States Equestrian Team (USET) took a major step toward resolving the sport’s governance issue when, in separate meetings on January 10, both organizations approved the general structure of consolidation into a new non-profit organization that would serve as the new National Governing Body (NGB) for equestrian sport.

The USET Board of Trustees and the Federation Board of Directors approved the framework of the new NGB, which would comprise three operating divisions – International, National and Administrative. The plan also calls for the establishment of a Foundation whose exclusive purpose would be to raise funds to support the international high performance activities of the NGB.

The Boards of the two organizations authorized their officers and the two negotiating teams to proceed with the process of working out details and drafting by-laws for the new NGB. It is hoped that a final plan will be presented to the Boards and voting memberships for final approval sometime in the spring.

“I am extremely pleased with the votes to move forward,” said Federation President Alan F. Balch. “The negotiating teams from both organizations worked extremely hard to put aside selfish interests and develop a plan that is in the sport’s best interest and they are to be commended for their success in doing that.”

“This is a great step forward for our sport,” said USET President Dr. Armand Leone, Jr. “While there is still much work to do, we have now reached a position where animosity has been removed from the equation, allowing us to focus our attention on our main job, namely working on behalf of all those involved in equestrian sports and preparing our athletes for international competition.”