Coaches Network Committee
Coaches In Your Region
Region 1
Trisha Kiefer-Reed of Wolf Creek, MT
Laura Stutesman of Ashland, OR
Region 2
Ashley Bowers of Cave Creek, AZ
Polly Limond of San Diego, CA
Jessica Mosbaugh of Fiddletown, CA
Tessa Nicolet of Payson, AZ
Sue Watkins of Riverside, CA
Region 3
Chris Stanko of Niwot, CO
Region 5
Emily Kemp of Newton, WI
Michelle Lackey of Medina, OH
Erica Peet of Wonder Lake, IL
Region 6
Stephanie Hayes of Johnson, VT
Holly Linz of Woodbine, MD
Bree Sprik of Ancramdale, NY
Region 7
Jody Fontanetta of Milton, TN
To learn more about our coaches or how to become a coach visit: usawe.org/coaches
Get To Know A Recognized USAWE Coach
Breanna (Bree) Sprik – Ancram, NY
What inspires you to be a Working Equitation Coach?
I love how interested WE riders are into being the best they can be for their horses.
What is your favorite obstacle? Why?
I love the garrocha, because I really enjoy playing with it and dancing around with it in my regular training sessions. It teaches SO much about the use of seat.
What’s your best tip for competitors heading into the show ring?
Know your test. But really, walk in that ring, shake it off, and focus. Block it all out and ride your heart out!
What’s your favorite trick for remembering WE courses?
The trick is to get the thing you’re doing to be easy, so you don’t need to think about it, so you can be thinking about what’s next while you’re doing what’s now.
Your all time favorite WE horse?
Besides my own? LOL. I love that Habil de Sena horse. It’s just so handy and elegant and is complimented by a great rider. (Nicole Silva)
What would your students say is your catchphrase?
Oh jeeze…. “Point with your bellybutton!” Lol. Or “Why are you doing that with your hands?” Lol. Or “Yep. That’s not it.”
What non-equestrian activities do you love to do?
I like hiking, camping, traveling and loving on my dog. (And my husband!)
Thanks for the great information, Bree! Learn more about Bree and all our coaches at: usawe.org/coaches
Check back next month to learn about our next featured coach from our diverse network!
By: Coaches Network Committee Members
Awards Committee
Welcome to the 2023 season! With an exciting season already planned out, we are incredibly excited to continue celebrating our riders and their equine partners this year.
A few things to note as we head into this season:
- Final results for 2022 are now being calculated for our National, Regional and Breed awards. Contact results@usawe.org by 25th to report any scoring or show discrepancies. Keep an eye on your inboxes and the website for an announcement about the final standings and results of our national and regional leaderboards, after Jan. 25th.
Guide to the Leaderboards:
- The direct link to the Leaderboard can be found at GIRA USAWE Leaderboard.
- The sum of the horse & rider pair’s 4 highest scores (based on the percentage earned in Dressage & EOH and the placing in Speed and Cow trials) is used for our year-end awards.
- Those scores must come from a minimum of two judges.
- Ties are broken by adding the actual percentages earned at the competitions used for Leaderboard calculations.
- NOTE: Competitors will not be ranked on the leaderboards until they have met the two judge requirement.
- The Awards Committee will continue to add show results to the historical spreadsheet kept on the USAWE website
Congratulations to everyone on a great 2022 season. We can’t wait to see how everyone does in 2023!
By: Competitions Committee Members
Competitions Committee
Happy New Year from the Competitions Committee!
Our team has been receiving many requests for licensed competitions in 2023! A summary of the number of shows per region scheduled to date is shown below. Please visit the full USAWE Calendar here.
Region 1: Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.
- 19 shows
Region 2: California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Hawaii, and U.S. territories in the Pacific.
- 1 show
Region 3: Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado.
- 2 shows
Region 4: New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
- No current shows scheduled
Region 5: Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky.
- 25 shows
Region 6: New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
- 11 shows
Region 7: Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and US territories in the Atlantic.
- 2 shows
A reminder on licensed shows and posting of results to the USAWE Leaderboard. After a show’s results are received, there are several requirements before those results are fully processed and posted to the Leaderboard. To bring some transparency to this process for our members, you can view the “2023 Results Processing” tab of the Licensed Competition List here. Results will not show on the Leaderboard until each of the steps shown are completed by show officials and show management.
The 2023 Competitions Manual has been published to the USAWE website and can be found here. Revisions are shown in red for ease. A few notable updates:
- Only one license request is needed per competition. There is no longer a need to submit a separate request for the cattle trial.
- From January 1 to May 31, 2023, show fees for all licensed competitions will be $2 per competitor per show. Effective June 1, 2023, show fees for competitions that do not use the GIRA.io scoring and placing program to process results will increase to $5 per competitor. Show fees for competitions using GIRA.io will remain at the $2 per competitor rate. Non-member fees ($50 per show) will be included in the invoice for any competitor who was not a member of USAWE at the time the competition took place. Show fees must be paid in full before the results from the show will be processed. If you need assistance with GIRA setup or training, please contact us at GIRA@usawe.org
- All reports, evaluations, and results are due no later than 1 week following completion of the competition.
- Zone Championship Qualification Requirements: Only USAWE current members are eligible to compete in a championship show. A horse-rider combination must earn a combined average of 58% or higher in Dressage and EOH (L1-L7) and successfully complete the Speed trial (L2-L7) at a minimum of two licensed shows. For competition year 2023, the qualifying period is January 1, 2022, through the show entry deadline for the zone championship show in 2023. At least one of the scores must be earned during the 2023 competition year. Beginning in 2024, both qualifying scores must be earned during the current competition year.
- Clinics Prior to Shows. Revision 6 of the Rulebook disallows clinics prior to shows that are conducted by the presiding Judge. Exception: Competitors competing solely in the Introductory (L1) level and competitors riding hors concours (schooling rides) may participate in a clinic prior to the show. Clinics are allowed for all competitors following the show. See Rulebook 3.20b.
The 2023 Western Zone Championship will be held October 4-8 in Missoula, MT. The 2023 Central Zone Championship will be held September 28 – October 2 in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. More details on both will be coming over the next several months. To date, we have not received bids for Eastern Zone and will remain open. Bid requirements can be found here.
Wishing everyone a wonderful start to 2023!
By: Competitions Committee Members
Affiliate Organizations Committee Committee
USAWE Affiliate Organizations are your local go-to resource for Working Equitation events. Do you want to see more Working Equitation events in your area? Why not contact your closest AO, and let them know what types of events you would participate in? Not sure who your closest AO is? Click here to see all USAWE AOs listed by state. If you don’t see an AO near you, why not consider ways you could form an AO, and help Working Equitation grow near you? Contact affiliateorganizations@usawe.org to explore your options!
One of the perks of being an Affiliate Organization is the Quarterly AO Networking Hour on Zoom. Anyone who is in AO leadership is invited to attend.
Meeting invitations are automatically emailed to every AO point of contact. USAWE members who are considering applying to become an AO are also welcome to attend. Please contact affiliateorganizations@usawe.org if you need a meeting invite.
Meet other USAWE Affiliate Organization leaders, make friends, share ideas, be encouraged, build community! This quarterly meeting is all about getting to know one another and strengthening the support you receive as an Affiliate Organization.
Fourth Mondays in these months: January, April, July, October
5 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
6 pm Mountain
7 pm Central
8 pm Eastern
Our first Quarterly AO Networking Hour is January 23, 2023.
Agenda
- Introductions – Name, AO name, City, State
- USAWE Member Survey Development – AO focused. Together we will come up with survey questions that will help AO leaders better evaluate and understand what USAWE members want in their local AO. Please start thinking of questions you would like to ask in the survey.
Mark your calendar now for all of the 2023 AO Quarterly Networking Hour Zoom meetings!
January 23, 2023
April 24, 2023
July 24, 2023
October 23, 2023
By: Kristine Strasburger, Affiliate Organizations Committee Chair
Website Committee
We are welcoming two new members to the Website Committee this month. Kris Blacklock (current USAWE Secretary) and Amie Perryman (USAWE member). Both of these ladies bring valuable skill-sets to the team, and I’m looking forward to undertaking significant behind-the-scenes upgrading of the website in 2023 with their help. Adrienne Ray (USAWE member) has been a significant Website Committee member from the beginning. She is at work right now implementing a few upgrades to set the stage for the improvements we foresee for 2023.
The Website Committee is currently looking for USAWE members who have experience working with Divi on WordPress. If this is you, and you would be interested in serving on the Website Committee, please contact WebAdmin@usawe.org.
If you find an error on the USAWE.org website, or want to suggest an improvement, please send an email to WebAdmin@usawe.org.
Here’s what we are working on (will be updated in the e-news monthly)
2023 Punchlist for Website Improvement
- Shopping Cart/Check-out experience (for memberships & Horse Recordings)
- Automatic Recurring Subscriptions option
- Re-launch of online Shop for USAWE branded items
By: Kristine Strasburger, Website Committee Chair
Marketing & Promotion Committee
The Marketing Committee wants to extend a huge thank you to Kiki Pantaze for her time and expertise in running the Marketing Committee for the last two years. We’re excited she will remain on the committee going forward. The Marketing Committee (MC) has added a few new members with strong business, marketing, social media, and graphics backgrounds. Welcome to Amy Perryman, Sofia Santos, Lori Fisher, and Lidia Taylor. We had a kickoff meeting for 2023 and have a long list of exciting projects to help create awareness for the sport of Working Equitation. Watch out for a new look to our social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Tik Tok). Members, Affiliate Organizations, Licensed Officials, and Coaches of USA Working Equitation, we could use your help to share our social media content to your personal and appropriate local equine pages to extend USAWE’s reach. Let’s see how many new members we can bring into our community in 2023!
A few of our other projects include: recognizing our Year End winners and Breed Award winners, developing strategic alliances with synergistic groups, putting together a program to help with grants for Trade Shows and we’ll be getting our USAWE logo wear store back online. All projects are aimed at extending USAWE’s reach and bringing in new members.
We would love to have member input and feedback. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or comments to usawemktg@gmail.com. This will be an exciting year!
By: Karen Boso, Marketing & Promotion Committee Chair
Membership Committee
A HUGE Thank You to all who joined or renewed their 2023 USAWE membership by midnight December 31st, 2022. We are excited to see such a great response.
As our THANK YOU, your names were entered into a random drawing for a special new/renewal thank you gift!
Here’s the list of the TEN randomly drawn recipients. Congratulations!
Emma Powers (MT)
Terry Borton (AZ)
Daniel Dahlke (OR)
Susan Byorick (PA)
Jose Enriquez (CA)
Mary Holcomb (WA)
Nicole Lee (PA)
Megan Harrison (WI)
Sandra Keithly (CA)
Phyllis Laderman (CA)
By Membership Committee Members
Licensed Officials Committee
If you missed the Jan 12th LOC and Rules Committees’ webinar on the new 2023 rule changes and new dressage tests, you may access the recording via this link.
