President’s Letter

By: Tracey Erway

Welcome to summer!
The newsletter has a number of important updates and alerts for you all. The committees, competition managers, and board members have been busy on a number of projects. Audrey Rapp has been tireless as newsletter editor and I’d like to thank her for her commitment and for sharing her skills. I’d also like to thank the many of you who have recently stepped up to volunteer for various positions in our organization.

Here are some important bits of news:

The Board of Directors clarifiedthat according to the rulebook, horse-rider combinations may compete in any or all regional championships, regardless of where qualifying scores are achieved. The language on the website is incorrect.

Speaking of which, there are 5 Championship shows that have been approved.Three of them are WAWE Qualifier shows for those seeking to join the 2026 International team, so in addition to our USAWE senior judges, there will be a WAWE judge presiding.

• Region 1– September 17-21, 2025 at the Oregon Horse Center, Eugene. For more information, please contact Show Secretary Julie Alonzo.
• Region 2– October 10-12, 2025 at the California Ranch Company, Temecula, CA. For more information, please contact Amanda Latta. This is also a WAWE
• Regions 3 & 4Combined – November 5-8, 2025 at the Texas Rose Horse Park, Tyler, TX. For more information, please contact Doreen Atkinson. This is also a WAWE
• Region 5– October 3-6, 2025 at Fox Valley Saddle Association, Hampshire, IL. For more information, please contact Show Secretary Julie Alonzo.
• Region 6 & 7Combined – October 16-19, 2025 at the Meadow Event Park, Doswell, VA. For more information, please contact Maria Blackstone. This is also a WAWE

Regarding the website:a contract has been signed to restructure the website. Once updated, the site should be able to make announcements and allow us to communicate more effectively with the entire membership. If you are interested in being a test pilot for the new site, send a note to the web chair at webcommitteechair@usawe.org. This effort will be targeting Aug/Sept.

The revamped bylaws have been completed and reviewed by legal counsel (Howard O. Berstein, P.C.). After the BOD approves. they will be released to you (the entire membership) for 45 days of review. We are hoping to change the term lengths of President and Vice-President to allow for greater consistency in leadership. Sara MacKenzie, Marcy Buffinton and I worked for almost a full year on these changes which we expectshould benefit the organization greatly.

Paypal has fixed an issue in their transmission of payment informationand USAWE should not have any further glitches in the payment system. But if you do have an issue contact Leesa Nero at Treasurer@usawe.org.

The Rules committee has released clarifying information on bitlessbridles which you can read about below.

The LOC has advanced a number of judges and technical delegatesso be sure to check the list for changes. Congratulations to the following:

• • Erica Peet “R” – Region 5
  • Kim Roe “R” – Region 1
  • Sarah Pinney “R” – Region 2
  • Marie Maloney “r” – Region 4
  • Beth Lindsay TD – Region 1
  • Karina Rothschild TD – Region 2

Please see below regarding changes in the Professional Development Programfrom Nicole Chastain (Interim Pro Dev Chair).

The Affiliate Organization continues to update the program.  We now have over 50 Affiliate Organizations in over 27 states. These are local groups that promote WE in their respective areas. Stephanie Dobiss has been instrumental in affecting change and growth in this program.

Thank you to Heather Higgins for joining the Ethics Committee.

USAWE has two committee chair positions opening up.If you have the skills or desire, contact our volunteer coordinator, Emily Osborne, at volunteercoordinator@usawe.org.

• Financial Oversight Chair:We are looking for someone to head up the Financial Oversight Committee. This person would preferably have an accounting background but is not required. This person and the existing committee will review our financial records quarterly, and oversee a yearly audit.
• Professional Development Committee Chair(Interim Nicole Chastain): This person would head up the Pro Dev Committee and work with the existing committee to continue to evolve the program the purpose of which is to identify, recognize, and support a roster of educated, professional, and talented instructors to benefit the sport of working equitation in the U.S. The Professional Development Committee achieves this goal through the development and maintenance of a rigorous recognition process, testing protocol, and continuing education.

We are looking forward to the development of our education committee program with Holly Linz and Sara Barnwell on the committee. They’ve interviewed a number of volunteers to join them. This group is focusing on devising an educational framework to support all of our committees, and to focus on our Foundational Competition Levels L1-L5.

We are hoping to kick off a video marketing campaignwhich we hope to align with our championship events. We are still in the initial stages but we’ll be calling on all of you via the website to submit photos and videos.

Finally, our President-Elect Robin Bond and member-competitor Sue Watkins have chosen to travel to Columbia to participate in an International WAWE competition on borrowed horses. We wish them the best of luck and will be watching their results on Gira.io.

All in all it is a busy and exciting summer and I hope you all are having fun out there. If you have the chance, please thank a committee member. There is a great deal that goes into making this organization function and I’m sure they would appreciate the acknowledgement.

As always, contact me if you have any issues, accolades, complaints, or just to say hi at president@usawe.org.

– Tracey M. Erway

President, USA Working Equitation (USAWE)