USEF/AMHA Morgan Rules Timeline

The Morgan breed is one of only two breeds that solicit input from members for rule changes through member's forums. The USEF Morgan committee has put together a process for rule changes to help the committee ensure that all the rules forums get the same rules and the same information to consider.  Following is a time line.

1.  The USEF Morgan committee must receive any rule change proposals that originate outside the committee by January 15.  The committee goes over them individually and on conference calls and at a committee meeting at the annual Morgan convention.  We need to be as certain as we can that they are written clearly and actually address the perceived problems. 

2.  The list of rule change proposals for the forums is set by April 1.  Each committee member gets a list of the same information and proposals and every forum goes over the same proposals.  Forum moderators hold forums at all regional championship shows, the Grand National and any class A Morgan shows that request a forum.  Forums can be held at other venues if we can arrange for a moderator; this is generally a member of the USEF rules committee.  As the forums progress, moderators and the entire committee track questions, suggestions, problems, etc. that are raised during the year.  It is amazing to see how helpful it is to hear from people all over the country as they often see problems that the committee missed in the original vetting process.

3.  The list of rule change proposals is posted on the www.morganhorse.com website on the Latest News page so that all members of AMHA have a chance to see what the list of rule change proposals is.  This gives members an opportunity to go to a forum during the year to comment or to contact their regional board representative, their directors at large and the rules committee to express thoughts.

4.  Shortly before September 1, the USEF Morgan committee has a conference call to make sure that there are no significant problems with the rule change proposals that have arisen during the forums thus far.  From time to time, it becomes apparent to the committee that a rule is not ready to move on to the next step and we will withdraw it to make changes and/or clarifications.  An example of this would be the Trail Rule Proposal that was discussed in 2007.  A list of good questions about a number of parts of the rule were raised across the country during forums and it became apparent to the committee that we needed to work with the proponent and other exhibitors involved in showing Morgan horses in trail to ensure that we had a better rule to discuss during the next year's (2008) cycle. It was withdrawn and a new proposal was submitted for 2008. Following the September call, USEF posts all rule change proposals for every breed and discipline on its website at www.usef.org. These are proposed rule changes and have not been adopted.

4.  The USEF Morgan committee meets at the Morgan Grand National after the forum there and puts together its final information.

5.  The AMHA board of directors, at its November Board meeting, goes over the rule change proposals that have gone through the forums and has an opportunity to discuss, question and vote on them. 

6.  The USEF Morgan committee does a final vote on the rule change proposals after the November board meeting and well before the January USEF board meeting.  The committee takes into consideration input from forums, the AMHA board, and membership. This is the final draft of rules to be submitted to the USEF Board of Directors for consideration.

7.  The USEF Morgan committee meets during the USEF board meeting to review all rule change proposals submitted through the USEF process that affect Morgans and votes to accept them or not.  Because our Morgan horses compete in so many disciplines, we need to review a large number of non-Morgan rules from carriage to dressage to hunter/jumper to all the general USEF rules.

8.  The USEF Board of Directors votes to adopt or reject all rule change proposals submitted to it.  Generally, the effective date for these will be 4/01/09 for the 2008 rule submissions.

The Morgan world has developed its own way of making, discussing and deciding on the USEF rules that govern our competitions but the USEF is the National Governing Body for Equestrian Sport in the United States as designated by the Ted Stevens Amateur Sports Act passed by the United States Congress.  As such, it has its own responsibilities and process.  The USEF process permits all USEF members to submit rule change proposals directly to USEF and these can deal with any member breed or discipline.  It is very important to keep the rule making process open to everyone to be completely fair to all USEF members.  The USEF Morgan committee is bound by this USEF rule and respects it.  We try to achieve a balance by using the following process.

1. USEF allows rules to be submitted directly to USEF until June 1.  This date means that rules for the Morgans, which come in directly thru USEF after the January 15 date, do not have the opportunity to go through all of our forums.  The Morgan world places a very high value on giving everyone the chance to comment and the conflict of dates makes this impossible for us. 

2.  The USEF Morgan Committee has a policy of disapproving any rule change proposal that does not go through the forums.

3.  The USEF Board does not approve Morgan rules that the USEF Morgan Committee disapproves.

4.  The proponent is welcome to submit that same rule to the USEF Morgan committee prior to January 15 of the next year, in this case January 15 of 2009, so that it can go through the 2010 forums.

This sounds very long and complicated and it is.  The intention is to be as open and transparent as possible in discussing and adopting or rejecting rules as we can be.  There are USEF mandated exceptions to this process that are quite restricted.  Clarifications in language or grammar to make a rule clearer are permitted during the year and are posted immediately after adoption by the USEF Executive Committee on the USEF website.  Inadvertent omissions can be corrected also.  Changes to rules that qualify under the USEF standard for Extraordinary Rules changes can also be made during the year; these pertain to horse/exhibitor safety and welfare.
4/8/08