January 20, 1917, the Association of American Horse Shows, was created and later changed to the American Horse Shows Association (AHSA).
In 2001, as the merger talks between Arabian Horse Registry and International Arabian Horse Association were coming into being, there was a long, terrible legal battle between factions, one the AHSA, American Horse Show Association, and the other the US Equestrian Team. USA Equestrian (USAE) name was created by the trial judge. This long running, very loud, very expensive battle ran for around 6 to 8 years as to whom would be the National Controlling Body in the US — AHSA vs USA Equestrian [Team} Trust. The Trust was formerly known as USA Equestrian, and was re-named and reorganized December 1, 2003, when the United States Equestrian Federation officially became National Governing Body for equestrian sport.
U.S. Equestrian Team filed a formal challenge with the U.S. Olympic Committee to unseat the AHSA as the national governing body. [Compare this to the AHA and PAT lawsuit of 2016 to 2018.] At the time of the formal challenge the AHSA was not only financially sound but with a good reserve of money, cash, in its bank account. [Compare to the value of the land held by the Arabian Horse Registry at the time of the discussions between IAHA and AHR.]
From 1912 until the US Cavalry was disbanded in 1948, every single US Equestrian Olympic team was in fact, the US Army Equestrian Team or the Cavalry. Mark Hannan, June 20, 1979, “A horse/a horse/my kingdom for a horse,” was Richard III’s lament and it could well be the plaint of Coach Bertrand deNemethy of the United States Equestrian Team as he surveys the squad’s chances in the jumping phase of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Blessed with an overabundance of world-class riders, the USET now must come up with the horses to match. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1979/06/20/us-equestrian-team-has-riders-needs-horses/69a2f41b-4137-4bf5-8b38-7a78036588af/
US Equestrian trains, selects, and funds our United States Equestrian Teams, which consistently win medals at the highest level of international competition, including the Olympic Games, World Equestrian Games, Pan American Games, Nations Cups, and World Championships. https://www.usef.org/team-usa/teams . This takes money, lots of it, and the Olympic Committee never seemed to have enough money for its needs before taking over AHSA.
In 2003 USAE merged with the United States Equestrian Team (USET) and then changed its name to US Equestrian Federation (USEF). This organization has done its best to wipe out history records of any connection with American Horse Show Association legal battle, and those who were involved.
The latest revision of the Bylaws in March, 2020, shows how closely USEF operates under the auspices of the US Olympic Committee. As the NGB and in accordance with the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act and the United States Olympic Committee (“USOC”), the Federation [USEF] shall:
a. Serve as the NGB for equestrian sport in the United States and member of the USOC. The Federation as NGB shall comply with all applicable laws and USOC requirements, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, compliance with the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, as amended, and with the USOC Bylaws.
https://thehorse.com/15623/balch-re-ele … president/
“Alan Balch has been re-elected to serve a second term of office as President of the American Horse Shows Association. [He first became President in 1997] The Board of Directors voted at the Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, NV, January 12-16, 2000 to support Balch for a further three years into the 21st century. Balch has instigated significant advances during his tenure as President including the relocation of the AHSA head offices to the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky. The AHSA is in an excellent financial position and membership services have improved considerably with applications now being processed in five days.” Alan Balch was also Executive Secretary of the American Saddlebred Horse Association, Inc.
The content contained in this website is the property of The US Arabian Horse Registry (USAHR). All content is subject to copyright. USAHR takes seriously its responsibility to protect its intellectual property, including without limitation its trademarks, service marks, and copyrights. Other than by printing discrete, searched articles for research purposes, no information on this website may be reproduced in whole or in part without prior written consent of USAHR. Such consent can be requested by sending an email to usahregistry@gmail.com. For more information, please refer to the Terms of Use agreement you have already agreed to. The provisions of our Privacy Policy are also listed. By continuing to access or use this website you agree to be bound by the Privacy Policy; if you do not wish to be bound by the Privacy Policy, you may not access or use this website.