About USA Equestrian Trust

 
USA Equestrian Trust is a private foundation dedicated to furthering the rich legacy of horses and equestrian sport. The Trust’s objects and purposes are exclusively charitable, educational and dedicated to the fostering of national and international equestrian sports competition, and the corporation is organized within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

 
The Trust was originally founded in New York in 1917, as the American Horse Show Association, and its name changes over the decades — to American Horse Shows Association, to USA Equestrian, and now to USA Equestrian Trust — mirror the evolution of equestrian sport in the United States. The Trust is now a Sustaining Affiliate of United States Equestrian Federation, the National Governing Body for equestrian sport in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee, and the National Equestrian Federation for the United States as recognized by the Fédération Equestre Internationale.

 
USA Equestrian Trust secured the funding and building of USEF’s national headquarters office at the Kentucky Horse Park, beginning in 1998, and today leases that building to USEF in accordance with the formal agreement that founded the present Federation on December 1, 2003. As a Sustaining Affiliate of USEF, the Trust appoints one member of the Board of Directors of the Federation, who is seated on the USEF Executive Committee, and also holds a seat on the Administration and Finance Working Group. The Trust also appoints one member of the Budget and Finance Committee.

 
The Trust’s directors supervise the investment and allocation of assets accumulated since its original founding in 1917, less those dedicated to the formation of the new Federation in 2003. Most of the Trust’s investment portfolio guarantees the financing of the building occupied by the Federation at the Kentucky Horse Park; other funds raised or available are employed for the Trust’s charitable purposes, including equine health research and such other grants as the Trust’s directors may approve, as well as for future distribution to USEF in accordance with commitments made by the Trust at its founding.