January 25, 2001

December 10, 2000

A C.E.F. COMMITTEE TO ADMINISTER THE SPORT OF HORSE TRIALS AND THREE DAY EVENTING IN CANADA

On November 4 & 5, 2000 at the Directors Meeting of Horse Trials Canada, the Board unanimously agreed to the following structure for Horse Trials within the new CEF structure, effective January 1, 2001;

The name of the committee shall be "Horse Trials Canada Committee".

The Board agreed that HTC would "plug into" the Sport Division of the new CEF by operating as a committee of the CEF. This will be done on a trial basis of 2 to 3 years, during which time HTC will operate in a dual capacity, both as an independent organization, accountable to its members, and as a committee accountable to the CEF. This dual role will be made possible through a written agreement between CEF and HTC. This agreement will set out how the dual role will work and will reflect the important principle that this dual function is for a trial period only -- during this trial period, both parties will work actively towards HTC ultimately merging or assimilating with the CEF.

2.2 The HTC Committee will be comprised of;

• The current Executive Committee of HTC pursuant to its present bylaws.
• An Athlete Representative from the Elite Riders Association.
• All Technical Committee Chairs who are not on the Executive of HTC.

The Board agreed that the Athlete Representative did not need to be the same person for any given term, due to their competition schedule, and that the riders could select any HTC member to represent their interests at any given meeting if they were unable to attend themselves.

2.3: As of November 4, 2000, the Executive Committee of HTC is as follows:

• The President of H.T.C. – Kellie Towers
• The Chairperson of H.T.C. – Michael Gallagher
• Vice-President Finance – Simon Addey-Jibb
• Vice-President Competitions – Ted Semper
• Vice-President Athlete Development – Martha Griggs
• Vice-President Officals/Rules – Gerri Sweet

Martha Griggs and Gerri Sweet have been elected to a 2 year term (2001 + 2002) and the remainder of the Executive has a 1 year term.

2.4: The elite riders in the Eventing discipline have elected Stuart Black and Penny Rowland as the Athlete Representatives and the Board has agreed that either one of them will attend HTC Committee meetings or their designates.

2.5: On an annual basis (when required) The Board of Directors of HTC will continue to elect the members of the Executive pursuant to its present bylaws.

• High Performance – Chair (Position Vacant)
• Competitions – Chair Bill McKeen
• Athlete Development – Chair Martha Griggs
• Officials/Rules – Chair Gerri Sweet
• Coaching – Chair Jody Sloper
• Finance & Sponsorship – Chair Simon Addey-Jibb

These individuals were nominated by members of HTC and elected to their positions by the Board of HTC. The Chairs will create their committees within the structure established by the Board and will finalize the terms of reference for their committee to be ratified by the HTC Board in March, 2001.

3.2: Some of these committees may eventually be "split" into further sub committees subject to the workload.

3.3; It was agreed that Pony Club will be invited to have a representative on the Athlete Development Committee.

Annually, all members of HTC shall be eligible to nominate qualified individuals to stand for election to be Chairs of the various Technical Committees. Full "Job Descriptions" will be posted on the Internet site as well as being distributed annually by provincial associations in their newsletters. At the Annual Directors Meeting of HTC, the Board will review all nominations and elect Chairs to any vacant positions. Terms of Office shall be two years, with a maximum of three terms.

4.2: A Nominating Committee shall review all nominated individuals prior to the Annual Directors Meeting to insure individuals are qualified for the position, are willing to stand for election, and are aware of the job description and time commitment required. However, all qualified members willing to stand for election will be presented to the Board for the election. Nominations should close each year at least 60 days prior to the Annual HTC Director’s Meeting. All Provincial Directors who are on the HTC Board should receive the list of nominees and their resumes at least 30 days prior to the Annual HTC Director’s Meeting. The Board members should receive the list of nominees in advance of the meeting with qualifications, experience etc.. so that Board members have ample opportunity to discuss the nominees with their Provincial members and seek input to insure they are representing their membership’s views.

4.3: Members of the Executive Committee "may" also be the Chair of a Technical Committee, but not necessarily so. The Chairpersons of the Technical Committees must be the most qualified individuals available and must possess the expertise to fulfill these functions. The long term goal is that members of the Executive Committee will not also be Chairpersons of a Technical Committee, however, at this time, it is felt that our membership base needs to be larger to have the required number of willing and qualified individuals to fill all of these positions.

4.4: Each Chair would constitute his or her committee in consultation with the HTC Committee, with the exceptions noted below for the High Performance Committee.

4.5: All Committee Chairs will have a 2 year term of office, with a maximum of 3 terms. All committees will be formed with Regional representation where possible.

4.6: All Technical Committee Chairs and committee members must declare any conflict of interest or perceived conflict of interest to the HTC Committee.

The Elite Riders Association is invited to elect two athlete representatives to this committee. The Chair shall constitute the balance of the committee in consultation with the HTC Committee, with a minimum of 5 members and Regional representation. The Athlete Representatives for the current committee will be Stuart Black and Penny Rowland.

5.2: This committee shall appoint the Horse Trials Canada representative to the International Committee of the Sports Council. The representative does not necessarily need to be the Chair of the High Performance Committee. 

The suggested schedule for meetings (after the March semi-annual HTC meeting) is as follows;

Horse Trials Canada Board to meet once a year in November.
Horse Trials Canada Committee to meet twice a year.

To minimize travel costs, it is suggested that the first meeting each year for the HTC Committee will be in conjunction with the CEF Convention (usually held in February), as representatives from the Committee will also be required at the CEF Convention. The second meeting for the Committee will be at the same time as the HTC Board meeting in November (the previous day). At the HTC Board meeting, most of the agenda would be presentations to the Provincial Directors by each Chair of the Technical Committees, to answer questions, address concerns, and to receive ideas and input from the Provinces.

A budget for the discipline was presented which mirrors the CEF proposed 2001 budget.

7.2 The discipline has accepted the financial structure based on the following financial assurances from the Board of the CEF;

a) The current allocation of external funds to the Olympic disciplines would be maintained;

b) Any new external funds for Olympic sport that is not discipline specific would be evenly distributed among the Olympic disciplines;

c) Any new funds raised or developed specifically by or for Eventing would accrue to Eventing.

The "total" management of the Sport will not be possible with only volunteer positions. It was stressed that funding will need to be made available to support the cost of salaried support staff including the current Technical Director for Eventing and most likely additional staff.

8.2: The Board has instructed the HTC Committee to advise the CEF Executive Director of their desire to retain the services of the current Technical Director, Fleur Tipton, subject to a review of the Job Description for the position. The review of the Job Description will be done in consultation with the Technical Director and the Executive Director.

8.3 Communication lines need to be clear and explained to the membership and the Directors. The Technical Director is not able to handle inquiries from all members of H.T.C. A line of Communication needs to be developed through the Provincial Presidents and the Horse Trials Canada Committee.

The HTC Committee is now in place to fully manage the sport effective January 1, 2001.

Agreed that instructions need to be forwarded to the Technical Committee Chairs regarding the expectations over the next 4 months. M. Gallagher to prepare draft structure document.

Agreed that those who were nominated as Technical Committee Chairs and were not elected, be asked to be committee members. Kellie Towers specifically to contact Wendy Dell.

M. Gallagher to contact Don Adams re Fleur Tipton. M. Gallagher also to contact Pony Club regarding a representative on the Athlete Development Committee.

Over the next few months, decisions will need to be made regarding attendance at the CEF Convention, i.e. who, how many and at what cost?

Sports Council Committee "facilitators" need to be advised who our contact people will be for their committees. M. Gallagher will arrange this.

10.2; There is an assurance that this new structure will not impact on the Rider/Team Management agreement wh ich is currently in place.

10.3; That the CEF sanctioning of Horse Trials by PSO’s without consultation with the specific discipline is contrary to the original objectives of the CEF re-structuring. Written assurances need to be obtained and included in the contract between the provinces and the CEF (or in the CEF Policies and procedures) regarding discipline approval prior to a show being sanctioned. Our position has been forwarded to the Executive Director of the CEF, the President of the CEF and the VP of Competitions for the CEF and there appears to be agreement that our concern needs to be addressed.

We are proposing that within the Eventing Discipline, Provincial Horse Trials Associations shall be responsible for approving all Horse Trials and Provincial Championships and that the National Association (through the Competitions Committee) shall be responsible for approving all Two and Three Day Events as well as Regional or National Championship Events. The Competitions Committee would act as an arbitrator in the case of an issue between the PHTA and a local competition. The "approval" would consist of approving the dates as well as insuring that National Standards are being met at the competition site. The Competitions Committee will need to insure that issues identified on Technical Delegate reports are being addressed at the Provincial level prior to approving the competition.

10.4; $10 Horse License Fee – generally our group feels comfortable with a new fee if the promised results materialize. We feel very strongly that the project needs to be tendered and that the winning contract needs to contain financial penalties for exceeding the estimated completion time.

10.5; Computer database – HTC has several members who are professionally involved in database programs and feel the proposed $200,000 cost of a database is excessive and deserves review. However, we have not seen the description or details of the entire project and may not fully understand all that it includes.

Terms of Office:  2 years, maximum 3 terms

Responsibilities

• Responsible for all Athletes competing at FEI Three Day Events
• Responsible for Athlete Development of CCI*** and CCI**** riders
• Close working relationship with the Athlete Development Committee regarding lower level FEI competitors where responsibilities will be shared.
• Appoint a committee member to the International Committee of the Sports Council.

    TO BE FURTHER DEFINED BY THE COMMITTEE BY MARCH 15, 2001

The High Performance Committee, is responsible for the selection, development, and training of the National Three Day Event Team (s) and for overseeing the management of the Team in International competition.

The Chair and the Committee supervises:
National Coach/Team Manager
Three Day Event Chef d'Equipe

Maintains productive working relationships with riders, owners, provincial and International equestrian bodies and other key external groups as appropriate.

Directs the development of the Three Day High Performance Committee agendas and arranges for Committee meetings/conference calls, the preparation of Minutes, and the execution of actions arising from Committee meetings/calls.

Supports and oversees the timely communication of all actions and decisions of the committee to riders, owners, and relevant Three Day Event associations.

Works with the International Committee to formulate and recommend policies respecting the operation and administration of the National Team(s).

Works with the International Committee to develop and implement strategic plans, ensuring they are approved and properly executed.

Coordinates the development of annual budgets in concert with the High Performance Committee, Horse Trials Canada, the CEF Treasurer, and the CEF National office and recommends the approval of such budgets. Ensures that expenditures are maintained within approved parameters.

Coordinates the development and publication of selection criteria for International competition ensuring that they conform to FEI, IOC, and COA standards.

In accordance with established policy and criteria, responsible for the authorization of participants to compete in Individual International competitions.

Ensures that there is adequate committee representation (or Selection Committee members) at International competitions.

Keeps abreast of developments and advancements in the Three Day Event field and develops productive working relationships within Horse Trials Canada and with riders, owners, appropriate provincial equestrian bodies, and other key external groups.

In cases of lack of time or in emergencies, make decisions on behalf of the High Performance Committee. A full report to the committee and Horse Trials Canada will be necessary.

Responsibilities

• National Standards

• Course Advisors
• Grading
• Safety
• Organizer’s Handbook
• Close working relationship with the Officials/Rules Committee
• Appoint a committee member to the Competitions Committee of the Sports Council.

TO BE FURTHER DEFINED BY THE COMMITTEE BY MARCH 15, 2001

The Committee is responsible for the development of national standards for Eventing competitions.

The Competitions Committee and its subcommittees supervises all aspects required for running Horse Trials and Three Day Events in Canada. Coordinates with the other Technical Committees and the Board of Horse Trials Canada.

To encourage and promote the development of high performance competitions

Monitors Provincial Horse Trials competitions through Technical Delegate reports and handles any problems through the Provincial Horse Trials Associations.

To act as an arbitrator between Provincial Horse Trial Associations and Provincial Competitions in the case of a disagreement between them.

Coordinates and approves all high performance competitions (Two and Three Day Events) and National Championships.

Aids in the production of educational materials to assist organizers.

Develops national standards for Eventing competitions.

Coordinates (with Officials Committee) standards and development of cross country courses.

Liaise with the U.S. on competition standards, Young Riders, and High Performance scheduling.

Develops competitive programs as required (e.g. National Preliminary Young Riders series, Canadian Open).

Develops forms as required (e.g. national results report form).

Liaise with the High Performance Committee to ensure competition needs of athletes are being met.

Continues to monitor the safety level of the sport and make improvements where needed. Keeps current with international safety developments and implements them where appropriate (i.e. helmets, vests, break away logs, etc.).

Develops an Organizers' manual.

Monitors, computes, and provides an annual report on the grading of all event horses competing at the Preliminary level and above.

Resolves result collection and result data entry problems and implements an effective system.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for all Athletes competing at Horse Trials.

• Responsible for Athlete Development up to and including CCI** riders
• Close working relationship with the High Performance Committee regarding lower level FEI competitors where responsibilities will be shared.

• Appoint a committee member to the Athlete Development Committee of the Sports Council.

TO BE FURTHER DEFINED BY THE COMMITTEE BY MARCH 15, 2001

Current Areas of Concern from HTC Board – Workable solution for rider evaluation for FEI events. Concern regarding National "Coordination" of Young Riders competing at NAYRC.

The Committee is responsible for the development and coordination of national standards to increase the skills of developing Athletes.

The Athletes Development Committee and its subcommittees supervises programs for the developing Athlete. Coordinates with the other Technical Committees and the Board of Horse Trials Canada.

Formalizes the National Athlete Development Committee.

Continues the National Talent Identification program and recognizes and encourages identified Athletes and their coaches (National Talent Squad).

Organizes National courses and clinics for the purposes of identification and education and investigates how to improve the program. The continuation of the use of the National Coach with the addition of Level 3 or 4 Coaches, Team Athletes, and/or specialized consultants.

Expansion of additional educational opportunities such as lecture demonstrations, publications, etc.

Encourages and assists in the development of similar program at the Provincial level.

Improve programs for Athlete fitness through testing and physical, nutritional, and mental education.

Monitor success of Rider Scholarship Program(s) sponsored by Horse Trials Canada.

Coordinate with the High Performance Committee so programs are not duplicated.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for all Discipline Specific Officials

• Technical Delegates

• Event Jumper Judges

• Future – Eventing Judge?

• Responsible for Discipline Specific Rules.

• Close working relationship with the Competitions Committee
• Appoint a committee member to the Competitions Committee of the Sports Council.

TO BE FURTHER DEFINED BY THE COMMITTEE BY MARCH 15, 2001

Current Areas of Concern from HTC Board – a rule requiring discipline approval prior to CEF sanctioning?

The Officials Committee is responsible for the development and coordination of national standards for Eventing Officials and the continued updating of the Rules.

Reporting back to and working with the Sports Council Rules committees and insuring that "General Regulations" meets the needs of Eventing.

Development and implementation of accreditation programs for officials.

Development of standards for existing Eventing officials - technical delegates, ground juries, course designers, Event jumper judge, and new officials as required.

Approval of applications for accreditation or for maintenance of status.

Monitoring of officials' activities at competitions annually through Technical Delegates' and Organizers' Report Forms and handle any problems which may have occurred.

Working with the Competitions Committee on safe, realistic standards of cross

country course development and maintenance. Monitor through Technical Delegates' and Regional Course Inspectors' reports.

Implementation of educational programs for all Officials, including Ground Jury members, coordinating with Dressage and Show Jumping Committees of the CEF.

Education and setting standards for potential FEI accreditation and recommendation of candidates.

Continuing a leadership role in the education of veterinarians for Eventing competitions and the nomination of veterinarians for FEI status.

Organize clinics, format the manual and written exam and any other educational programs for Technical Delegate accreditation.

Provide the course conductors for regional clinics to be held each year (alternating between east/central and west).

Assign members to the Technical Delegate Exam Panel to undertake the above duties as well as to mark exams and to determine that candidates have met all the requirements as set down in the rules.

Organize a Course Advisors Panel (a panel of experienced and knowledgeable course designers and builders) to assist competitions organizers in the development and upgrading of their cross country courses and to aid in the resolution of any problems prior to competition. The Course Advisors are to work in close contact with the competition's Technical Delegate.

Review and revise rules as required with input coming from the technical committees as well as the Provincial Horse Trials organizations, the members, and the FEI.

Coordinate with the CEF the production and publication of the Rule Book for Combined Training on a schedule determined by the CEF.

Act as host for FEI course for Judges, Technical Delegates, Course Designers when required.

Develop a recruitment program for Eventing Officials.

Start the process of having a 'Ground Jury' or 'Three Day Event' official - someone who has the qualifications to judge the dressage and stadium as well as the knowledge of Eventing rules so they can make informed decisions required of a Ground Jury at a competition. A national equivalent of the FEI of a Three Day Event Judge.

The above responsibilities may be divided among subcommittees - i.e. Rules Committee, Technical Delegate Exam Panel, etc. The Chair of the Officials Committee will sit on the Rules Subcommittee.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for all Discipline Specific Coaching programs – Level 3+
• Close working relationship with National Committee on Level ½ Coaching programs.
• Appoint a committee member to the International Committee of the Sports Council.

TO BE FURTHER DEFINED BY THE COMMITTEE BY MARCH 15, 2000

The Coaching Committee is responsible for the development and coordination with the Coaching Association of Canada of national standards for Eventing Coaches.

The Coaching Committee supervises programs for developing Eventing Coaches. Coordinates with the other Technical Committees, the Board of Horse Trials Canada, and the Coaching Association of Canada.

Revise and complete implementation of Level 4 and Level 5 programs as required.

Coordinate with Provincial Sport Organizations.

Continue with Level 3 evaluation and examination programs, training and appointing Course Conductors.

Continue educational programs for all Eventing coaches.

Participate in the monitoring of Level 1 and Level 2 programs.

Helps coordinate National Coaching Seminar.

FINANCE / SPONSORSHIP

Responsibilities

• Responsible for Financial Controls.

• Preparation of Annual Budget
• Monitoring Actual vs. Budgeted expenses, revenues and programs.
• Investment of held funds
• Appoint a committee member to the Finance Committee of the Sports Council.

TO BE FURTHER DEFINED BY THE COMMITTEE BY MARCH 15, 2001

Current Areas of Concern from HTC Board – Deadlines for applications for program funds, how strict to be?

The committee will work with Horse Trials Canada, the CEF sponsorship committee, the Technical Committees, and Sport Canada in order to meet its basic function goals.

To work with the Treasurer (who may be the Chair) in developing budgets and annual programs for the Association.

To establish fundraising programs in concert with support groups and

fundraising committees to support the sport and the National Three Day Event Team.

To strive for self sufficiency in the near future by involving the corporate sector.

Maintain contact with fundraising programs established by support groups or Provincial Horse Trials Associations and convey fund requirements to them respecting annual and specific needs.

To develop promotional materials (sponsorship kits for organizers, promotional videos, etc.).

Develop Provincial contacts into National representation if applicable.

To work with the CEF sponsorship committee(s) in developing and implementing programs that will go to all Olympic/FEI disciplines.

To work with the Treasurer in determining those qualified for tax receipts and making our membership aware of the availability of our charitable status.