The Board appreciates the participation of the membership in the recent survey we sent out. Getting feedback makes it much easier for the board to make decisions about the future of UHCA and potential Handbook changes. Below are the results of the survey.

    

Key Issues:

Should we increase the number of obstacles in the Buckaroo division?

• 63% of members are in favor of this change
• 13% of members were opposed to this change
• 23% of members expressed no opinion
• Breaking down the results a bit further, 85% of parents of Buckaroo riders supported this decision

The board had decided to increase the number of obstacles for the Buckaroo division to 8.

 

The next important issue was whether members felt that moving the Colt division from the high impact course to the low impact course was a positive or negative change.

• 62% of the members felt it was a positive change
• Less than 8% felt it was a negative change
• Of the riders who have competed in the Colt division in the past two seasons, 66% felt it was a positive change

The board is still discussing how we can improve timing of our events so both courses finish closer to the same time while still keeping our colts safe .

We also wanted to know if you felt 2 year old colts were too young to be competing in UHCA events.

• 33% of members said 2 year old colts should not be ridden in UHCA events
• 41% of members felt that it should be up to the rider to decide
• 25% were unsure of how they felt about this issue

The board had decided not to prohibit 2 year old colts from UHCA competitions, but we do encourage riders to consider the health and welfare of these young horses when deciding to compete on them.

 

80% of the membership expressed an interest in being able to register for events and pay entry fees online. There are some logistical challenges with paying for entries in advance when there is a third-party host involved. For now, we will most likely offer pre-registration online, but you’ll have to pay at the event with the exception of UHCA-hosted events such as this year’s race at Burlington.

 

80% of the membership indicated they would like to have access to an online member directory. We will be adding this feature to the website.  By default, the directory will display the members name, city, and state, but members can control what information is displayed or not displayed by editing their privacy settings in their profile.

 

62% of members indicated that the online Handbook meets their needs. The board decided to print a handful of Handbooks for those that do prefer print and these will be available at events, but will not be mailed out.

 

87% of members felt that the current method of providing access to scorecards is effective, so we will continue to make the scorecards available at the following event. However, the scorecards will be discarded after the subsequent event, so be sure to have someone pick yours up for you if you are unable to attend the following event.