As the national governing body for all levels of equestrian sport – not just the Olympic levels of equestrian sport – we receive many questions from members wondering whether their hard-earned membership fees will fund a senior rider sending his horse to a distant European destination to compete in a high-performance event such as a championship.
©Andrea Evans/US Equestrian
The term “High Performance” encompasses US Equestrian’s programs dedicated to identifying, developing and supporting athlete-horse combinations capable of representing the United States at the highest levels of international competition – including the Olympic Games, World Championships and Nations Cup teams – with the goal of achieving sustained competitiveness. High Performance Teams are highly visible to the USEF as the training, selection and funding of the US Equestrian Team is part of the association’s mission and responsibility, but it is important to know that high-performance programs and teams do not rely on the contributions of our 83,000 competitive members for support.
This chart is from the Federation’s 2025 financial data, which will be published in the For The Record section of our website later this week. Audited financial information and tax returns are reported annually in accordance with USEF bylaws and U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) requirements.
The graphic represents the costs of high performance sports programs, including travel, training and coaching. The portion of high performance not considered here concerns the salaries of our athletic department employees, as full-time employees in the USEF athletic department are named by race or discipline, not competitive level. Employees who work in show jumping, for example, care for athletes of all levels, from an Olympian heading to the world championships to an amateur competitor with a rules question before his 0.70-meter dash this weekend, and everyone in between.
The USOPC is an important source of funding for high performance sports programs and the US Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation is another. USET is the philanthropic partner of USEF, raising money to support the competition, training, coaching, travel and educational needs of elite and developing horses and athletes at high levels of performance. Last year, combined support from the USOPC and the USET Foundation was $3.55 million, or 56% of the cost of high performance sports programs.
Athletes participating in high performance competitions are required to pay dues in excess of the standard competition membership of $100 and also pay fees for application to high performance programs, competitions abroad and other elements of participation in elite competitions. This amounted to approximately $661,000 and covered 11% of the cost of high performance sports programs last year.
The remaining $2.07 million, or 33%, of the 2025 high performance sports program budget will be funded by sponsorships. A range of sponsorship and advertising opportunities are available to the brands we work with. However, some specifically seek the exposure that comes with official sponsorship of an international team, or they choose to build sponsorship exclusively on high-performance events to reach their target audiences. This portion of sponsorship funds high performance programs as it is delivered by those high performance teams or events.
Even with the support of the USEF, owners and athletes at the highest levels of performance still pay the travel and living expenses associated with elite sport. USEF’s programs are designed to support, but not fully fund, these expenses for high-performing participants.
Stay tuned to future USEF Insider editions for more answers to questions about how the numbers behind the federation work.
https://www.usef.org/media/newsletter/the-insider/usef-mythbusters-where-does-money-come-from-for
