Announcing 2012 High School Equestrian Athlete Grants

In 2012 the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) will offer more than $20,000 in grant money to qualified students and high school equestrian clubs or teams across the nation through its High School Equestrian Athlete program.

To be eligible for a grant an applicant must be a current USEF High School Equestrian Athlete program participant and have successfully completed at least one year of the program. The applicant must also be a member of at least one USEF Recognized Breed/Discipline Affiliate or International Affiliate Association. (See below for a list of affiliate organizations). A subcommittee of the National Affiliate Working Group will select one applicant from each Recognized Breed/Discipline Affiliate or International Affiliate Association to receive a $1,000 grant to be used for academic or equestrian educational pursuits.

Students interested in applying for a grant will need to submit a 500 word essay that answers questions about their experiences in the USEF High School Equestrian Athlete program. Essay questions will be sent by email to all program participants in May and completed essays will be due between June 5th and 11th, 2012. All essays must be submitted through the applicant's online USEF user account to be eligible for consideration by the selection committee. Additional information is available here.

The USEF will also award ten $500 grants to local high school equestrian clubs and teams. These grants will be awarded to the ten clubs or teams in the USEF High School Equestrian Athlete program with the most student participation. State and national associations are not eligible to receive these grants.

Please contact highschoolequestrianathlete@usef.org with any questions about grants available through the USEF High School Equestrian Athlete program.

Enrollment in the program for the current school year is still open. For more information or to apply online, visit: www.usef.org/highschool

USEF Recognized Breed/Discipline or International Affiliate Associations

American Connemara Pony Society

American Driving Society

American Endurance Ride Conference

American Hackney Horse Society

American Morgan Horse Association

American Road Horse and Pony Association

American Saddlebred Horse Association

American Shetland Pony Club

American Vaulting Association

Arabian Horse Association

International Andalusian and Lusitano Horse Association

International Friesian Show Horse Association

National Show Horse Registry

Paso Fino Horse Association

United States Dressage Federation

United States Eventing Association

United States Hunter Jumper Association

United States Para-Equestrian Association

Welsh Pony and Cob Society of America

The popularity of the USEF High School Equestrian Athlete program has grown exponentially since it started in late 2009, with more than 4,500 students having participated. The program was created to recognize and reward the accomplishments of high school equestrian athletes and encourage their future involvement in equestrian sport. Students in the program are eligible to receive a varsity equestrian patch, yearly pins and certificates of completion, as well as access to a line of quality and custom merchandise such as letterman jackets, soft-shell riding jackets, and hats. Visit www.usef.org/highschool for more information.

As a service to our readers, Around the Rings will provide verbatim texts of selected press releases issued by Olympic-related organizations, federations, businesses and sponsors.

These press releases appear as sent to Around the Rings and are not edited for spelling, grammar or punctuation.

Your complete source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only.