|
Influential
Horseman Richard McDevitt Passes Away
|
Richard
McDevitt of Malvern, PA, long-time President of the Devon Horse
show, former President of the American Horse Shows Association
and prominent Philadelphia lawyer, died on Friday, April 11.
McDevitt
served as the President of the American Horse Shows Association,
now known as USA Equestrian, from 1975 1987. His influence
was widespread, specifically in the area of enforcement and promotion
of the drugs and medications rules. McDevitt made it a personal
mission to rid the sport of these types of abuse, for the benefit
of not only the sport, but also for the welfare of the horse.
During his tenure the AHSA saw a 70% increase in competitions
and the membership more than doubled.
Due
to his dedication to the sport, McDevitt received the AHSA Award
of Merit, an award given only upon special discretion of the Executive
Committee. In 2000 McDevitt was awarded the Marty Simensen Memorial
Trophy for his work as a pioneer of the AHSA Drugs and Medications
Program.
For
26 years McDevitt served as the president and guiding force to
the Devon Horse Show and also served as its Chairman. He served
on the Appeals Committee for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games
and was President of the Ground Jury at the 1984 Pan American
Games. He also served as President of the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders
Association and was a member of the USET Executive Committee.
USA
Equestrian Inc., as the National Equestrian Federation of the
U.S., is the regulatory body for the Olympic and World Championship
sports of dressage, driving, endurance, eventing, reining, show
jumping, and vaulting, as well as 19 other breeds and disciplines
of equestrian competition. As
the country's largest multi-breed organization, the Federation
has over 80,000 members and recognizes more than 2,800 competitions
nationwide each year. It governs all aspects of competition, including
educating and licensing all judges, stewards, and technical delegates
who officiate at these shows.
VISION STATEMENT
The vision of USA Equestrian is to provide leadership for equestrian
sport in the United States of America, promoting the pursuit of
excellence from the grass roots to the Olympic Games, based on
a foundation of fair, safe competition and the welfare of its
horses, and embracing this vision, to be the best national equestrian
federation in the world.
www.equestrian.org
.