USPA Announces Blue Ribbon Commission to Examine Additional Safeguards for Horses

WELLINGTON, Fla., May 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the United States Polo Association (USPA) announced the 21 volunteer members of its Polo Pony Welfare Committee (PPWC), a committee tasked with examining current best practices regarding equine welfare in polo and other equine sports and presenting findings and recommendations to USPA at the next Board of Governors meeting in October.

The committee membership will include leading expert veterinarians, industry leaders, players, trainers and owners. In the wake of the apparently accidental and tragic deaths of 21 horses at last month's USPA championships inWellington,Florida, the USPA Board of Governors commissioned the PPWC to review USPA's high equine safety and welfare standards, rules, policies and provisions and examine possible actions to improve them.

"USPA is dedicated to equine safety and this committee will continue our tradition of putting the safety of our horses first," said USPA Executive Director Peter Rizzo. "The PPWC has been given wide latitude to examine all safety aspects of the sport. The members of the committee represent a wide range of experts from all areas of polo and all are committed to working tirelessly over the coming weeks and months to examine best practices and identify improvements to our existing high standards for equine safety."

The PPWC will consist of 21 volunteer members; headed by Chairman Dr. Bill Patterson (full list available at US-POLO.ORG). Each member has been carefully selected to ensure that all areas of polo expertise are represented and to ensure that the PPWC will carefully examine all aspects of equine safety. The committee will also be charged with consulting other equine sport associations to review their policies and provisions in an effort to identify best practices for polo.

PPWC will include an executive committee that will create the specific by-laws, policy recommendations and equine safety provisions to be presented to the USPA Board of Governors. These recommendations will be based on the input, advice and consensus of the full committee members. The executive committee will consist of members of the full committee and will be chaired by Dr. Patterson. The executive committee members include Dr. Josh Hall, Clint Nangle, Peter Rizzo, Russ Sheldon, Charles Smith and Dr. Kathleen Timmins.

The USPA Board of Governors will consider the recommendations of the PPWC and the board will make the final decisions on enacting new USPA policies and by-laws. The USPA is 100% committed to providing the very best in safety and welfare for both players and their mounts.

United States Polo Association www.us-polo.org

The USPA has been organized and exists for the purposes of promoting the game of polo, coordinating the activities of its Member Clubs and Registered Players, arranging and supervising polo tournaments, competitions, and games and providing rules, handicaps, and conditions for those tournaments, competitions, and games including the safety and welfare of participants and mounts.

SOURCE United States Polo Association

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