About Hill Country Eventing Foundation

Hill Country Eventing Foundation (HCEF), also referred to as, “Hill Country Eventing,” is a nonprofit corporation organized under the laws of the State of Texas and organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service Code of 1986, as amended.  HCEF promotes education about and participation in equestrian eventing, including: dressage, show jumping, and cross-country jumping, in the Texas Hill Country in so doing to promote South Texas as a recognized destination for professional equestrian eventing.

HCEF primarily supports equestrian eventing in the Texas Hill Country. The Texas Hill Country is a twenty-five-county region of Central Texas and South Texas featuring karst topography and tall rugged hills consisting of thin layers of soil atop limestone or granite. The area also includes the Llano Uplift and the second largest granite dome in the United States, Enchanted Rock. The Hill Country reaches into portions of the two major metropolitan areas, especially in San Antonio’s northern suburbs and the western half of Travis County, ending southwest of Downtown Austin. The region is the eastern portion of the Edwards Plateau and is bound by the Balcones Fault on the east and the Llano Uplift to the west and north. The terrain is punctuated by a large number of limestone or granite rocks and boulders and a thin layer of topsoil, which makes the region very dry and prone to flash flooding. The Texas Hill Country is also home to several native types of vegetation, such as various yucca, prickly pear cactus, cedar scrub, and the dry Southwestern tree known as the Texas live oak. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the following 25 counties comprise the Texas Hill Country: Bandera, Bell, Bexar, Blanco, Burnet, Comal, Coryell, Crockett, Edwards, Gillespie, Hays, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Lampasas, Llano, Mason, McCullouch, Menard, Real, San Saba, Schleicher, Sutton, Travis, Val Verde, and Williamson.

Effective March 8, 2016, the Foundation formed and the initial Directors of HCEF were John Knotts, Lori Seitz, and Carrie Poloson. John Knotts is the registered agent and President for the Foundation. HCEF is not a membership organization. It has an Operating Board of Directors that, per the by-laws, manages the organization, and an Advisory Board of Directors that provides input and advice for the Operating Board to make decisions. There is no paid staff HCEF—all Directors are volunteer and receive zero financial remuneration.

HCEF’s office and mailing address, through a partnership with Hill Country Eventing Foundation, is at 285 Obst Rd, Bulverde TX 78163.

Funds

The foundation has three primary funds and is open to establishing other potential funds. These funds allow the Foundation to fulfill its mission.

Hill Country Eventing Foundation was formed in partnership with Fine Print Farms for the purpose of bringing eventing to the Texas Hill Country. A minimum amount of each fund is initially supporting the standing up of this facility. However, those in the Texas Hill Country that have infrastructure projects that promote equestrian dressage, jumping, and cross country can contact us for guidance for grant submission guidelines. Each request will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and initially up to certain percentage of each fund can support outside efforts.

Infrastructure Fund
The Infrastructure Fund is designed to generate financial support for all manner of hard infrastructure projects that promote equestrian dressage, jumping, and cross country in the Texas Hill Country. The fund will support basic physical and organizational structures and facilities like the following:

  • Property purchases and management
  • All building construction and maintenance
  • Construction and maintenance of fences
  • Establishment and management of utilities
  • Roads and grounds work

Programs Fund
The Programs Fund is designed to generate financial support for all manner of programs that support and promote equestrian dressage, jumping, and cross country in the Texas Hill Country. The fund will support programs such as the following:

  • Training
  • Schooling
  • Shows
  • Education

General Fund
The General Fund is designed to generate financial support for and is used for both infrastructure and programs, as well as any other needs that promote equestrian dressage, jumping, and cross country in the Texas Hill Country. Basically, this money can be used in any area that is not administrative.

Other Funds
Occasionally, Large donors are interested in creating a very specific type of fund, such as a scholarship fund in remembrance of someone that passed away. These can be single individuals or groups of people who wish to fund something specific in line with the mission and vision of HCEF. Large donors can also specifically sponsor large projects, like building a barn or arena, or funding an event.
These donors, normally donating $10K or more, can work with the Foundation to discuss establishing a special lasting fund or making special donations.  HCEF acknowledges that large donations to eventing in the Texas Hill Country are a special situation and will be sure such donors receive appropriate acknowledgement unless they wish to remain anonymous.

Goals

The Foundation has eight strategic goals:

  • Education and Awareness
  • Volunteering
  • Engagement
  • News and Information
  • Training and Programs
  • Infrastructure Support
  • Networking
  • Growth of Eventing

These eight goals spell out the mnemonic “EVENTING” and are addressed below.

Education and Awareness
The Foundation supports and promotes education and awareness in the areas aligned to its mission and vision. Education and awareness involve anything related to the sport of eventing and can involve facility and course design, safety, technique, fitness, horse care and maintenance, and much more. Promotion is done through blogs, news articles, and support of programs that promote eventing.

Volunteering
As a non-profit organization, the Foundation promotes volunteering in support of the equestrian sport of eventing. Additionally, the Foundation will organize volunteer events and volunteers for events that support eventing.

Engagement
One of the primary missions of Hill Country Eventing Foundation is to encourage engagement in the sport throughout the South Texas area. By providing philanthropic support for the sport, the Foundation is working to increase that engagement.

News and Information
Throughout the world, the sport of eventing and its associated elements, such as dressage and show jumping, are practiced and enjoyed. The Foundation, through various means, will provide news and information to interested people (especially in the Texas Hill Country) regarding all elements of the sport.

Training and Programs
Training and special programs designed to promote and educate about the sport of eventing are primarily funded by the Foundations’ non-profit program.

Infrastructure Support
Eventing infrastructure designed to promote and educate about the sport of eventing are primarily funded by the Foundations’ non-profit program.

Networking
One of HCEF’s fundamental capabilities will be to bring riders, trainers, service providers, and businesses together to further the sport of eventing. Through the power of networking and by setting up network events, the eventing community will thrive in the Texas Hill Country.

Growth of Eventing
HCEF’s vision is to grow the sport of eventing throughout South Texas through all the above goals. Thus, HCEF’s Growth goal is a culmination of the other seven goals and should always be the underlying focus of the of the organization.