Robert Higgins (2025)
Longtime Participating Member Delegate and 2007 USDF Volunteer of the Year Robert Higgins has been a dedicated advocate and supporter of dressage and USDF for many years. Beyond his official capacities as a USEF Technical Delegate and FEI Steward, Robert has remained actively involved in the dressage world since joining USDF in 1993. Throughout this time, he has logged countless volunteer hours regionally, nationally, and beyond with his involvement with competitions like Dressage at Devon, the USDF Region 8 Championships, and the US Dressage Finals, at which he has volunteered since it's inception.
Induction Speech
As a proud 1958 graduate of the United States Military Academy, retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Robert Higgins embodied the West Point motto of “Duty, Honor, Country” during his long military career. He has brought this same level of dedication and commitment to the USDF and the sport of dressage.
Robert has held so many volunteer positions; many people might find it difficult to keep track of them all… but not Robert, who, in squared-away military fashion, compiled them into an equestrian résumé for us to prepare these remarks. Over the course of 40 years, he has chaired or served on six USDF committees, including Fiscal Review, Budget & Finance, Audit, Technical Delegates, and Bylaws. At the same time, he has co-chaired or served on five US Equestrian committees or task forces, including Competition Management, Audit, and Rule Book Reorganization.
All of these committees benefited tremendously from Robert's extensive skills and experience. In addition to his engineering degree from West Point, he holds a master's degree in physics and an MBA in finance and accounting. As an Army officer, he is a true leader, and in the civilian world, he's worked as a test engineer and COO. In short, he's equipped to run pretty much any kind of organization and lead pretty much any group of people!
But this barely scratches the surface of Robert's contributions to dressage and the sport-horse world. He's a graduate of the Colorado State Equine Reproduction Course, and for five years in the 1980s, he managed a dressage and breeding facility in Orlando, Florida. In the 80s and 90s, he also became involved with show management, working on some of the most prestigious competitions in the country, such as the CDI Tampa, CDI Wellington, Capital Dressage Classic, North American Dressage Championships, and USDF Region 8 championships. He also served as co-publisher of the Florida Omnibus, commonly known as “the Blue Book.” For the past eight years, he's been the assistant to the US Dressage Finals competition manager.
Robert also became a licensed official, serving as a dressage technical delegate and an FEI dressage steward.
Wherever there's a big dressage show, it seems you'll find Robert there somewhere, diligently filling an important volunteer role. He's served the role of emcee for the Raleigh CDI in North Carolina and the New England Dressage Association CDI. He's coordinated judge transportation and awards for Raleigh, Dressage at Devon, NEDA, USDF Region 3, and the US Dressage Finals. For 18 years, he has also been a member of the Dressage at Devon Gentlemen's Committee.
Robert “truly has earned this recognition,” said his friend and colleague Anne Gribbons, “because of his faithful and longtime support of the USDF and the sport of dressage in general as a steward, TD, and committee member.”
As a volunteer at dressage competitions, “Somehow, Robert was everywhere at once,” said Lois Yukins. “Intuitive and able to see potential problems, he found successful solutions before trouble. His military background gave him the skills to make order out of the chaos of awards ceremonies. His cool head and methodical approach to problems were invaluable to the volunteers at the shows.”
According to Lois, no detail escapes Robert's keen eye. She mentioned that “he has been known to rush out to the local hardware store to get a stepladder for judges needing just a little help up into the judging booth,” adding that a fellow Dressage at Devon Gentlemen's Committee member refers to Robert as the “cat herder-in-chief.”
Robert, Lois said, “takes on any task asked of him. He is the USDF member that we should all aspire to be.”
On a personal note, Robert is a mentor, advisor, and friend to me, always offering me sound advice and driving me forward when needed. We salute Robert's dedication and contributions by presenting him with the USDF Lifetime Achievement Award.
- Kevin Reinig, USDF President