John Long, Chief Executive Officer of the United States Equestrian Federation, Inc., (USEF) announced today that Maria G. Partlow has joined the organization as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications. She reports directly to Mr. Long at the USEF headquarters in Lexington, Kentucky.

“Tremendous new marketing, public relations and sponsorship opportunities were created when the former U.S.A. Equestrian and the United States Equestrian Team (USET) joined as one December 1st, 2003,” said Mr. Long. “The appointment of Ms. Partlow is the first step in creating new marketing initiatives for our organization. She will spearhead our efforts to expand our membership by creating new member benefits and to market our sport to the media, public at large and to potential new sponsors.”

Ms. Partlow’s career experience includes marketing and communications for a number of industries including package goods, banking, tourism, political campaigns and theme parks both domestically and internationally. She has worked in the advertising agency business in New York and Kentucky, including Doe Anderson Advertising in Louisville, Kentucky into which she merged her own advertising agency in 1997. She was a member of the team that resurrected a formerly bankrupt Kentucky Kingdom Theme Park in 1991 and grew it into the fastest growing theme park in the nation at the time it was sold to Six Flags in 1997. Most recently she was Vice President of Marketing for ThemeParks, LLC., a developer and operator of theme parks, and then served as the press secretary for the Lunsford-Edelman gubernatorial campaign in Kentucky.

She also has equine experience, having shown American Saddlebreds as a junior and currently shows her hunter as an adult amateur. Ms. Partlow is also a former polo player, and owns an American Paint Horse and a half-Andalusian.

“I look forward to working with John Long and the entire team at the USEF. This is more than just a job for me, it is an opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to horse sports which have been such an important part of my life.”

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