Lexington, Ky. – On June 11, US Equestrian held its first town hall discussion focused on horse welfare at the Split Rock Hunter Jumper Classic II at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky. The event is the first in a series of public discussions planned throughout 2025 to engage participants in open dialog on concepts including potential rule and policy changes aimed at improving horse safety and well-being. The Federation will conduct similar town halls across a range of breeds, disciplines, and locations, and is also planning an online town hall for those unable to attend in-person sessions.   

Since the audience at this competition consisted of hunter/jumper participants, this town hall focused on topics which would predominately impact the hunter and jumper disciplines. Possible policy and rule changes were presented by representatives of US Equestrian and the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association. 

Community discussions and member feedback informed the list of topics which included: 
 

• Requiring certificates of capability (also known as Minimum Eligibility Requirements or MERs) for participants to advance up through the levels in each discipline to ensure proper preparation, skill, and safety 

• Clarifying the collapse rule to include incidents of unexplained contact of any part of the horse’s body with the ground 

• Establishing a requirement that any horse who has collapsed be prohibited from continuing to compete at the current competition and from returning to competition for an additional 14 days, provided the horse has been examined by a licensed veterinarian before returning to competition 

• Implementation of hair testing to capture use of prohibited substances, including barbiturates 

• Requiring horse welfare educational training for members, including licensed officials and competition management 

• Lengthening the withdrawal time for permitted therapeutic drug administrations from 24 hours to 48 hours prior to competition 

• Requiring horses in classes offering $10,000 or more in prize money to stable on show grounds for a minimum of 24 hours before competing 

“We appreciate the opportunity this town hall provided for us to engage in-person with the membership and gain their perspectives regarding concepts to improve the safety and welfare of horses,” said US Equestrian CEO Bill Moroney. “We are encouraged by their willingness to discuss the challenging issues our sport is facing and provide valuable feedback to help inform solutions. We look forward to hosting more town halls around the country allowing us to interact with and obtain feedback from members across the USEF family of breeds and disciplines.”  

 

Wednesday’s session generated productive suggestions from attendees, including feedback about the possible rule changes presented as well as member-generated ideas. Attendees came with numerous suggestions, including:   
 

• Clarifying requirements of a post-collapse veterinary exam  

• Registering vets at competitions 

• Notification to owners when a horse is reported to have experienced a collapse and to consider if the trainer should sit out for 14 days if there is a collapse. 

• An awareness campaign encouraging grooms and braiders to anonymously report potential violations of GR838

• A change in judging standards for hunters, creating a penalty system that does not penalize a horse for displaying expressiveness commensurate with the level of class during competition, and educating judges and participants on these standards 

• Shifting the 24-hour stabling requirement to be based upon the height of a class rather than the prize money offered 

• Use of cameras in barns, lunging, and schooling areas on showgrounds for monitoring  

The town hall also provided attendees with an overview of the investigation processes and timelines for horse welfare rule violations, as well as the evidence needed by the Federation to conduct a productive investigation and pursue a case for a rule violation. For more information on this topic, click here.    

A schedule of town halls will be forthcoming. In the meantime, if you have thoughts on rule changes that could benefit horse welfare, email [email protected].