With horse welfare concerns making headlines, the U.S. Equestrian Federation hosted an in-person town hall meeting on that topic as it related to hunter/jumper sport June 11 at Split Rock Hunter Jumper Classic II (Kentucky).

One big talking point? Strengthening rules about horse collapses. While USEF rules currently define a collapse as “a fall to the ground with no apparent cause,” officials want to clarify the collapse rule to include any “unexplained contact of any part of the horse’s body with the ground.” And while the current rule mandates that horses who collapse may not compete for 72 hours after the incident—or 24 hours if a veterinarian examines the animal and certifies its fitness—USEF officials want to extend that mandatory recovery period. They are discussing establishing a requirement that horses who collapse may not return to competition until they have been examined by a veterinarian and sit out for 14 days.

Sonja Keating, who served on the moderating panel at the town hall with U.S. Hunter Jumper Association President Britt McCormick, USEF CEO Bill Moroney, USEF Director of FEI Sport Hallye Griffin and USEF Integrity Unit Investigator Jon Lathrop, said that there was lots of support for a 14-day break from competition for a horse after a collapse at the town hall.

Meeting attendees suggested a requirement that a horse’s owners be notified if it collapses. They also asked USEF to consider possibly suspending the trainer for 14 days if there’s a collapse.

Increasing Education

Requiring horse welfare educational training is also on the table, McCormick said. USHJA is working on several horse welfare modules, he said, and USEF may eventually make a horse welfare training mandatory.

“We have SafeSport training, and we’ve talked about certifying trainers, and maybe what we need is an equine welfare module that you’re required to take as part of your membership,” McCormick said.

Moderators also suggested lengthening the withdrawal time for permitted therapeutic drug administrations from 24 hours to 48 hours prior to competition.

“The example we used in the town hall was saying, let’s say a horse cuts itself, and they have to sedate it to stitch it up,” McCormick said. “Yeah, I could probably go back and compete in 24, but probably you should wait 48, right?”

A proposed requirement that all horses in $10,000-plus classes must be on the show grounds 24 hours before the class also garnered discussion. This is already a requirement for all USHJA International Hunter Derby classes.

“With the advent of these big facilities and people owning farms next door, what’s the right number where you have to have 24-hour stabling?” McCormick asked.

“If you have some horses stabled on the grounds and some people walking through the fence from their farm next door and walking right into the ring, that’s not a level playing field,” he added. “So that’s where we want to decide what the level is, where they have to be stabled on site and have check-ins and all that.”

Some attendees suggested shifting the 24-hour stabling requirement to be based on the height of a class rather than the prize money offered.

USEF raised eyebrows when it put out a release on May 27 saying that it is working on collecting and testing hair samples to detect prohibited substances. Officials clarified in Kentucky that hair testing would allow them to detect barbiturates in particular.

Keating said that testers will still pull blood and urine from horses that have been selected for drug testing, and that hair samples could show other substances that don’t appear in those fluids.

Hair testing will help USEF enforce its new prohibited substances list, by detecting the presence of drugs such as pentobarbital, typically used in euthanasia but reportedly abused by some individuals to calm horses for the show ring.

“I think it’s going to be a little more strategic in nature, and it’s not intended to look for therapeutic substances,” said Keating. “We’re not looking for Bute. It’s intended to look for prohibited substances that should never be in a horse. A euthanasia drug should never be in a horse unless the veterinarian is intentionally euthanizing a horse. Full stop.”

Looking Ahead

Attendees brought forward several suggestions to improve horse welfare, including registering veterinarians at competitions, campaigning to raise awareness among grooms and braiders about reporting abuse, changing judging standards for hunters to allow more expression commensurate with the level of class, and use of cameras in barns, longeing areas and schooling areas.

“We were only planning on going about an hour, and I think we went close to two and a half, with really, really good discussion,” McCormick said.

Keating acknowledged that some USEF members are angry about what they see as the inaction of the USEF in the face of abuse. She explained the appeal process to meeting attendees, and Lathrop, the USEF Integrity Unit investigator, gave background on the steps he could take as an investigator and the actions he can’t take.

“I think one thing people learned in the town hall was the extent to which the USEF is limited in its ability to prosecute [horse welfare issues], and Sonja did a really good job of walking everybody through the steps that come after a hearing,” McCormick said.

“It’s quite difficult to prove things that ‘everyone knows,’ ” he added. “It’s the whole ‘everyone knows so-and-so does this.’ Well, that’s great, but if it doesn’t hold up under scrutiny, it’s useless. We’re trying to help everyone understand that [the staff at USEF] are doing their best, and they’re really limited in the tools that they have to prosecute and gain evidence.”

Keating said that several of the conversations will help inform future presidential modifications and rule changes.

While dates haven’t been released yet, the USEF is planning future town halls throughout the year addressing “potential rule and policy changes aimed at improving horse safety and well-being.” The town halls will take place across a range of locations and sports, and there will be one held online as well.

“We have to have a basic culture change in our industry, in our sport,” McCormick said. “That’s what all this revolves around. We can make all the rules we want, [but] I don’t think we need more rules, I think we need common sense. We need a culture change for people to, yes, try to win and try to be the best they can be, but get back to taking care of their horses as the first priority and nothing else matters until we get to that point.

“I told [attendees], I’m tired of playing defense,” he added. “I want to go on offense. I think the majority of the people already are there. And we have to find the bad actors and get them out of our industry and get back to the basics, which is taking care of our horses. That’s what the whole thing was about.”