The U.S. Equestrian Federation has released its ruling on an incident involving Jazz Johnson-Merton from the Hampton Classic Horse Show (N.Y.) in September.
The Chronicle reported the original incident on Sept. 19 when a video surfaced that appeared to show Johnson-Merton falling from Joe Cool in the 3’3″ amateur-owner hunter, 36 and over, division and then attempting to kick the horse’s barrel from the ground.
The video received significant interest online, and the USEF launched an investigation into the incident on Sept. 21. Johnson-Merton released a response on Sept. 23 that she originally penned to USEF President Bill Moroney.
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Johnson-Merton was found to have engaged in unsportsmanlike conduct in violation of Chapter 7, GR 702.1d of the USEF rules. She will serve a suspension period from Aug. 1 to Sept. 30, 2018, and she was also fined $5,000.
As of publication time, Johnson-Merton had not responded to a request for comment on the ruling.
