When you attend a professional baseball game this summer or even your child’s soccer league finals, you can’t help but notice the officials—umpires and referees—observing the competition and taking action when necessary when rules are broken or an unusual situation arises.

In horse sports, we don’t have these exact types of officials overseeing our rings, but we do have stewards who monitor the competition to ensure that standards are maintained and that competitors follow U.S. Equestrian Federation rules and regulations to ensure fair sport for everyone.

While umpires, referees and stewards have similar responsibilities for their respective sports, there’s one major difference between these other sports and horse sports: their officials are hired by their governing bodies—Major League Baseball, for instance—while horse show stewards are hired directly by the show managers.

We expect that the umpires and referees are fair and impartial to the two teams playing because they’re hired by a “third” party to oversee the competition, but what about our stewards? Can a steward truly be fair and impartial in enforcing rules and show standards when he’s being paid by one side, the show management?

I’ve thought a lot about this question this year after watching grand prix horses slipping and sliding in the rings on the Winter Equestrian Festival circuit in Wellington, Fla., and observing top hunters at Devon (Pa.) trying to show on a 13- to 14-foot stride when the footing stung so much the horses didn’t want to open up their strides.

And while the above two situations stand out in my mind, they’re by no means rare. At another major show, one particular ring has been a problem for years, this year being no exception.

Even the course designers know not to set jumps in one area of the ring due to inconsistent footing. Nevertheless, I watched the junior hunters land from a jump near this area, and a hole grew as the class went on. The hole became so deep from so many landings that one horse going near the end of the class caught his toe and fell down.

Why are these situations allowed to develop into serious problems—sometimes over many years—and create dangerous conditions not only for the horses but also for the riders? Why is there no one at these horse shows who will stand up for the competitors and say, “Something needs to be changed”?
One reason is that stewards work for the horse show managers.

Many stewards are not reporting problems such as these to the USEF. If stewards reported directly to the USEF or the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association, there would be no conflict of interest.

A steward’s job is to write a report and send it in to the USEF after the horse show concludes. If the steward sends a negative report to the USEF and consequently the horse show manager is disciplined, then the horse show manager may be inclined to hire a different steward the next time. If a steward wants to keep a good relationship with a particular show manager, he may write a better report.

Now if a steward is hired by the USEF, he may be more inclined to provide a balanced report. This steward will have no reason to take management’s side when an issue between competitors and show management arises.

While I feel most stewards try not to have any bias toward their employers, having them employed by the governing body would remove any perception of bias.

We see the repercussions of the current system on many levels. For example, if the footing at a show is detrimental, causing injuries, trainers and exhibitors can ask show management to address the situation.
Some show managers will listen to competitors’ concerns and institute a change. There are other show managers who have no impetus to do anything, however, and without a steward to take this concern to the USEF, not a lot can be done.

In addition, with the USEF mileage rule as it stands, it’s not like we can go someplace else. The show managers have this built in to the system.

We hear so many times, “If you don’t like one particular show, go someplace else!” But with the mileage rule in force, where are we going to go? Exhibitors, especially those juniors and amateurs who have school and work constraints, find it difficult to travel outrageous distances to find a suitable horse show.

My clients are spending tens of thousands of dollars buying horses, competing and commuting to qualify for national championships. It’s heartbreaking when even our best and most prestigious horse shows,
including those we work hard to qualify for, are lacking in something as critical as footing.

One of my first mandates is to protect the health and well-being of the horses in my care, but what do you do when you’re forced to show on footing that you would never train on or school on at home?

Two years ago, I spent more than $100,000 to build a ring that will take me many years to pay off. I invested in quality materials so that my horses have the best footing possible to train on.

If a show manager invests $100,000 in a ring, it’s likely he will pay it off in a season or two. But many managers won’t put forth the investment in footing. With hundreds of trips a day in a show ring, it’s vital that these rings—and schooling areas—have the best footing possible. Too often I’ve had my horses walk out of the show ring with injuries that were due directly to hard footing or footing that was too deep.

I serve on three USHJA committees, and on every single committee we’ve discussed this footing issue at great length. Most of us are frustrated and upset with the current state of affairs. We’ll be at a ring showing for hours and hours without the water truck or drag. We go to the managers and get no reaction. This isn’t a one-time occurrence.

Another aspect of this problem is that when you vocalize your concerns with a show manager or file a negative report with the USEF, there may be repercussions. These repercussions can range from poor stabling or no stabling at the next show to the cold shoulder or impatience at the in-gate when there are trainer conflicts.

It’s show management’s choice to take you as a competitor. And yet because their dates are protected by the mileage rule, we’re essentially a captive audience.

My frustration isn’t with all horse shows. For instance at the Upperville Colt & Horse Show (Va.) this year, the area experienced a drought prior to the show in early June. This show is different than many as the rings are all grass. You know when going there that you may experience hard footing or wet mud.

This year the managers were proactive and realized the footing would likely be hard, so they dug up a track and laid down sand so horses in the main ring wouldn’t be jumping on cement.

And as the drought continued into late July, HITS employee Vinnie Card stayed up all night on several occasions watering the rings in Culpeper (Va.) so that we’d have decent footing.

Yes, there are certain horse shows that we know may have problems ahead of time, especially when there’s not all-weather footing. But it’s imperative that the horse shows that are considered the top in the country, with advertised all-weather footing at their facilities, have footing that’s not just standard but above standard. And, even more importantly, it needs to be properly cared for and maintained.

Unfortunately, in our current world, we trainers have little ability to work with show managers to make improvements, and stewards generally don’t force the managers to make improvements through their USEF reports.

Status quo just isn’t good enough.

We’ve invested too much into our horses to just make do with whatever the show managers feel is good enough. Our shows need to improve. Do we like beautiful flowers? Do we like permanent bathrooms? Do we like having nice vendors to shop with? Of course. But I’d trade it all in a heartbeat for a good facility for my horses to work on.

Many show managers make a very good living in this sport; it’s time for them to put more money back into it.

Some managers do a superb job, but others should take a lesson from the few who care. Some day the mileage rule may follow the dinosaurs into extinction, and a good way to get that climactic change rolling is for show stewards to work for the USEF instead of the horse show managers.

We shouldn’t have to choose between breaking our horses and risking injury to riders or sending them home without participating.

Virginia Edwards