Ok. I don’t know a ton about USHJA, but USEF is the official body for Olympic Equestrian Sports. That is why we have to do SafeSport even though those who pay to play don’t want to. In addition, this is why I have to be a member to show in recognized dressage shows. I really wish USDF could be the official body for Dressage teams, and we could kick USEF to the curb. USEF is so so complicit in all of this abuse. I am again not saying that USDF is perfect or there aren’t horrible abusers in the dressage world. However, a whole hell of a lot more dressage people see something wrong with it. Read the responses from the Katie Prudent thing. A ton of people saw absolutely nothing wrong with it. No one has blown the lid off of the HJ world from the inside, even though it is a much bigger world with many more players than US dressage. There is no blood rule, and if a horse is bleeding from the spurs, oh well. “Not our circus, not our monkeys.” If dippity doo dah crap rider wants to use a gag bit and jump fences that are too high for their skill level, have at it. If someone is riding a really lame one in several jumping classes, a couple of whispers might actually be heard, but no one is listening. People also whisper about the sharps container and the various drugs so many horses are on, but no one does anything. Someday it will blow up; it is just a matter of time.
Judges paid by USEF rather than the show organization would surely make it easier for judges to speak out against evident problems such as lameness and horses doing too many classes? Follow the money.
But that is the whole reason USEF exists.
It used to be that AHSA dealt with national shows, and USET dealt with international competition. Then the IOC (Olympics) said there could only be ONE National Federation for each Olympic sport, in this case “Equestrian” so all the competition aspects of USET were merged with AHSA to create USEF, leaving USET as just a fund raising organiztion.
So, not only can there not be separate organizations for national and international competition, there can not be separate organizations (in regards to the Olympics) for separate disciplines within “Equestrian”.
If that is the “whole reason they exist” then they should focus on just being the national federation for Olympic level sport and let USDF and USHJA or whomever else handle all the non-international level stuff. The FEI rules do not allow the abuses that USEF sanctions like the stacking of drugs etc. I do not want to be part of an organization that made the rules to allow that kind of crap, yet I am forced to if I want to compete in recognized dressage shows. Also, it is ridiculous that there are stringent rules for dressage like the type of bit we can use, the length of the whip, the blood rule, and the technical delegate watching the warmup, and in HJ it is totally absent. To be fair, I am totally fine with all those rules for dressage. I would also like a horse show vet to be present at every competition and for there to be a mandatory soundness check in order to compete. I would not mind paying more money to have that at shows. It is better than all the drug fees that primarily catch almost entirely HJ people (which is also absurd considering that you can legally show a horse on a NSAID, a muscle relaxant and a steroid, and if your horse still trots lame, no worries, the judge won’t eliminate you. Hell, you may even pin high in the hack if you have the right trainer etc.)
I compete in hunters and dressage, and hunters do have rules about the whips (no longer than 30", not weighted). There are illegal bits like gags. There are illegal nosebands like figure 8. Also, there is an ENTIRE section that covers horse welfare. It is not “totally absent” and in fact now H/J wear numbers on the show grounds at all times to better monitor. Here is the horse welfare section for you for the hunter division, and jumpers have their own section that is similar.
HU100 Horse Welfare
- The following acts are prohibited:
a. Riding an exhausted horse.
b. Lunging a visibly exhausted horse.
c. Excessive pressuring of a tired horse.
d. Riding or lunging an obviously lame horse.
e. Chasing a horse with a whip or other inappropriate use of the whip.
f. Appendages and attachments are prohibited, including but not limited to bags and flags.
g. Excessive and/or disruptive crackling of the whip.
h. Excessive use of a whip on any horse in a stall, aisle, schooling area, competition ring or elsewhere on
the competition grounds. The use of a whip must be for a good reason, done at the appropriate time, in
the proper place and with appropriate restraint. Excessive whipping will not be tolerated.
i. Any striking of the horse’s head (on the poll or forward of the poll) shall be deemed excessive.
j. Repeated jerking on the reins and sawing on the bit unless applied to an unruly horse that is jeopardizing
its own safety or the safety of its rider.
k. Improper use of the bit resulting in bleeding, broken skin or broken mucous membrane.
l. Excessive use of the spurs or spurring resulting in broken and bleeding skin.
m. Rapping the legs of a horse with the butt end of a riding crop or other implement.
n. Use of any substance to induce temporary heat causing hyper-sensitization.
o. Poling.
p. Use of a wire or chain in conjunction with any schooling jumps.
q. Use of electronic shock devices in schooling or showing.
r. Use of shackles, hock hobbles and similar devices, with the exception of kicking chains while the horse is
in the stall or in transport. This does not prohibit the use of rubber or plastic exercising devices.
s. Showing a horse with hypersensitive, raw or bleeding sores around the cornets, pasterns, legs or body.
t. Use of laser beam devices anywhere on the competition grounds, except in an exhibition or if required in
class specifications. (Exception: Lasers used in a therapeutic manner).
u. Withholding of feed or water for prolonged periods.
v. Letting blood from a horse for other than diagnostic purposes.
w. Inhumane treatment of a horse in a stall, aisle, schooling area, competition ring or elsewhere on the
competition grounds, by any person.
x. Use of any device capable of emitting a flame or spark in and around the schooling/warm-up and
competition rings during scheduled competition sessions.
y. Use of any attention getting device that emits a spray, mist, or fog while competing in the ring, such as an
aerosol can or spray bottle.
It is congressionally mandated that USEF control/oversee the “pipeline” for all Equestrian Olympic sports. Now, I’m not sure how far the Ted Stevens Act insists USEF penetrate their tentacles of control, but I believe it centers around a national effort to offer protections to (amateur) athletes. A modern day example would be Safe Sport. Without this congressional control over National Governing Bodies there would be no way to offer that kind of blanket protection nationwide.
I’m in favor of one national governing body & associated affiliates. I think if the sport were splintered into a half dozen NGBs with no agreed upon foundation we would have an even harder time balancing out this whole “SLO” thing. I am also one to recognize how valuable a national database of horses is to the welfare of our little segment of the equine population and just how expensive that is to administrate. The system is not without flaws, but a lot of those flaws are just piss poor leadership. Which is likely to happen whenever you put horse people in charge of bureaucratic things and from which the affiliates are (decidedly) not immune, even if they go out on their own.
I appreciate you bringing up the rules HJ do have in place- but it is wasting time and effort on this poster. Who only seems to post in 2 threads and trashes hunters (and jumpers) and extoles how the dressage world is so much better than both.
Thank you. My response wasn’t necessarily for that poster but is really for anyone who may come across this thread and read it (and believe what this individual is stating). We know that these forums are discoverable and for that reason it is important to refute false claims.
Ok. Thank you. So it is not “totally absent” it is just “widely ignored”. HJ includes jumpers where I see people regularly riding in very harsh bits, even people with very low skills. I also see that in conjunction with tight martingales, or draw reins. I have seen plenty of bad hunter riders warming up in draw reins too. I have seen some jumping in them.
a, b and c happen fairly regularly. This is especially cruel when the horse is not just over tired but lame which is very common as stated below.
d. I see over and over at every show I ever go to. I hear whispers, but no one does anything.
l. I have also seen and no one batted an eye.
At the very least there should be an official/technical delegate to check the horse at the gate after each ride. If there is blood, it should be eliminated, like it is in dressage. Same thing with lameness, there should be a person who has to clear the horse for competition. The flagrant disregard for the rules is ridiculous.
The mob mentality of hiding what is so obvious and not making any changes is sick. Have you seen the petitions going around about Parra? The dressage world does not show such loyalty to abusers.
If you are seeing all of this at hunter and jumper shows in your area, then why on earth are you not capturing video and reporting it? 
Sure. Even though he’s been a known entity that has been doing this for YEARS. Competing and taking on training clients and by no means hiding in a backwater local circuit. It took someone with the guts to record and post on public social media for it to get any traction, since TPTB and other dressage competitors/rider/owners weren’t doing anything about it. Not to mention the outright support and "well but"isms for Helgstrand.
I’d say document and report these abuses you see at your H/J shows - but I really don’t think you are actually involved in any way.
Replying to myself here because I realize I’m shouting into thin air.
ALL HORSE SPORTS with money and prestige and winning on the line have to deal with the welfare issues that come along with it all. Dressage is no haven from abuse (obviously, as we have seen), neither is H/J or eventing or cutting or breed shows or halter or hell even “liberty”. Humans are competitive creatures and mixing money with animals can lead to abusive practices if that’s what wins. The job of the governing body of the given sport (in this case USHJA) is to write rules and reward performances with welfare of humans and horses as the first priority.
I don’t want us to put on our Social Media face for the public - I want us to implement practical and realistic changes to protect humans and animals. In all equestrian sport.
USEF stewards (TD comparable for HJ) definitely watch warmup rings. At least at shows I’ve been at.
Absolutely. I met one at Upperville one year who was good friends with my trainer and while we were sitting in her golf cart we got to hear her yell at a variety of GP riders trying to be sketchy in the warmup ring.
We even have stewards at local unrated shows.
They are. But the problem becomes–and I say this as someone working on my license–the number of rings and number of other things to do. At most shows, outside the very large circuit shows, there is likely only 1 steward or TD. Even at bigger shows, where you have multiple stewards, the grounds are so spread out you can’t watch everything. One person can’t be everywhere at once–you have to watch the warmup, but also the lunging areas, the barns, show rings, measure horses/ponies, fill out paperwork for a loose dog or a rider fall. This is where see something, say something becomes really important–the stewards I’ve worked with have all been wonderful, don’t be afraid to approach and say something.
And before someone says, well just get more stewards at each show to keep an eye on all the things–there aren’t enough of them as is. It’s an expensive, time consuming process to get and maintain a license, with very little incentive other than liking the sport and wanting to give back by making it safer and fairer.
You lament but what have you done, within your capacity and expertise, to help fix the system? That has always been my basic point. We must engage and be involved with the management and governance of the sport (in our respective disciplines).
Can you share how someone would start the process of becoming a steward? As a steward (or TD? I don’t know the difference 
), are you responsible for enforcing rules on horse welfare? If you see a lame horse or one being LTD, what do you have the power to do?
I would love to be a part of the solution.
Eventing, Dressage, and Vaulting have TDs. Most of the rest of the disciplines have stewards, but they are very similar roles.
In both cases, they are responsible for enforcing ALL the USEF rules, as well as serving as an interface between the competitors, and the officials and show management.
The roles and responsibilities are explained in detil in the USEF rule book.
https://www.usef.org/forms-pubs/q6-zadLCzI4/gr10-licensed-officials
The process for becomng a licensed official (which includes Stewrds and TDs) is described here
https://www.usef.org/compete/resources-forms/licensed-officials/become-licensed
Thank you!
