By KIMBERLY LOUSHIN
On the evening of Tuesday, March 10, U.S. Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA) members met in a virtual town hall, led by USHJA President Britt McCormick, to discuss rule change proposals that will be voted on by the U.S. Equestrian Federation (USEF) at its mid-year meeting in mid-June. While the USHJA board has taken action on some of the proposals already, they are still gathering feedback. All rule change proposals are currently available for comment on the USEF website until April 19, at which point a blackout period will commence as drafts are revised, before reopening for a final council comment period on May 4-31.
We’re breaking down some of the proposals that garnered discussion during the virtual town hall.
GR1039.1 Conflicts of Interest and Restrictions – Judges
This rule change, which USHJA has approved, would lessen the restrictions placed on hunter and hunter seat equitation judges when it comes to judging consecutive weeks. Previously, judges were restricted from officiating the same rated hunter section or USHJA Hunter Derby at the same rating at any show within 125 miles during any 20-day period. Now the mileage component has been removed altogether, and the rule states they cannot officiate the same rated section or derby at the same venue more than one consecutive week. This would allow a judge to officiate the Junior Hunters week 1 of a multi-week circuit and the Pony Hunters the following week, for example.
“One of the things that was the impetus for this is the difficulty in getting licensed officials, especially to California and back,” says McCormick. “I think that’s where this started. And the idea, I think—what they were going for is, OK maybe you go to California and you judge in the southern part one week and in the northern part the next week. The old rules were a little bit confusing about that. And then trying to make it easier to get people out there for multiple weeks in a row is where this all started, and then the judges have kind of chimed in, and this is kind of where we ended up.”
Hunter seat equitation judges also have less restrictions and can judge at the same venue for consecutive weeks, provided they don’t officiate the same class: ASPCA Horsemanship, Washington International Horse Show Equitation, USEF Show Jumping Talent Search, or USEF Hunter Seat Medal Class.
GR1214 Results
Another rule that resulted in discussion would require show managers to submit results to the Federation within five days of the end of this show, instead of 10. Julie Shea, who is the show secretary for Southeast Hunter Association, was concerned for those like her, who work a full-time job outside of horse shows during the week.
“It’s the time that it takes after the show has ended to go back and review all the results, make sure everybody’s got their numbers in, do some kind of quality assurance stuff and then to submit that. … If I’m back at work Monday morning, it’s a little tough to get it in within five days,” she says
Maryne Langer, managing director of the Langer Group, which is involved with running shows on the West Coast, expressed a similar concern for smaller horse shows who don’t have a full-time staff but still need to audit the data for accuracy before submission.
HU124.2 Faults
Concerns were raised regarding new verbiage to the hunter and equitation rules, which defines a knockdown as lowering any part of an obstacle requiring it to be reset. The change is meant to address confusion over poles being dislodged from the jump cups, but hit the filer rather than the ground.
Kathy Hobstetter, who serves on the board of the California Professional Horsemen’s Association, questioned what would happen if a lower rail, gate, or box was knocked and needed to be reset, but the height of the fence remained the same.
While Robin Rost Brown, the chair of the USHJA Hunter Working Group, clarified that the intention was not to penalize the knocking of anything beyond the top rail—especially since in some cases, the need for a reset isn’t noticed until other horses have done their courses, Hobstetter pointed out there is a loophole that would allow that to be penalized. Brown agreed for the need for more clarity, and Charlotte Skinner-Robson, chair of the USHJA Jumper Working Group, suggested they look at the jumper rules, which have language that address that specific concern.
GR845.1 Automated External Defibrillator (AED)
While AEDs are currently required at hunter/jumper shows (exception: level 1 jumpers), USHJA is pushing to make them mandatory on all USEF showgrounds. The push came from an incident in 2025, when 14-year-old Ryan Haselden suffered a sudden cardiac arrest, and the use of an AED saved her life. The current start date for this rule, if passed, is June 1, 2027, and the longer implementation period raised questions.
Michele Hollis, a board-certified emergency medicine physician, shared that the extended deadline had to do with reluctance from other breeds and disciplines. In the written feedback, many affiliates expressed concern over the cost of an AED and potential liability to anyone who used the device.
Molly Pellegrini, the president of the U.S. Eventing Association (USEA), was in attendance and shared that while USEA is in favor of the proposal, they needed clarification on how it would pertain to the sport of eventing. Some concerns USEA have include whether the on-site EMT having an AED was sufficient, and what happens if the EMT and AED leave the property, and then whether it needs to be accessible at all hours, or if it can reside in a locked office overnight.
All rule change proposals are available for comment here.
