\u201cMuch of what some people do to the horse in an effort to win is hard to believe and impossible to understand,\u201d DiAnn Langer, president of the Youth Show Jumping Foundation, said in one of the Chronicle\u2019s most-read opinion pieces of the year, published in the December 2024 issue of the Chronicle and on COTH.com in January. Langer laid bare some shocking allegations of abuse in the sport and exhorted horse people to speak up and report abuse to help root bad apples out of the sport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read the rest here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No, You Don’t Have To ‘Push Through Your Fear’ In Order To Get Over It<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sports psychologist Janet Sasson Edgette, Psy.D., M.P.H., helped pioneer the application of modern performance enhancement principles to the equestrian industry. In January, she wrote about what she sees as one of the most pervasive fallacies in horseback riding, the one that traces back to that idea of getting right back on the horse when you fall off. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “Of the many untruths I have to push back against when working with riders, this one is a biggie: the idea that in order to get over your fear of riding after a fall or runaway or crash, you have to push through it,” she wrote. “You don\u2019t. And you probably shouldn\u2019t.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read her advice about what to do instead here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can We Create A Kind, Sustainable, Accessible Horse Industry?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Technically, dressage trainer Eliza Sydnor Romm wrote a blog with that title in December 2024, upon returning from the U.S. Dressage Federation’s annual convention, where she shared the findings from a survey she did of 1,500-plus horse industry professionals, including the four biggest issues that emerged. But it was in 2025 that Romm dug into each of those four major challenges\u2014long-term financial planning<\/a>, business management<\/a>, making boarding operations financially sustainable and managing employees<\/a>\u2014one at a time. Her blog on the last topic, “The Business Of Boarding Horses: Balancing Passion And Profit<\/a>,” was one of our most-read stories of the year. <\/p>\n\n\n Romm’s survey revealed some stark truths\u2014”In my survey of over 1,500 horse professionals, more than half of respondents had no long-term investments outside of their horses, their property and their equipment,” she wrote about financial planning\u2014and serious pinch points the industry needs to address, while her stories took a look at how professionals around the country are doing so successfully. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “The horse industry suffers mightily from what economists call the ‘passion tax’: You love horses so much you\u2019re willing to operate at a loss, just to stay in business,” she wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Find the entire series, as well as Romm’s other blogs, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opinion: USEF Must Do Better In Fighting Horse Abuse<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTradition, paired with how horses are viewed ideologically across different membership segments, poses a challenge to defining and enforcing strict welfare standards that we can all agree on,\u201d Caroline Howe, an amateur hunter\/jumper rider and founder of the Horse Welfare Collective, wrote in an open letter to the U.S. Equestrian Federation in May. \u201cBut tradition and human ideological differences don\u2019t change a horse\u2019s physical and psychological needs. Or what causes them pain, stress, and discontentment. Our traditions, biases and sport must not supersede horse welfare.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Howe\u2019s letter detailed several horse-abuse reports sent to USEF and the progress and outcomes of those investigations, arguing that the federation was not engaging in a \u201cstrong, immediate response to abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read her letter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n USEF Calls Community To Unite As Guardians Of Horses And Horse Sport<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n On the same day Howe\u2019s open letter was published in the Chronicle, U.S. Equestrian Federation Chief Executive Officer Bill Moroney and Chief Operations Officer and general counsel Sonja Keating wrote their own letter to federation members, in response to \u201crecent opinion pieces.\u201d The letter outlined steps USEF is taking to improve horse welfare and asked members to do their part as well:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYour vigilance will promote a safe and respectful environment for our horses to train and compete. Our equestrian community must unite and uphold standards of good conduct, where every member actively fosters an environment of accountability and respect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read the letter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opinion: It\u2019s Time To Let Go Of The Whip<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve been riding horses for more than three decades\u2014long enough to remember when carrying a whip wasn\u2019t optional, it was expected,\u201d five-star eventer Matt Brown wrote in June. \u201cBut times change. And more importantly, our understanding of horses\u2014and of what constitutes ethical, effective training\u2014has changed too. It\u2019s time we talk, seriously and without defensiveness, about whether the whip still belongs in competition. Because I believe it doesn\u2019t. Not anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n Brown wrote that he had proposed a rule change to both USEF and the F\u00e9d\u00e9ration Equestrian Internationale that would limit whip use in the jumping phases to one strike per use and only allowing the whip to be used for encouragement to reinforce the natural aids\u2014not as a punishment. His proposal drew lively debate during the committee process, he wrote, adding, \u201cIt was during some of those debates where I started asking myself if it might be simpler to just get rid of whips in competition completely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read his entire article here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opinion: We Know Microchips Save Lives, But Can USEF Do Even More?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In July, the Chronicle\u2019s resident expert on abandoned horses, contributor Christina Keim, author of \u201cUnwanted: The Causes and Effects of America’s Horse Population Crisis,\u201d took the reporting she\u2019d done for a story about a former champion 3\u20196\u201d hunter being saved from slaughter by her microchip<\/a>, to ask a broader question: Now that microchips are mandatory for all horses competing in federation-recognized competitions, she asked, \u201cWhat if USEF followed in the footsteps of The Jockey Club and the U.S. Trotting Association by enhancing its database to also link a horse to previous owners, breeders, or other connections who are willing to help in a time of need?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n \u201cA professional quality microchip scanner costs between $300 and $400, and many rescue groups and other equine advocates are beginning to use them routinely,\u201d she wrote. \u201cIf USEF were to create a method for their registered horses\u2019 records to include a list of \u201cequine emergency contacts\u201d who would be willing to provide a safe landing for that animal, such a list could provide a starting place for owners, rescues, and others who network horses at risk to connect with the people most likely to help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read the complete story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opinion: We Can Remedy The Scourge Of Overuse In Horse Showing<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether to enact specific limits on how frequently horses are shown was a welfare issue the hunter\/jumper world grappled with all year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In June, the U.S. Equestrian Federation decided to adopt a position statement on overuse<\/a>, rather than adopting numerical class limits\u2014a decision that received mixed reactions from membership. In December, at the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association\u2019s Annual Meeting, Moroney presented preliminary data<\/a> on the topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Between those two events, in August, longtime Chronicle columnist Armand Leone urged the federation and its members to take a stronger stand on the issue, saying in part, \u201cThere is no union for horses, but there are examples of fair horse usage rules already in place.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMost USEF stakeholders have a conflict of interest in this discussion: The more that horses compete in USEF competitions, the more money is made by competition managers, trainers, riders, owners, veterinarians and USEF,\u201d Leone noted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Read the rest of his column here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Emperor Has No Clothes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Longtime Chronicle columnist and Grand Prix trainer Jeremy Steinberg weighed into the international fray over photographs of horses\u2014particularly dressage horses\u2014that seemed to tell a story, all too commonly, of unhappy, stressed partners being pressured beyond their comfort zones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In his Between Rounds, published in print and online in September, Steinberg talked about how the sport of dressage has evolved over the years, for the worse in terms of horse welfare, and wondered whether his fellow riders were so invested in promoting its positives that they are simply pretending its negatives don\u2019t exist\u2014like the clothes on that fairy-tale emperor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c<\/em>These changes are again going on right under our noses, no pun intended, while we just keep talking about how great the sport is, how much we love our horses, and all the while, trying to silence the critics,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWe keep getting told by the royalty of the sport that they know better than the novice riders, and they love their horses. The public keeps hearing from the stars of the horse sports that these things are being blown out of proportion, and the public just isn\u2019t educated. I very much beg to differ.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/desx6mium\/images\/w_1300,h_730\/f_webp,q_auto\/v1733209530\/COTH\/uploads\/barn-stock-Kat-Netzler\/barn-stock-Kat-Netzler.jpg?_i=AA\")
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