During the two decades since the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association was formed, Britt McCormick has served it in various capacities as a volunteer. But since becoming the organization’s first president from west of the Mississippi, he is working on developing a different perspective.
The Texan, who operates a training and showing business with his family outside of Dallas, was president-elect until last month, when former president Mary Knowlton resigned.
At his first Town Hall this week, Britt said he is looking for feedback on ways to improve service for members and stakeholders, “how we can do a better job at what we do to help drive participation in various USHJA programs to add a value to your membership and showing at every level.”
He explained, “One of the first things I wanted to do was kind of look under the hood of USHJA on the business side.”
Britt McCormick during the Town Hall.
USHJA is a nonprofit, and Britt pointed out, “if we don’t maintain the integrity of the business side, we’re not going to be able to function properly and serve our members.
“What is the foundation of our business model? It’s participation. Not just by people joining and recording horses, but by participating in various programs USHJA offers.”
The organization must make it easier for people to do that, in his view, removing barriers to participation.
“We need to encourage people to show in a recognized environment,” he believes. That includes having riders starting in Outreach, “but hopefully growing and for those people who have a goal of showing recognized, we need to show them the way to get there.”
Britt also wants to strengthen brand identity and “figure out a way to communicate with those in the system and those who are yet to become members. My goal is, if you ride a horse and jump a horse, that eventually you become a member of USHJA.”
Communication is vital.
“We have to make sure we’re not siloed in our own little worlds and we don’t look at things through our limited perspective,” he emphasized.
Britt wants to keep things fresh, and is ready to implement change where it’s needed.
“I feel like we’ve stagnated a little bit. We had this spark 20 years ago and we were really excited…we were creating all these things. Now we’re kind of in the maintenance phase,” he maintained.
“One of my goals is to have us take a look at all of our properties, take a look at all of our products, make sure they’re relevant, make sure they’re still exciting, that we still have a spark out there.”
That involves “a moment of self-reflection and seeing where we are, seeing what we created and making sure we’re still relevant. If we’re not, we need to address those issues and correct them.”
Citing the changes in the hunter/jumper world in the last five or six years, he noted, “we have some products that people are not that interested in. At some point, we’re going to have to cut those loose and make room for something new that nobody…has even dreamed up yet. That’s going to be my focus for sure for the foreseeable future; taking a look inward and making sure we’re doing the best job that we can.”
The process requires input from USHJA’s constituency.
“I’m relying on the membership to be vocal and let us know when we have it right and let us know when we don’t have it right,” he emphasized.
For the next six months, Town Halls will feature different topics, including the education side and its relation to the sports side. He envisions bringing in judges and other key players, including show managers, to discuss what they do and connect with members during the webinars.
A goal is to “try to inform the members and listen to the members, as well as to what we do what we offer and how we can do that better.
The Town Hall concept offers the chance to ask questions directly and get immediate answers.
For instance, Nancy Jones, a horse show judge from Arkansas who is on the USHJA amateur task force, asked what was happening with a measure that would permit amateurs to teach.
Britt explained the U.S. Equestrian Federation passed a rule across its breeds and disciplines allowing amateurs to teach for a limited number of hours weekly as a sport growth initiative, but not having amateurs involved with teaching for a living. Although USHJA’s board had no problem with the rule, the amateur task force wasn’t in favor of it, so USEF executed a carve-out for hunters and jumpers. The discussion on the subject isn’t over, with the new president calling it a “work in progress.”
The format of Britt’s Town Hall was different than the way it was done in the past. Those wishing to comment had to speak and give their names; previously members were permitted to type anonymous comments on the chat line.
Also, Britt brought in two USHJA department heads for the session. They were Lauren Klehm director of education who handles the instructor credential program, gold star clinics, the Emerging Athlete Program and also is involved with the very interesting Wheeler Museum. and sport director Katie Patrick. Her department handles competitive programs from Outreach through the higher levels and the International Hunter Derby, as well as jumpers and equitation.
There will not be a Town Hall in June because of Britt’s travel schedule. The next one is scheduled for July 15 at 7 p.m.
