Costs of showing and horse-keeping continue rising. Exhibitors’ expectations for horse shows are ever-higher in the era of multi-million-dollar horses and extravagant prize money. How is the grass roots level of horse sport faring? What about human safety and animal welfare in the era of social license to operate? Consider concerns over bio-security.
The issues in equestrian competition, and for that matter, horse ownership, have grown beyond the scope of what sport organizations — even the U.S. Equestrian Federation — can completely control. Yet those entities, whether at the local, regional or national level, have a major role, not only to govern, but also to improve the process. The membership and general public, however, rarely gain insight into the way the organizations work, whether it’s because they don’t bother to read the information that has been sent out, or what may be perceived as a lack of transparency.
A far-ranging conversation with USEF CEO Bill Moroney, who is stepping down at the end of the year, offered his perspective on how the multi-breed and discipline federation is responding to the wide range of challenges. In a story posted earlier this week (click here for a link) Bill explained why, at the age of 66, he decided to retire, and also offered a take on his personal experience with governance.
This second piece, like the first, took advantage of an opportunity without distractions to get his personal viewpoint on USEF’s efforts over the 10-plus years he has been at the center of the dartboard. For those who question how and why USEF operates the way it does, this approach provides insight from the top administrator.
Bill sees USEF’s mission this way:
“Our job is to listen, learn and try to do the best we can for people. I think over the course of the last decade, we’ve done a lot to try to help people out. We won’t be able to make everybody happy, and that’s just a reality of any business you’re in. Some of it is a result of the times we live in. It feels like we’re always under pressure. I think people are fatigued; there’s a lot of fatigue that occurs emotionally, mentally and physically.”
On the vital topic of horse welfare, he said: “I think we are pretty much on top of it. Does that mean everything is perfect? No. Everything moves forward, so processes move forward. One of the worst things that can happen is that people get complacent, thinking we’re doing enough, or we’re doing it absolutely right. Because then, we’ll get a little numb to it and forget to keep it as a priority.
“I have to make sure that people don’t lose track (not only) of both human and equine safety and welfare, but also how we deal with it, how we take reports, how we investigate, how we process, what our rules say. That we continually evolve, so we’re staying relevant with changing times.
“You’ll hear from people, `Fifty years ago, that was okay.’ Fifty years ago, things were a lot different and we didn’t know better. But as you learn better and as you know better, you need to change, so the practices are the better practices.
“That’s a journey, not an overnight thing. Welfare can be very emotional for people, depending on their background and experiences, and that’s okay. For some, it frustrates them that at USEF, because we hear something, that we don’t take immediate action. But we have to investigate it, we have to know that what we heard, — where we have no first-hand witness who’s willing to walk the whole walk with us — was what actually what happened. When you build a case against someone, you need to do your due diligence to make sure the facts you have are actually the facts, and that takes time.
“You want to get everything done as effectively as possible, but you don’t want to forget to dot the i’s and cross the t’s. Where you don’t want to end up is where you get a decision overturned because you didn’t do your job.”
In terms of biosecurity, he called bringing on Dr. Katie Flynn a major asset.
“She’s a wizard at biosecurity and helping our organizers keep running our shows and helping our exhibitors understand (they need to) be more attentive to that. Biosecurity is a huge threat going forward. I think we’re state of the art addressing that and being ahead of the game as much as possible to keep our sport open and going. There’s a lot of people who rely on our sport to make their living and to have the outlet of something they enjoy doing.”
Bill Moroney and former USEF President David O’Connor.
On another front, there is apprehension that even as the top of the sport thrives, the base is shrinking and there aren’t enough opportunities available at the lower levels. USEF is a member of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, so its role in international competition offers the highest visibility. But it also leaves an impression with some that the organization’s main interest is the elite.
Bill acknowledges concerns about the sport that are coming from its base. He said USEF is “trying to get them to articulate what it is they’re looking for. USEF Lite is a version of the local license. Only the trainer or coach needs to be a USEF member and take SafeSport training. Everybody else doesn’t have to. There’s no licensing fee. They can use an applicant steward or technical delegate.”
But that answer does not satisfy everyone, he acknowledged.
“Sometimes, expectations don’t align with things like that. Sometimes, people’s expectation is to go to Neiman Marcus and only spend what they spend at Walmart.”
Ideas of what’s important also vary. USEF holds regular meetings with its affiliates, such as the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association or the Arabian Horse Association.
“At the last meeting, they said, `Cost isn’t the problem; it’s the paperwork.’
“But for 20 years, you’ve been saying costs,” Bill reminded them.
“That’s the hard part. I’m not sure all the time they’re able to articulate (what is really wanted). I don’t know if USEF or any organization is going to have a product that’s going to satisfy everybody.
Bill Moroney with Alvin Topping, another key player in founding of USHJA.
“Growing up, I went to a lot of local horse shows. There’s a lot of those groups still out there. I feel in the sport, there’s a place for people to go at all different levels. But no organization may be able to provide that in its entirety by itself. That’s why there are all different products and services.”
However, if exhibitors want “to be within the USEF framework and rules and regulations, we have something for them to do that. I’m not sure we’ve always promoted them the best. We’re trying to have more of a focus on that.”
While there’s a place for unrecognized fixtures outside USEF, “people have to be aware in a lot of those situations, there’s no infrastructure to support them if something goes wrong. There’s no place to say the show violated a rule or didn’t adhere to a human or equine welfare or safety `best practice’. With each level, there are different levels of customer service and customer protection. It’s important when you’re competing at those different levels that you know and recognize what it’s all about. It’s being an informed consumer.”
The dollar issue involved in showing present a real challenge in so many ways.
“I think costs are very hard. I think our job is to provide opportunities like Lite, but that’s where we run into the expectations.”
And basically, running a show is expensive.
“Our shows are not a franchise. McDonald’s can tell a franchise what to charge for a hamburger. If we’re going to limit what an organizer can make, are we going to limit what a trainer can make or what a vet can make?”
He cited comments from a show organizer during the annual meeting that led to a discussion about “what it costs to run a show when you don’t own a showgrounds, and (the) expectations there’s GGT footing in every ring.”
The organizer told him it cost her $70,000 to rent the facility for her dressage show.
As he observed, “With a limited number of rides per day, wow, she’d be lucky to break even.”
During a discussion with members about “What would you be willing to give up to lower the price (of showing), the answer was `nothing. We deserve all of that.’ But `all of that’ comes with a price. The organizers feel compelled to meet that expectation, but that costs money.
“In Florida, we have five series of shows going at the same time (in the winter) so people have a lot of diversity of costs and accessibility to choose from.
“But each one is different. When we talked about access, if a show costs less to run, it’s probably providing a safe and good place for you to compete, but you might be getting sand and bluestone dust footing in place of (the) GGT system.
“Does a walk-trot class or a cross-rail class need the same footing as the grand prix ring? As a (former) horse trainer, `No, it doesn’t.’ But in the expectation of a participant, maybe it does. A cost comes with that, the cost of the footing for the facility. They are trying to pay their bills, too. That is going to trickle down through the rent.
It is increasingly rare in equestrian competition to see horses stepping out, as this one is, on anything but high-end artificial footing.
“One of our challenges going forward is, how do we encourage people to operate horse shows? When you look at Lite, it can operate in the framework of USEF with costs we can control and have made lower. ”
But he wondered how many people, when they hear about exhibitors’ expectations, “are thinking, `Am I going to use my retirement fund or my savings account to run a horse show, because I’m okay with losing money as long as I give all these people what they want?’ ”
One big change, affecting the local shows so many of us grew up with, is that now the biggest shows host the lower-level classes.
“In the late ’80s and ’90s, Gene Mische (Winter Equestrian Festival) and Tom Struzzieri (HITS) were on the front line of changing the sport. They introduced the horse show that had everything, from leadline to World Cup (qualifiers). They provided a product that trainers really liked, because they could bring their whole barn to one horse show and have everybody there in one place, rather than sending some to the local show down the street.
“They fulfilled a need that professionals had in the sport, but it’s created a different animal. Now all shows have the opportunity to have everything. There’s a certain clientele (saying), `My kid is in walk-trot and cross-rails, but I want him riding with a prominent barn, and that prominent barn goes to that big horse show.’ There’s a need that schedule is fulfilling.
“You rarely see the gravel dust and sand rings in short stirrup at those shows. You see them on expensive footing and the cost of the show goes up for everybody.”
But that isn’t everywhere.
“On the hunter/jumper side of the equation with the Regional show, in 2027, the former B and C money and points will also count for Channel One, where the qualifying horse shows are. That might make those shows more popular.
“In Middleburg, Va., we had an application this year for three or so horse shows at the Regional level we hadn’t seen before. And in the Northeast corridor, an organizer asked for five shows at a Regional level. They’re staking their place in the calendar, banking on viability and sustainabilty of a Regional competition that costs a lot less to run than a National or Premier. That’s a level where we will see some new organizers come in the environment.”
Asked what he thought were the most significant achievements during his time in leadership, Bill noted, “There’s a lot we’ve done to help support and insure the safety and well-being of humans and horses in our world. It’s been a difficult road, whether it’s the implementation of SafeSport or the implementation of the changes to (rule) GR838, unethical treatment of a horse. It’s a tough road to go down. You get a lot of blowback. I think this organization, its board, its staff members, volunteer leaders of committees, have stuck to their guns and said, `This is important, this is a priority, it is a responsibility.’ ”
A key development has been “The trickle-down of that, the education, the videos, the update to report response resolution; the helmet, the vest safety; the equine research we’re doing now, the collection of data — fall data, performance data, all of that — that’s probably number one on my list.”
While he said a lot of things could be number two, “one I’m really proud of is that the organization has reached a point where it’s working to diversify the revenue stream. When we had Covid and shut down for 11 weeks, we were one of the first sports to get going again because of the hard work our team did with state governments and other sports to get a set of protocols we could function under. It got us open very quickly.
“Out of that, we learned that to be fully sustainable, we need to make sure we are not only relying on competition-driven revenue. In our current strategic plan, we created what we call the business innovation group. That’s getting involved in a little more commercial aspects, our network, the media, our EZ Entry, our US Open; things like that to create awareness, to create the opportunity for different revenue streams that don’t make us so reliant on the backs of the members for revenue.
The U.S. Open in eventing, show jumping and dressage was a new addition to USEF offerings in 2025.
“We’ve been able to get some great partnerships with ESPN, we’ve had some great collaborations with NBC, especially around the years when there are Olympic Games. We’re bringing the sport of equestrian to many more people. When I started the job, we didn’t even have fans (low cost fan memberships).
“Now we have over 500,000 registered fans and another over 200,000 unique people that are viewing our network that aren’t even part of the registered fans. So we’ve got almost three-quarters of a million fans out there. Some of them are going to end up riding. It’s creating a mechanism to introduce equestrian to the mainstream environment, to make it more like the everyday sports kids play.
“Separately, we even set up a for-profit subsidiary called USEF Global Licensing and that build-up, separate from the sports organization, is where we will end up seeing the diversification of revenue and the opportunity to be able to control our costs to our members, the one thing we can control.
Looking at the big picture he noted “With 20-20 hindsight, I think there are always things you’ll wish you could have done more of, or could have done better.”
At the same time, he concluded, “I’m pretty proud of where the federation is and that it got a solid foundation and it’s sustainable. I wish people would put all the time they put into negativity into positivity and opportunity, because there’s a ton of it out there.”
