After its popular top-25 show rating program was put on hold for five years, the North American Riders Group (NARG) is back to represent riders, owners, trainers and their horses, with a focus on improving the sport.
After three meetings in 2019, the NARG board has elected new members, submitted an updated position statement to the International Jumper Riders Committee and approved a proposal for the return of the NARG Top 25.
Following the February and April meetings, the NARG board took on Lauren Hough as its new treasurer and invited three new members to join. Mark Leone remains as president and Tiffany Foster of Canada as vice president. The board includes Kent Farrington, Jimmy Torano, Andrew Welles, Missy Clark and Will Simpson of the U.S., along with Canadians Mark Samuel and Ben Asselin, and Mexicans Enrique Gonzalez and Eugenia Garza. Jennifer Markee continue as executive director.
The board has updated and reinstated the NARG Position Statement to IJRC, including addressing the blood rule (involving blood found on a horse in competition) with solutions for revision. It also deals with adjusting the allocation of FEI Ranking Points for the AAA Category as well as the Nations Cup Final; the escalating costs of competing at FEI events in North America, particularly 2* shows; and the potential implementation of an FEI Course Designer Certificate of Capability.
The ranking of the NARG Top 25 shows will return in 2020, taking into consideration six years of past reports, the current show jumping landscape in North America and revamping the evaluation system, NARG website and communication systems. There also has been a discussion of presentation methods and reaching out for feedback from an evaluation panel in the sport.
EqSol returns as not only producer of the NARG Top 25 report, as it was from 2010-2015, but the agency has agreed to take on the vision and mission of the entire project.
Anyone who wants to participate or has ideas for NARG should contact Jen Markee at (516) 428-4423.