Two Point Perspective

Members comment. Boards decide. So does your comment actually count?

USHJA has more than 60 rule change proposals out for member comment right now. Elizabeth and Reynolds read the proposals and the comments, and found that the rules people speak up about aren’t always the ones that could affect them most.

In this episode

• #008, Adult Amateur Floating Split: Would split Adult Amateurs into three equal sections regardless of age. Every comment so far is against it.
• #048, Horse of the Year, Top 15 Shows: A member-written proposal to count only a horse’s best 15 shows. Is it about welfare or affordability?
• #036 and #037, Suspensions: Two competing rules on what happens to the people around a suspended trainer, from USEF CEO Bill Moroney and attorney Bonnie Navin. No comments on either.
• #061 and #062, USEF Lite Shows: Rules out for comment that a presidential modification already puts into effect December 1.
• Why it’s so hard to take part: two tracking numbers per rule, duplicate proposals, and a draw-rein proposal whose explanation says “Coming soon.”

Key dates

• USHJA Rule Change Town Hall (Zoom): Monday, Nov 2, 7 p.m. ET
• Member comments close: Sunday, Nov 8
• USHJA Rule Change Forum, Orlando: Tuesday, Dec 8

How to comment: Log in to your USHJA account and use the USHJA tracking number (USEF numbers its proposals differently). Even one sentence counts.

Links

• USHJA rule change proposals: https://hjdata.ushja.org/rule-changes
• Comment period and town hall registration: https://www.ushja.org/news/ushja-news-1/member-comment-period-opens-2028-competition-year-rule-change-proposals

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• United States Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA)
• USHJA Foundation
• United States Equestrian Federation (USEF)
• U.S. Equestrian Trainers Association
• Lizzo Rides

Sixty riders in one division. Twenty-seven in another. And a proposed 2'9" division that has everybody talking.

Three inches doesn’t sound like much. But it can change the horse you need, what that horse costs, and whether the goal you’ve got still fits the life you’ve got.

Elizabeth and Reynolds talk about quality versus scope, buying for the goal you might have someday, why Reynolds bought Loki off a video, when leasing makes sense, and what to do when the horse you need costs more than you’ve got. And because they’re two generations apart, they don’t agree on how much time any of us has to get there.

In this episode:

• Why quality and scope aren’t the same thing
• Buying for the goal you might have
• Importing off a video: what you save, and what it really costs
• Leasing, half leases, and goals with an end date
• When the goal costs more than you’ve got
• “Your life can change a long time before your goals do.”

Read the 2'9" proposal and the other rule changes: https://hjdata.ushja.org/rule-changes

Have you changed divisions, leased instead of bought, or bought young and waited? Tell us how you made it work. [email protected]

One difficult ride can follow you into the next. Sometimes you know exactly what scared you. Other times, riding starts to feel different, and you’re not sure why.

Licensed professional counselor and horsewoman Anne Moss of When the Ride Changes joins Elizabeth Vagnoni and Reynolds Martin to discuss riding anxiety, the pressures riders carry into the barn, and how counseling and mental skills work can complement each other.

Reynolds shares how a fall at Pennsylvania National changed her confidence at trot jumps—something she previously felt comfortable doing. Anne discusses her approach to counseling, introduces EMDR, and explains why working with someone who “speaks horse” can make it easier to begin the conversation.

We also talk about:

• Expectations heading into finals and indoors.
• When parental encouragement can feel like pressure.
• What to say—and when to give someone space—after a disappointing round.
• Privacy and working with a counselor in a small horse community.

Connect with Anne:

When the Ride Changes

Subscribe to Two Point Perspective for more conversations with Elizabeth and Reynolds.

This conversation is for general information, not individual mental health advice. Treatment needs and results vary.

The U.S. horse industry has an economic impact of about $177 billion.

So why does it still feel so expensive just to participate?

This week, Elizabeth and Reynolds follow the money — from horse-show bills and USEF fees to tack stores, prize money, media, real estate and the outside investors who increasingly see opportunity in the horse industry.

They look at what Dover Saddlery’s collapse says about equestrian retail, why Greenhawk chose only some of its former locations, and what companies like CVC and McCourt Global may see that traditional horse businesses haven’t figured out yet.

They also compare the enormous prize money already available in some western disciplines with what riders see in the hunter/jumper world, and ask whether ventures like Premier Jumping League can bring new money into the sport from spectators, sponsors and media instead of relying on the same riders and owners to keep paying more.

Because everybody may have a perfectly good reason for what they’re charging.

But the rider or owner is still the one paying all of it.

Equitation has always been about learning to ride well. But today it can also mean major finals, college opportunities, specialized horses — and maybe even prize money.

This week, Katherine Schmidt Butler joins Elizabeth and Reynolds for a conversation that started with USHJA’s recent discussion about prize money in equitation and quickly became something much bigger.

Katherine came through Heritage Farm as a working student before riding for the University of South Carolina, where she became the all-time NCEA career wins leader with 101 wins, was part of the 2015 national championship team, and later became the first NCEA athlete to have her jersey retired.

Reynolds brings a different college-riding experience. She rode IHSA at Randolph College and won the 2014 IHSA National Championship in Novice Equitation on the Flat.

Together, they talk about what equitation is actually supposed to teach, why riding unfamiliar horses matters, how much money it can take to build a college résumé, and what happens when talented riders don’t all have the same financial opportunities.

Katherine also reacts to the 2026 Division I recruiting numbers — an average of 21 shows, roughly 200 classes and nine horses shown — and talks candidly about horse longevity, working-student opportunities, access, and why she doesn’t believe prize money fixes the larger cost problem.

And eventually it comes back to something much simpler: whether you’re headed for the Maclay, a college team, or an Adult Amateur class, you still have to learn how to ride the horse you’re on.

One sport. Shared passion. Two perspectives.

It doesn’t take much to get an adult amateur’s attention. Miss a distance. Struggle with your position. Have one frustrating lesson. Suddenly your feed is full of people who seem to know exactly what’s wrong — and, conveniently, have something to sell you.

In this episode, we talk about why those messages work, the difference between useful outside expertise and another layer of “coaching,” and whether trainer, instructor and coach are really separate jobs in the programs we know. We get into video critiques, remote lessons, riding homework, physical limitations that may need expertise beyond your trainer, and why sometimes a different explanation really can make something click.

The question isn’t whether online information can be useful. It can. The harder question is what you’re actually buying — a useful exercise, a fresh set of eyes, or an entirely different training system — and how that fits with the horse, rider and program you already have.

We have more ways to care for horses than ever before — bodywork, therapeutic equipment, joint maintenance, supplements, better diagnostics and more.

And much of it genuinely helps.

But once something helps, it can quickly become part of the routine. Then the question changes from “Could this help?” to “Is this something we do for all the horses?”

This week, Elizabeth and Reynolds talk about modern horse care, what previous generations may have missed, why competition horses are treated more like athletes, and how easy it is for owners to become hyperaware of every small change.

Steve Guerdat’s approach to footing, turnout and letting horses be horses adds another piece to the conversation.

The question isn’t whether we should do less.

It’s whether we know why we’re doing something for the horse in front of us.

Horse shopping used to begin with somebody who knew somebody.

Your trainer knew a seller. A friend knew a horse. A professional made a call. And plenty of horses changed hands without ever being publicly advertised.

That network still matters. But it’s no longer the only way into the market.

This week, Elizabeth and Reynolds are joined by Madi Saunders of Elite Equine Marketplace to talk about what changes when amateurs have access to the search themselves.

Can technology make the search easier without replacing professional judgment? What happens when your trainer doesn’t know the seller? Does opening up the marketplace create more opportunity—or simply more horses to sort through?

And then there’s the question that gets especially interesting: If you find the horse yourself, but your trainer handles the calls, evaluation, trial and PPE, who actually found the horse—and does that change the conversation about commission?

Technology may be changing how we get to the horse. Buying the right one is still another matter entirely.

One sport. Shared passion. Two perspectives.

Links referenced in this episode:

• eliteequinemarketplace.com

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Elite Equine Marketplace
• Catch Ride

Why are you still taking lessons?

It's a question Elizabeth's mother asks all the time—and from outside the horse world, it makes perfect sense. If you've been riding for years, shouldn't you know how to do it by now?

Except horses don't really work that way.

In this episode, Elizabeth and Reynolds talk about what changes as riders gain experience: learning a new horse, hearing the same idea explained differently, figuring out what a trainer can see from the ground that you can't feel from the saddle, and realizing that two good trainers may approach the same problem differently.

And for those of us who show hunters, there's another perspective waiting at the horse show: the judge. A better round for you and your horse doesn't necessarily mean a better score, and clearer judging standards don't eliminate the judgment involved in evaluating a hunter round.

The conversation comes back to a simple reason experienced riders can keep taking lessons for decades:

There's always something else to learn—and you still can't see yourself ride.

Until next week—let's ride.

Having horses has always been expensive. But what happens when what you want to do and what you can realistically afford stop lining up?

Elizabeth and Reynolds come at that question from very different places — and at very different stages of life. For Elizabeth, a conversation about how long she could continue showing at her current level followed her straight into the ring and affected the way she rode. For Reynolds, changing family priorities mean rethinking a horse life that was made possible for years with her mother's help.

They also talk about the culture of “more” — more shows, more mileage, more training — and what happens when the ideal path toward your goals doesn't fit the life or budget you actually have.

Is the answer to show less? Do more yourself? Change your goals? Find another way to pay for what you want? Or is the better conversation simply: This is what I can do. How good can we get within that reality?

And perhaps the hardest question of all:

At what point does “I can pay this bill” stop meaning “I can actually afford it”?