2025 US Equestrian Annual Meeting Review: The Horse Above All & 10 Other Things to Love About USEF

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A flurry of business-wear-clad people filled the meeting rooms and banquet halls of the Central Bank Convention Center in Lexington, Ky., for the US Equestrian (USEF) Annual Meeting January 23-25, 2025. They came together not only to conduct the business of operating the United States Equestrian Federation, but with the central focus of ensuring the welfare of equines. Safeguarding human athletes and celebrating horse and human accomplishments from 2024 were also at the forefront at the gathering.

Bill Moroney, US Equestrian Chief Executive Officer (left), and Tom O’Mara, US Equestrian President address the audience during the 2025 US Equestrian Annual Meeting General Session.
Bill Moroney, US Equestrian Chief Executive Officer (left), and Tom O’Mara, US Equestrian President address the audience during the 2025 US Equestrian Annual Meeting General Session. Photo by Kim MacMillan

As he opened the 2025 Annual Meeting general session, President Tom O’Mara explained why the horse should be put above all else as the focus. “The theme of this year’s Annual Meeting is quite simple, but also quite powerful. It’s all about the horse,” he stated. “Our industry is completely dependent on the horse. It is the reason we are all here, and the reason we were all drawn to this sport.”

In today’s social-media-filled world, a righteous and very public spotlight shines on the treatment of equines by their owners, riders, trainers and caretakers. It was reported in a recent Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI, the international governing body for equestrian sports) Ethics and Well-Being Survey that 52 percent of the non-equestrian public believes that the welfare of horses used in sports needs improving. When asked the same question, 78 percent of equestrian stakeholders stated that they think horse welfare standards need to be higher. View the study here.

So, while the general public definitely thinks that horse welfare should be better, those in the horse world are even more passionate that change needs to happen. “There is no question that horses, horse welfare, and safety need to be our top priorities,” stated Bill Moroney, US Equestrian Chief Executive Officer during the general session.

Education & Horse Welfare Sessions

Prominent on the 2025 US Equestrian Annual Meeting agenda were two days of “It’s All About the Horse” workshops moderated by Olympic gold medalist and US Equestrian Chief of Sport David O’Connor. Day one of the workshop included an insightful panel discussion on sympathetic training methods with FEI dressage competitor Katherine Bateson-Chandler, noted horsemanship trainer Dana Glass (and husband of Olympic dressage rider Kasey Perry-Glass), and Olympic jumper Beezie Madden.

Each equestrian on the panel shared stories of how they have approached training challenges using ethical methods designed to fit the way a horse thinks. Tidbits of wisdom filled the room as they spoke. These ranged from Madden’s “The slower you go, the faster you get there” to Glass’s “The reward side [of training] for me is the ability to get there together; the horse seeks out that reward and any try they make gets rewarded” to Bateson-Chandler’s sharing that she regularly uses groundwork with the horse wearing a simple rope halter to establish trust and communication.

A display of gifts for attendees.
Attendees of the 2025 US Equestrian Annual Meeting were showered with gifts from US Equestrian and sponsors when they checked in. Photo by Kim MacMillan

Day one of the “About the Horse” workshop ended with a report by Keith Dane of the Humane Society of the United States in regards to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Horse Protection Act requirement changes for 2025. The HPA is federal law prohibiting “soring” (the applying of mechanical devices or caustic substances to an animal with the intent to artificially enhancing performance) of horses at shows. The act was created to prohibit these practices at Tennessee Walking and racking horse shows.

During the second day of the “About the Horse” workshop, O’Connor challenged the various breed and sports discipline representatives in the room to outline what their groups are doing to promote equine welfare and humane training practices. One by one spokespersons from the Western Dressage of America, the Arabian Horse Association, the United States Dressage Federation, the American Morgan Horse Association, the United States Hunter Jumper Association, the Welsh Pony and Cob Society of America, and others, stood and listed their action points.

Eventually the workshop discussion led to certification of equestrian trainers and coaches. “I’m a full-on believer that our coaches should be educated and licensed, but how do we get that done?” posed O’Connor as he invited attendees back later that day for a presentation on how to be an effective coach by Dr. Cam Kiosoglous, Assistant Professor at Drexel University and long-time U.S. Rowing National Team and Olympic coach.

Other engaging educational sessions during the first two days of the convention included:

“Pictures (and video) say 1,000 words―and they all matter. Viral news, social license, and the importance of communications” by Sarah Hamilton, a specialist in political campaign management and strategy, crisis communications, media relations, and message and policy development. View her full presentation here and here.

 “Biosecurity and medications, an explanation of microchipping and the new biometric-measuring microchips and how they safeguard horses by aiding in biosecurity and health care” by Dr. Katie Flynn, US Equestrian Senior Staff Veterinarian Equine Health and Biosecurity. Watch her presentation here.

“Biosecurity and medications, a presentation on the use of pharmacology (the science of drugs and medications, including a substance’s origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology) to improve the health of equines” by Dr. Stephen Schumacher, US Equestrian Chief Veterinary Officer. View his presentation here.

Watch for posting of additional videos from the 2025 US Equestrian Annual Meeting workshops and educational sessions as they become available here.

Nuts & Bolts Review

A statistics-packed general session, chock-full of colorful slides and upbeat videos and led by President O’Mara and CEO Moroney, rocked the house on the second afternoon. Among the impressive growth measurements cited from 2023 to 2024 were an 8 percent increase (to over 500,000) in memberships (a combination of competing, subscriber and fan membership categories), and the total number of followers on US Equestrian social media platforms (Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and X) passing the 1.65 million mark, up 22 percent. Another impressive increase was the more than 73 million video views across all US Equestrian platforms, up more than 189 percent.

Also included in the general session was a “Journey to Gold” presentation by the US Para Dressage Team Chef d’Equipe and Technical Advisor Michel Assouline about the team’s unprecedented success at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games (their first team gold and four individual golds, plus an individual silver and bronze). The depth of the seven-year strategic plan for the U.S. Para Dressage Team leading to Paris was stellar. His “Midas touch” is well-worth noting since he guided not only the U.S. team to gold in Paris last year, but before that the British Para Dressage Team to gold in all the other Paralympics offering para equestrian competition. Thankfully, Assouline’s contract to lead the U.S. Para Equestrian Team has been extended through the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympic Games.

U.S. Para Dressage Team Chef d’Equipe and Technical Advisor Michel Assouline at the 2025 US Equestrian Annual Meeting.
U.S. Para Dressage Team Chef d’Equipe and Technical Advisor Michel Assouline talked about the plan behind the team’s unprecedented success at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games during the 2025 US Equestrian Annual Meeting. Photo by Kim MacMillan

Catch up on other 2024 US Equestrian benchmarks, and Assouline’s entire “Journey to Gold” presentation included in the US Equestrian USEF General Session video here or read the US Equestrian General Session news release here.

Additionally, a PDF document of the US Equestrian’s Strategic Plan for 2025-2028 may be downloaded here.

The International Disciplines Council meeting (which includes representatives from all of the FEI sports), held on the first day, also highlighted the U.S. Equestrian Team’s performance from Paris 2024, and other world championships from last year. Hallye Griffin, US Equestrian Director of FEI/High Performance Sport, opened with an overview of 2024 accomplishments and plans for the 2026 FEI World Championships in Aachen, Germany, the 2027 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, and the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles, plus upcoming world championships in driving, endurance and vaulting.

US Equestrian Managing Director, Sports Logistics, Steven Morrissey followed with an explanation of, among other tasks, the logistics of booking athlete and staff lodging and transportation for upcoming Games. Then, individual reports for the various FEI disciplines for the coming four-year competition cycle were delivered by the US Equestrian Managing Directors for dressage, driving, endurance, eventing, show jumping and vaulting and by Assouline for para dressage. Will Faudree, U.S. athlete representative to the FEI Eventing Forum, also gave a quick report. A National Breeds and Disciplines Council meeting was held the same day.

The final session on day two of the Annual Meeting was a rule change forum allowing attendees to weigh in on the proposed rule changes before they were presented at the Board of Directors meeting the next day. Most of the rule changes were either horse welfare or human athlete safety related.

US Equestrian Paris 2024 Media Campaign Skyrockets

Another presentation jam-packed with impressive accomplishments was “Measuring Media Success from the Paris 2024 Olympic & Paralympic Games” presented by Griffin and Carly Weilminster, US Equestrian Senior Director of Sport Communications and Social Media. During their presentation they displayed the tools and media platforms used to engage and inform the public about the US Equestrian Teams competing in France. The fan participation and views stats for Paris 2024 easily topped previous Games. One example was that US Equestrian TikTok video views increased by a whopping 965 percent.

In addition to clever use of behind-the-scenes reports and athlete spotlights, US Equestrian was able to take advantage of several celebrity visits and endorsements for their Paris media campaign. The fact that NBC sent Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg to the equestrian venue at Versailles gave a huge, positive boost to the sport. And when NFL football great Tom Brady and his daughter Vivian visited the U.S. stabling in France, US Equestrian benefitted from Brady’s huge fan base as well (95.7 percent of Brady’s followers were not US Equestrian members, so this exposed horse sports to a whole new audience). Another NFL player, Devin White who is a horse owner, sent well wishes to the the team via his social media, bringing more attention and his fans on board too.

US Equestrian branded merchandise.
Shopper’s delight, US Equestrian offered branded merchandise for sale at the 2025 US Equestrian Annual Meeting. Photo by Kim MacMillan

Board Embraces New Technology

A US Equestrian Board of Directors meeting capped the convention on the final day with two sessions open to the public. Along with the normal business of running the Federation, these four newly adopted technology tools were introduced:

EquiRatings: A comprehensive data analytics and content plan focused on the fan experience for the new US Equestrian Open competition.

Black Horse One: A US Equestrian platform of sports data designed to give breeders, buyers, sellers, and fans information on performance and bloodlines.

EZ Entry: Currently in development for proposed rollout in 2026; designed to provide a free, user-friendly, centralized entry system for organizers and members to use.

USEF App: New features will be included in a rebranded US Equestrian mobile app this year.

Find an expanded report of the Board of Directors meeting actions, including adopted rule changes, and these new tech tools here.

2024 US Equestrian Equine & Human Honorees

The US Equestrian Annual Meeting features two awards banquets, one to honor the accomplishments of human equestrian athletes called the Pegasus Awards on Thursday, and the other to recognize outstanding equine athletes called the Horse of the Year Awards on Saturday. Evening wear and a festive atmosphere were the order of the day for both events. Check out this brief, very cool video review of the 2024 US Equestrian breed and sports discipline group National Champions here.

US Equestrian’s newest equine honor, the Heart Horse Award presented to a horse serving the public at one of the US Equestrian’s community outreach partners, was bestowed during the Pegasus dinner. The winner of that inaugural award, sponsored by Neue Schule, was Kilcarna French Fancy “Arnie”, a 2008 Irish Sport Horse gelding from Great Oak Equine Assisted Programs in Aiken, S.C. Learn more about Arnie in this video and read more about him here.

Winner of the USEF’s inaugural Heart Horse Award at the 2025 US Equestrian Annual Meeting, Arnie.
Winner of the USEF’s inaugural Heart Horse Award, sponsored by Neue Schule USA, was Kilcarna French Fancy, a.k.a. “Arnie”, a 2008 Irish Sport Horse gelding from Great Oak Equine Assisted Programs in Aiken, S.C. Photo by Mikhail Proctor/US Equestrian

Mette Larsen from Neue Schule Bits USA, explained why they decided to sponsor the award, “We are all about the connection between horse and rider. I have known many service horses in therapeutic programs and I’m always amazed how much they give to people, both physically and mentally. Recognizing our Heart Horse nominees, and of course, our winner, just seemed like a good fit. It’s our way of saying thanks to these amazing animals.”

Other 2024 US Equestrian Heart Horse finalists were: Bear, a 1996 Haflinger gelding from Special Equestrians, Warrington, Pa., Buck, a 1998 Paint gelding from Prancing Horse Center for Therapeutic Horsemanship, Southern Pines, N.C., and Tigerlily, a 2002 Welsh Pony from Ride On Therapeutic Horsemanship, Chatsworth, Calif.

During the Pegasus banquet, among the many award recipients, US Equestrian recognized 11 Equestrians of Honor and from that pool a National Equestrian of the Year and International Equestrian of the Year were chosen. Winner of the National Equestrian of the Year was hunter rider Nick Haness of San Clemente, Calif., and of the International Equestrian of the Year was Olympic eventer Liz Halliday of Lexington, Ky.

Hunter rider Nick Haness accepting the USEF National Equestrian of the Year from USEF President Tom O’Mara at the 2025 US Equestrian Annual Meeting.
Hunter rider Nick Haness (left) walked away with USEF National Equestrian of the Year honors presented by USEF President Tom O’Mara. Photo by Kim MacMillan
Liz Halliday riding Shanroe Cooley in the 2024 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event CCI4*-S.
Eventer Liz Halliday (shown here riding Shanroe Cooley in the 2024 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event CCI4*-S) won USEF International Equestrian of the Year. Photo by Kim MacMillan

Among the many other top honors given during the Pegasus banquet, notable were the USEF/Equus Foundation Humanitarian Award won by Mary Elena Moran, the Junior Equestrian of the Year won by hunter rider Paige Walkenbach, and the USEF Lifetime Achievement Award presented to Lendon Gray.

For more about the Pegasus Award winners, visit here and see a video from the Pegasus banquet here.

For Saturday’s Horse of the Year dinner, riders, trainers, horse breeders and owners turned out in droves to celebrate the accomplishments of their favorite horses with a treasure trove of trophies. Chief among these prizes were the two National Horses of Honor, with one of those being named the National Horse of the Year, and the four International Horses of Honor, from which the International Horse of the Year was chosen.

National Horse of the Year was McQueen, a 10-year-old KWPN hunter gelding ridden by Lanie Walkenbach and Nick Haness. “There is no horse quite like him,” Walkenbach remarked, “[He] has without a doubt created a special place in my heart and I am so thankful to be his owner.”

The award presentation for National Horse of the Year McQueen.
Winner of the USEF National Horse of the Year was McQueen, a 10-year-old KWPN hunter gelding ridden by Lanie Walkenbach and Nick Haness and owned by Walkenbach (center holding small trophy). Photo by Kim MacMillan

The final award of the evening, the International Horse of the Year, went to the 2024 Olympic jumper Caracole de la Roque, a 12-year-old Selle Français mare owned by Signe Ostby and ridden for the U.S. Jumping Team by Karl Cook of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. In her acceptance speech, Ostby shared that the mare is known as “Roly Poly” around the barn and, as feisty as she is in competition, she is the opposite at home, often laying down in her stall or pasture for naps.

Karl Cook and Caracole de la Roque jumping.
Winner of the USEF International Horse of the Year was Caracole de la Roque, a 12-year-old Selle Français mare owned by Signe Ostby and ridden for the U.S. Jumping Team at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games by Karl Cook, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (Shown here at the 2023 Pan American Games.) Photo by Allen MacMillan

She said that Caracole normally jumps barefoot, but they had to use custom-made 3D-printed, glue-on plastic shoes and titanium studs milled by Cook for some pre-Olympic competitions which were held in grass arenas. She also explained that the mare competes in a bitless hackamore after warming up in a bitted bridle. “It’s an incredible honor to own a horse like Caracole,” Ostby remarked, “I am full of joy and thrilled to be her owner.”

See more about the 2024 USEF Horse of the Year winners here and watch a video of the awards program here.

2026 US Equestrian Annual Meeting Dates

Next year’s US Equestrian Annual Meeting will be held January 15-18, 2026 at the Omni Hotel in Louisville, Ky. For more information, visit here.

Ten More Things to Know & Love About US Equestrian

1. They are guardians of horse welfare.

2. While they select and support top equestrian athletes to represent the USA in international competition, their vision is “To bring the joy of horse sports to as many people as possible.”

3. They promote human athlete safety (helmet rules, body protector survey and more) and offer well-being programs such as group rates for health insurance and free mental health counseling, as well as the U.S. Center for SafeSport education.

4. They support equestrian community outreach programs throughout the country. (The new Heart Horse Award stems from their community outreach.)

5. They offer a free US Equestrian Stable Stars Kids Club and the opportunity to earn middle, junior high and high school athlete letters through the US Equestrian Interscholastic Athlete Program (must be a subscribing or competing member). Additional resources for youth are available including grants and scholarships and educational videos such as “Your First Riding Lesson” and “Your First Show.”

6. Multiple membership level choices are offered, including free Fan and affordable Subscriber memberships in addition to Competing memberships. (Check out the great benefits offered with each membership option.)

7. They offer free access to the USEF Learning Center library of dozens of educational videos with any membership type.

8. Extensive USEF Network television programing (via ClipMyHorse.TV) and digital e-news is available to all members (see details of television access for each membership type).

9. All three US Equestrian membership levels have access to the MemberPerks goods and services discounts available from the MemberPerks sponsor businesses.

10. The new US Equestrian Open dressage, eventing and show jumping competition offers over $1 million in prize money and has extensive coverage on ESPN and USEF Network. Currently, US Equestrian is offering a Winter Sweepstakes (the prize is a trip to the US Equestrian Open Jumping Final in Wellington, Florida, in March 2025). For entry information, visit here.

 

This article about the 2025 US Equestrian Annual Meeting is a web exclusive for Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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