The High Cost of Compromise: Why Revenue Silences Dissent and Threatens SLO in Equestrian Sport

There is a Significant Financial Incentive for USEF Leadership to Look Away

The viability of equestrian sport rests on its Social License to Operate (SLO)—the fragile public trust that ethical practice is paramount. Yet, this license is severely threatened by a fundamental conflict within the governing structure: the systemic reluctance to properly sanction influential figures who represent the most lucrative competitive barns at the top level.

This fear translates into perceived special treatment. Examples often cited by USEF members include:

• Off-Peak Timing of Suspensions: Penalties for high-profile individuals or those connected to major sponsors are sometimes seen as strategically timed to minimize public attention or impact on major events.

• The Appearance of Leniency: Members notice when the standards of investigation and punishment seem to bend for those who contribute the most revenue, creating a clear perception that justice is not blind.

The Financial Incentive to Look Away

Elite competitive barns are powerful, revenue-generating enterprises whose financial footprint is critical to the sport's infrastructure. Governing bodies demonstrate an over-reluctance to impose serious sanctions on these top-tier entities due to the threat of financial fallout, which includes:

• Loss of Crucial Sponsorship Dollars: High-profile barns and riders are directly tied to major corporate endorsements, and are often even sponsors themselves.

• Loss of Top Entries: Removing these elite performers affects event quality, media attention, and prize money. Their absence diminishes the prestige that attracts spectators and, critically, sponsors.

• Reputational Harm: Addressing high-tier ethical failures immediately and transparently generates negative public relations (PR), inviting intense public and media scrutiny that governing bodies are reluctant to face.

• Threat of Costly Litigation: With significant money involved at the top tier, governing bodies justly fear the threat of litigation and lawsuits from powerful entities fighting sanctions. The sheer cost and time involved in legal defense often pressure leadership to seek lighter, less contentious resolutions.

This combination of factors creates a pervasive, unspoken conflict of interest where the long-term ethical survival of the sport is sacrificed for short-term financial stability.

The Double Standard and the Lost Opportunity

When credible ethical or welfare concerns are raised, members and the public witness a clear double standard:

• Deflection over Duty: Leaders often dismiss internal dissent as "social media drama," effectively choosing to silence the community rather than investigate a competitive barn that provides significant financial stability and event prestige.

• The "Old Problems" Excuse: The defensive retort—that "it's always been a problem"—is a refusal to govern. It's a statement that the financial ties to the status quo are more important than corrective action.

When sanctions are perceived as lenient, or applied only after intense public pressure, the message is clear: financial contribution grants immunity.

Failure to Address SLO in Equestrian Sport

This lack of equitable enforcement has a devastating effect on the wider membership. The average equestrian who strives for ethical practice is demoralized by the perceived impunity of the elite.

This leads directly to attrition. The concerned member—the moral majority—eventually chooses to walk away from a sport that signals integrity is a privilege, not a standard. The governing body, in protecting the revenue streams of a few powerful entities, sacrifices the trust, participation, and ethical foundation of the many.

The survival of the equestrian world requires leadership to uphold a single, non-negotiable principle: Accountability must be universally applied. Leadership must demonstrate that ethical integrity, not elite revenue, is the true priority, securing the future of the SLO by proving that no competitive barn or associated sponsor is above the rules.