USHJA On Course Episode 30

USHJA: This is episode 30 of USHJA On Course! I'm your host, Terise, and in this episode, we're diving into things with the new USHJA President-elect, Britt McCormick.

First, here are your Association Updates.

What happens in Vegas will be streamed live on USEF Network! The 2023 Marshall & Sterling Insurance/USHJA National Championships are almost here and we're bringing you every second of the action live, November 13-19.

Join us in Concord, North Carolina, for the 2023 USHJA Annual Meeting! Get a front row seat to sport governance meetings and discussions, access to networking opportunities, a seat at the Evening of Equestrians Awards Banquet and so much more. Select sessions will also be streamed virtually for those unable to attend in-person. Registration is now open at ushja.org/annualmeeting.

The new competition year is nearly here! Don't forget to renew your USHJA, USEF and affiliate organization memberships before your first competition. 

A set of Extraordinary Rule Changes will become effective beginning December 1, 2023, and affect Active/Competing USHJA members. These rule changes outline the requirements for changes to horse ownership, lease registration and change of name requests to horses which must be recorded with both USHJA and USEF for program eligibility, points and awards purposes.

To avoid experiencing bad show points and program eligibility issues, beginning December 1, 2023, please ensure changes to horse ownership, lease registrations and change of name requests to horses are recorded with both USHJA and USEF.

USHJA: Britt McCormick is a judge, course designer, trainer and the newly elected President of USHJA. With years of sport governance experience and a degree in organizational leadership, Britt has served on the USHJA Board of Directors and Executive Committee as well as a variety of USHJA and USEF committees and task forces. After a 15-month transition period, Britt will take office at the conclusion of the 2024 USHJA Annual Meeting. Tune in as we chat about his passion for the sport and his vision for the future of USHJA.

USHJA: Let's get started. How did you first get into the industry?

Britt McCormick: So, the industry I was actually born into, my father is a professional I'm middle generation as his son. And then my son is also in the industry and is a partner with me at our farm in Dallas. So I started originally not even wanting to ride or really have anything to do with it, just kind of frown at horse shows. And then I got a pony when I was about 10. And was bored and decided to start showing and just kind of took to it and liked it and ended up getting a lot of catch rides and kind of became more of a junior catch rider than anything else. Both hunters, jumpers, you know, ultimately Grand Prix horses, the whole thing.

And so it just kind of took off from there and then ended up, opening my own barn in 1989 right after the Prix de States and it's kind of been that way ever since. And my wife and I've been at our current farm for 27 years and just now did a little rebranding to include our son and changed our farm name. And so we're on to the next chapter.

USHJA: Seems like it quickly took over your life in a good way.

Britt McCormick: Yeah, in a great way.

USHJA: So, you have a lot of experience in sport governance, especially with USHJA and USEF. What kind of experience do you have that has prepared you for the role to become president?

Britt McCormick: I was actually involved in governance before USHJA existed. I was the youngest member of the Texas Hunter Jumper Association Board of Directors when I was still a teenager and then moved into serving on the AHSA Zone 7 Jumper Committee.

 And then, when USHJA was founded, went to the very first convention, was involved through the zones at that level and then was identified actually at the same time as Mary for the very first planning committee. And so that's where Mary and I actually met, at the very, very first planning committee that Bill Moroney had in Lexington.

And so I've come up through the jumper side, transitioned over to the hunter side. So, I've kind of been everywhere in governance. I was the vice chair for the show management committee for a while, back when I still had horse shows. So, the governance part I got pretty well established.

And then about five years ago, my wife actually found a degree program at Texas A&M University that was developed for people running, nonprofit, organizations. So, I went and got my bachelor's degree in organizational leadership. And then one of my professors suggested that I go ahead and do my master's. I completed my master's as well in management and a minor in corporate management. And so that kind of added to the mixture-- the governance side, my industry knowledge, having been a professional for over 30 something years, and then putting together that with the educational side kind of filled in a lot of the blanks that I didn't even know I needed to fill in. And so I think that's given me a well-rounded perspective on leading a non- profit organization from the business side, as well as, you know, obviously the sports side.

USHJA: What kind of inspired you to pursue a leadership role? I know you said you've been involved since the beginning, but what kind of led to the decision to go for the presidency?

Britt McCormick: So, it's two things. I would say one of them, I jokingly tell people it's defensive in nature. So... I love this industry. I love what it's done for my family. I think the sport is an amazing sport. It changes the lives of everybody that it touches. And part of my reason for wanting to be in leadership is seeing that this sport not only stays true to its heritage, but that it also changes with the times and that we stay evolving and not allow ourselves to fall into the trap of just being what we were back in the 70s or even in the 80s.

And that we stay changing with the times, we stay current, we stay competitive at the Olympic level, which for me starts at the grassroots level, you know, that rider that's going to be competing in the 2040 Olympics is maybe either just being born or not born yet. And so we have to do everything that we can to foster our sport and bring it along and encourage as many people as possible to be involved.

And so for me, you know, a little bit of it is selfish. I want to see my vision expressed and shared and get the vision of as many other people as I can be expressed and shared so that we come up with what we think is the right version of our sport going forward. And that's really the impetus for wanting to be in a leadership role is to make sure that as many people’s voices are heard as possible.

USHJA: Mm hmm. Now you're currently in a 15- month transition period that's new for this election. What are some things you'll be doing and learning through that time?

Britt McCormick: So, I'm hoping to get more involved in the business side. Obviously, I've been on the board for quite a while, and so the sports side, I've got a pretty good idea about what's going on there. I'm a licensed official, so I'm a judge and a course designer, and I travel around the country and in the field as a trainer, which I think is vital-- that you stand at the end gate and be back in the barn area and know what's going on on the ground.

I think the 15- month transition, getting to know the office side, getting to know the staff, getting to know the relationships with our providers, whether it's, you know, People on the USEF side, which I'm obviously also involved with. People on our IT side that are outside providers. Just getting to know everybody that the president will have to deal with and getting an idea of where the presidency goes and what it's responsible for different than a director is responsible for.

USHJA: What do you think are some of the most pressing issues or challenges that you kind of want to address first?

Britt McCormick: So, for me, I said this in September at the board meeting during the election, I want us to get back to being as collaborative as possible. That's huge for me. I think it's important that we take all of the ideas from as many different members as want to voice them, put them forward on the public square, we debate them, we talk about them, we figure out if they're good or bad or need to marinate more or whatever the thing is. But we need to have the discussion and this idea that we're all siloed in our own little area and that we all know what's best and we don't want to hear any differing opinion, that has to stop. And we have to get back to talking to one another to agreeing to disagree to have the hard conversations to decide where our sport is going to go, how we're going to get there. That involves everything from the social license to operate, which is becoming more and more important—I think for all public sports especially—to horse welfare to rider welfare to Safe Sport issues to all the things that are on the social side of our sport.

And then also making sure that we are always keeping our eye, not just on sport growth, but sport development. And so that means fostering the middle, fostering the upper end, fostering the elite, as well as keeping our eye on the grassroots part. And I think we've done a really good job at most of that. It's a mile wide and an inch thick, as far as the topics go. And so to me, you know, the president's job is to try to coordinate as much of that as possible and to try to keep our board, our staff and our volunteers on track so that we can help guide the membership and keep everybody focused and moving in the same direction.

USHJA: You mentioned balancing the needs of grassroots versus the high performance levels. That's a common conversation especially where we're trying to grow this sport. How do you think that can happen and improve in the future?

Britt McCormick: So, I always look at it like this. Who doesn't want to be elite? Who doesn't want to be that elite rider? Who doesn't want to own that elite horse? Who doesn't want to be the elite trainer? We all do. It's why we strive for it. It's why we get started in this. And so, I think that fostering that level is vital to giving people a reason to look at our disciplines and our sport.

The love of horses will bring you into the big, global horse industry. But what makes people want to do hunters, jumpers or equitation? It's a desire to go be like McLain, or be like Beezie, or be like Hunt Tosh, or that kind of thing. And so, for me, that part is super important, and it works hand in hand with, developing the grassroots.

And so, I think if you start at the one level and work your way around, you end up fostering every level. And so to me, they go hand in hand. I just don't see that separation. And so what you have to do as a sport organization is you have to provide the opportunities for people to get in on the grassroots level and do what you can to make sure that it's accessible, but you also want to give that guiding path to reach that elite level or whatever level you can get to. Just as a quick example on both the hunter and jumper side, we have the classes that go up in three-inch increments. Well, now, one of the cool things on the jumper side is that we have championships that are like little mini-Olympics for each level, starting from 1.05m all the way to the 1.35m and 1.40m. And so to me, when I say we want to foster every level, I think it starts with, all of it. And we have to be able to focus on all of it-- the elite and the introductory in the middle-- and we have to be able to connect all the dots. And so that's one of my goals: is to figure out how to connect those dots and not allow any certain segment to be either backburnered or felt like they're stagnating or like, they're not as important.

I think it's all important. Every single bit of it.

USHJA: Definitely. Another topic of conversation that's been pretty prevalent over the past few years is the expansion of inclusivity and diversity efforts. We obviously have our committee, but how could you as president help the growth and expansion of that?

Britt McCormick: Yeah, I mean, it is and it's hard because of our sport, right? So, obviously this is an expensive sport. It's an expensive industry. It's not readily accessible to every single person in the United States or in the world for that matter. So, there's going to be a natural level of people that can get in maybe as a rider or horse owner. That doesn't mean that they can't get into the industry itself. And so, for me, I think any type of educational program that we can do that allows anyone access to our industry is a good starting place and that means, you know, diversity in hiring, diversity in opportunity, allowing people the chance to come to a stable and get a job or volunteer or whatever is allowed in that particular area. I think that's a good place to start. And then as those opportunities arise, it's a little bit like it was in the old days, you know, if you're at the barn every day, and you have enthusiasm and you work hard, eventually somebody's going to ask you if you want to ride one, and you may not even know how, but you know, that's how people used to get their start. And so I think we can go back to that a little bit is one idea. I don't know that it's a cure all, but at least it opens a door.

And then I think the other thing that we have to do is both in our hiring practices and in our efforts to develop a following, we have to show that we are a diverse organization and that we take all comers and that we want as many people to enjoy hunters and jumpers and equitation as are possible. And so I think the love of horses, the joy of horses, like the USEF says, I think that's a good way to get started. And then we have to just make sure on the USHJA side that as many doors are open as possible.

USHJA: You mentioned the ability to do educational programs I think our horsemanship quiz challenge program is a great example of that where you don't have to have a horse, it's a less expensive membership to not be a competing member. And you're still kind of getting into the industry without necessarily having the expense of being on horseback.

Britt McCormick: Right, that's a perfect example. And there's a number of different ways. I think that we can approach that, you know, whether it's through the Recognized Riding Academy or through the Horsemanship Quiz Challenge, like you said, you know, I think just getting the fact that we're here and accessible out to the masses is probably going to be the next step.

USHJA: I know Mary has done her town halls over the past years. How do you like to kind of engage with our members as you move forward and lead our association?

Britt McCormick: So I've joined Mary on a couple of town halls and I've done a couple, you know, as a licensed official. I have to be honest, I'm a much more in person, look you in the eye type. So, I would love to do as many in person town halls as possible. If I get invited to go somewhere and I can make it fit my schedule, then I'm going to be there. And so I think that combined with talking to people at a horse show because, like I said, I actively compete all over. I think those are probably the two primary ways.

And then obviously I plan to continue with the town hall sessions as well, but I'm hoping to be able to get out and do more live town halls. I think that when you have a group of people that are together in a personal setting, I think the discussion is better. And I think the discussion is a lot more honest when people are looking at each other eye to eye and can see each other. So, you know, I like the Zoom. It's it makes accessibility easy for the people that are comfortable with that format. But I hope to get out there in person.

USHJA: So, looking back over all of your history at USHJA from the beginnings to it'll be five years down the line from now, at the conclusion of your first term, where do you really hope to see the association at that point?

Britt McCormick: That is a great question. I think it goes back again to the collaborative nature of the group. You know, when we started this association, it was started by a group of individuals who were eager and excited about creating a national affiliate for the hunter and jumper disciplines within the USEF. And I would like to see a tighter role, tighter collaboration between not just our members, but also between the various associations that compete over fences or in English, different breed associations, the Federation overseeing all of us. Just kind of getting us all working closer together just in support of riding and hopefully jumping horses. That to me is super important.

I also would like to see our USHJA affiliate level grow because to me, recognized sport is really important. it's important from a safety standpoint. It's important from an education standpoint. And so if we can grow the affiliate level membership or participation, that would be a huge success in my mind to get everybody, all over the country being an affiliate member of the USHJA would be great.

And then, you know, I think finally the USHJA being able to promote and host its own national championships across the country, expanding on the idea that we had in Vegas and being able to maybe bring that to the central or to the East coast and having a championship week eventually where we could have all of our programs, in kind of a quarter horse Congress or a world show type venue. That would be like the ultimate pie in the sky dream for me, to have us all coming together for a week to have a tournament of champions. I think that would be the most amazing thing ever.

USHJA: For those that are maybe looking to get into sport governance, whether they're a junior or an amateur or a pro, just kind of wanting to step into this world, what advice would you give them?

Britt McCormick: Show up at Annual Meeting. That's the starter, get involved in any association that you can, whether it be state, local, county zone, whatever you can. Meet people, put your name forward, be willing to do the work and you will eventually be recognized. And I said this on a group the other day, you know, there's a finite number of spots available on all of our task forces, and so even though you sign up, you know, maybe you don't get picked the 1st year. If you're somebody whose face is seen at Annual Meeting, and you're raising your hand and you're involved, you will get chosen eventually. And I think that's how all of us started. Obviously, none of us were born on a task force. And so to me, that's the best way is just to keep knocking at the door and showing interest and you will get recognized.

I think it's vital that we have fresh new ideas on things. That's what's going to keep us vibrant, you know, as an organization and as a sport and as an industry. And I know, "Oh, it's hard." Because I was there back, you know, 20 years ago and people look over you and like, "Who are you? Why are you talking? Put your hand down." And you'd get a little bit of that. But I think we're becoming better about recognizing that everyone is important. Everyone's ideas are important. And that we're all there for the same reason. And that's to make our sport and our industry better. So, my suggestion is always Annual Meeting first and then be as involved as you can all year long.

USHJA: Perfect. Well, our last little bit of our interview, we call it the Victory Gallop. Much less presidential than the rest of our discussion has been so far.

Britt McCormick: These are the scary ones, probably.

USHJA: So, you have to pick one: a bay, a gray or a chestnut.

Britt McCormick: Bay.

USHJA: That's a common answer. Would you rather jump the long approach oxer or the trot jump?

Britt McCormick: Oxer. No doubt.

USHJA: No one wants the trot jump.

Britt McCormick: No, hate the trot jump.

USHJA: If you got to live a day in the life of any rider, who would it be?

Britt McCormick: Rodney Jenkins.

USHJA: What is the last TV show or movie that you watched?

Britt McCormick: The last one that I watched was, last night would have been the Great British Baking Show. Followed by the F1, the drive to survive. I alternate every night; my wife and I do.

USHJA: What are two things you can't get through a day without?

Britt McCormick: Coffee and sunshine.

USHJA: If you could eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Britt McCormick: Tacos.

USHJA: what's the most used app on your phone?

Britt McCormick: Probably my phone. I use it as an actual telephone.

USHJA: One of the few. Finally, describe your dream horse in three words.

Britt McCormick: Brave, smart, and friendly.

USHJA: Smart. I don't know if we've got that one yet.

Perfect. Well, that is all I have for you. I appreciate you taking some time out of your day to chat.

USHJA: Thanks for tuning in to this episode of USHJA On Course. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss the next episode and share this episode with a fellow equestrian!