Applications Open for 2026 USHJA Gold Star Clinic

Clinic Set for January 7-11 at Desert International Horse Park

Lexington, Ky.—Nov. 6, 2025—The U.S. Hunter Jumper Association is pleased to announce that applications for the 2026 USHJA Gold Star Clinic are now open. The annual event will take place January 7-11, 2026, at Desert International Horse Park in Thermal, California, with riding clinician Nicole Shahinian-Simpson and stable management clinician Colleen Reed. Medalist and Wild Card applications close December 15, 2025.

The Gold Star Clinic represents the pinnacle of the USHJA Emerging Jumper Rider Program, which provides education and guidance to Jumper athletes looking to advance to the sport's highest levels. Participants will receive both mounted and unmounted instruction from top-tier clinicians, gain hands-on stable management training, and attend sessions covering horse health, nutrition, and Show Jumping team competition strategies. The clinic also offers guidance on navigating the Athlete Pathway. In 2025, the program consolidated its format to a single annual location, alternating between the East and West Coasts, with the 2027 clinic scheduled to return to the East Coast.

Individual medalists from the Markel/USHJA Zone Jumper Team Championships and Markel/USHJA Platinum Jumper Championships are invited to attend one Gold Star Clinic of their choice over the following two years. The top two riders from the MZ Farms/USHJA Emerging Athletes Program National Training Session are also invited to attend.

A limited number of Wild Card participants may also be accepted, depending on space, from the following categories:

  • Group A: Individual medalists in the USEF Junior Jumper National Championships; the FEI North American Youth Jumping Children’s (any rider that jumped a clear round), Pre-Junior, and Junior Championships; the USEF Pony Jumper Championship; and the top rider in each USHJA Jumper Classic Series level
  • Group B: Any athlete from the Zone Jumper Team Championships and Platinum Jumper Championships that successfully competed without elimination
  • Group C: Any athlete from the events listed in Group A that finished below the podium in the individual final of their specific championship
  • Group D: Zone Jumper Team Championships and Platinum Jumper Championships athletes who did not meet the above criteria

The USHJA thanks Lindsay Maxwell Charitable Fund for their support, as well as Official Sponsors Herm Sprenger, Nutrena, and Parlanti. 

To learn more about the Emerging Jumper Rider Program, visit ushja.org/emergingjumper. Find out more about the Gold Star Clinics at ushja.org/goldstarclinics.

Photos: Terisé Cole/USHJA