The SHOW Horse Industry Organization is one of the certified HIOs by the United States Department of Agriculture. As part of the responsibility of having an HIO, SHOW has the “show rules” portion of its rulebook.  From time to time, SHOW or the management at a horse show is made aware of potential rules violations and in most cases those notifications come from other participants.

The SHOW HIO has a rules committee that oversees and makes recommendations to the SHOW board of directors for language and management of the rulebook and the corresponding enforcement of that rulebook.  That committee is currently chaired by Jacob Baum and includes Laure Toone, Dale Steinmetz, Tom Kakassy, David Williams and just recently added Bailey Momb and Amanda Manis. This committee does not have jurisdiction over the judging portion nor HPA portion of the rulebook.

The first level of enforcement can be carried out at the horse show by anyone requesting a protest form from show management. This form, accompanied by a $200 protest deposit fee, must be received by show management within 30 minutes of the completion of the horse show.  Show management can rule on the alleged violation by referencing the SHOW rulebook or they can submit the request to the rules committee afterward if they are unclear on the proper ruling.  If the person submitting the protest is correct they are refunded their $200.

In addition, persons with questions or complaints can forward those to Rachel Reed in the SHOW HIO office and she will direct those questions to the committee. The committee will then address the issue and recommend a ruling to the full SHOW board who will then decide what action to take. Complaints made to the committee can be kept anonymous if the complainant desires.

If someone would like a new rule or change to an existing rule they should forward their recommendation to the SHOW office which will then disseminate to the committee members. The committee will review all suggestions and recommendations and make a formal recommendation to the SHOW board if necessary. Once the board has decided on those recommendations, new or amended rules will go into effect the next show season. There are emergency exceptions that can be made where changes or new rules would go into effect immediately.

For more information and to view the entire rulebook visit www.showhio.com.