For Todd Hinde, now serving as the FEI Director of Jumping, horses have never really been a choice so much as a constant. He grew up in a family where riding was simply part of life, supported by a grandfather who took him to shows across New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria as a junior and young rider. That foundation stayed with him even when his career took a different turn after school, leading him into the stock and station industry. But his heart, as he puts it, always came back to the horses.

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That return eventually led him to competitive riding at an international level, and then to something he had not initially anticipated: the desire to move into the management side of the sport. The moment that crystallised the path came when he called his close friend Steven Lamb, one of Australia’s most accomplished Chef d’Equipes, to say he wanted to apply for the role. Lamb’s response was direct: “not yet, you don’t have enough experience.” Todd admits he was taken aback, but he now describes that advice as the best he ever received. He waited another cycle, applied, and took on the Chef d’Equipe role for Australia in 2017. What followed was a formative period that included leading Australia to their qualification place at the World Championships in Tryon, which was Australia’s highest-placed team event at that time, and qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics at those same championships. He continued in that role and as High Performance Manager through to the World Championships in 2022, and then concluded that chapter of his career with the regional qualification event in Valkenswaard in 2023, where the team won and qualified for the Paris Olympics.

The transition into his current role came unexpectedly. He was at the airport, about to board a flight to Florida for a Nations Cup event, when a friend at the FEI called to suggest he apply for the Director of Jumping position. Todd had known the role was available but had never seriously considered it for himself. A second call when he returned from Wellington was more insistent. 

Now just over two and a half years into the role, he is candid that no two weeks have looked the same. The work spans an enormous range: answering daily queries from officials, organisers, and athletes on rules and processes; planning and managing FEI series including the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup, the Longines League of Nations, and the FEI Youth Nations Cup; and navigating a full World Championship cycle that is currently building toward Aachen and, beyond that, the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028. But the element he returns to most consistently as the core of the role is staying connected. Being in genuine communication with athletes, the International Jumping Riders Club, officials, national federations, and organisers is, in his view, the most important thing he does on any given day.

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One of the most substantial pieces of work completed in recent years was the full rules revision, which comes around every four years. When Todd arrived in 2023, he was quickly told to prepare for it. What he found was a rulebook that had accumulated additions and subtractions over many years without ever being genuinely restructured. He set out to make it more readable and user-friendly, something he now acknowledges was a far bigger undertaking than he had anticipated. The result, he says, is something he is genuinely proud of, and he hopes it will serve as a legacy document that does not need major revision again for some time. Among the key changes introduced was the jumping recorded warning, along with updates to championship rules for both world and continental events, which were previously held in a standalone document and are now incorporated within the main rulebook. A further significant development, passed at the General Assembly, is that technical and equipment rules will be removed from the discipline rules and placed in a standalone document that will require only board approval to change. For jumping, this is being introduced from 1 January 2027, and the work of creating that document is a major governance task for 2026.

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The question of technical and equipment rules connects directly to one of the sport’s most important ongoing conversations: welfare. For Todd, welfare is not a competing consideration to be balanced against others. It is the non-negotiable principle from which everything else follows. He is clear that engaging all stakeholders in this process is essential, because officials on the ground, athletes using the equipment, and manufacturers creating new products all bring different and necessary perspectives. He describes the current direction of the FEI as moving away from opinion and toward evidence and science-based analytical data, a shift he sees as critical for the sport’s credibility and its social licence to operate.

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The World Cup Final in Fort Worth, Texas, was a recent success and later in the year comes Aachen, which was allocated the World Championships in November 2023, just weeks after Todd had started in the role. He carries a personal connection to that venue: in 2006, when Aachen hosted the World Equestrian Games, he was house-sitting for Steven Lamb, watching the competition on television. The idea that he will be there twenty years later in a very different capacity is not lost on him. He describes Aachen’s organisers as among the most experienced in the world, with a history of hosting world championships, European championships, and multiple CSIOs.

His vision for what a successful World Championships looks like is grounded and clear. He wants to see the best sport possible, excitement in the medal rounds, teams fighting for podium places, and an individual competition that holds attention. But he is equally focused on how that sport is presented to global audiences. Sports presentation has changed dramatically in the last five years, he observes, and the FEI’s ability to show the sport at its best to viewers around the world is now a key priority in itself. That commitment to transparency extends further: he speaks about the importance of publishing data openly, whether on veterinary matters, biosecurity programs, or the welfare and safety work being driven by analytics.

Beyond Aachen, the planning lens extends to Los Angeles 2028 and, further still, to Brisbane 2032, for which planning has already begun. The Olympic context introduces layers of complexity that a World Championships does not, from IOC requirements around hospitality and broadcast timings. Every one of those considerations sits alongside the fundamental commitment to horse welfare. Todd is straightforward about the fact that these are not simple things to reconcile, and that doing them well requires careful, long-term thinking.

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Among the priorities he is most personally passionate about is the development of young riders. He talks about it with genuine feeling, and the FEI has recently created a youth education program, being rolled out to all national federations who wish to participate, covering areas including communication, media, social media, anti-doping, safeguarding, and veterinary matters. The goal is not to coach riders in the saddle but to give them the knowledge and tools they need to navigate the sport as athletes and as people. The Youth Olympic Games, coming up this year in Dakar in October and November, sit within that long-term vision. 

On the specific question of the gap between strong national competitors and consistent international performance, particularly in the Australian context, Todd shifts thoughtfully between his current role and his experience as Chef d’Equipe. He believes the domestic development of Australian jumping over the last ten years has been enormous, and that the talent is genuinely there. What riders need is international experience, and he sees encouraging signs in the increasing presence of international course designers at Australian events, which benefits not only the riders but the domestically based course designers who gain exposure to different thinking and approaches. He also makes a point that he feels strongly about: Australia needs to draw more deliberately on the knowledge of its riders who have competed and trained internationally. 

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When asked what advice he would give to his eighteen-year-old self, his answer is immediate and uncomplicated. He would not change anything, he says. His life has given him a wide range of experiences, from international competition to a career in the stock and station industry, and all of it has shaped him. If he had one thing to say to his younger self, it would be: never say no. Take every opportunity that comes. It is advice he gives to young riders today when he speaks with them.

The thread that runs through everything Todd describes, whether it is welfare, youth development, the rules revision, or the road to Brisbane, is a belief that the sport is worth caring for deeply and working on carefully. He talks about the growth in participation numbers, the approximately 475,000 starts recorded globally in 2024 and 488,000 in 2025, with genuine satisfaction, not as a marketing point but as evidence that what he and others are working toward is actually connecting with people. He is clear that the sport faces scrutiny, that not everything said about it is positive, and that this is, in his view, healthy. It keeps everyone honest and keeps them looking forward.

For Todd, the sport is his passion and such an important part of his life and for Australia we can be proud that one of our own is having such a big impact on the sport we all love.

You can watch the full ‘All Clear’ Podcast which is available now on:

YouTube: https://bit.ly/46N1iGS
Spotify: https://bit.ly/47oCSnl
Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/40U1W1Q

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