Hong Kong: FEI approved the revised Jumping Rules and by a separate vote, the new Article 259

The FEI General Assembly held on November 7 in Hong Kong, China has democratically approved the revised Jumping Rules to take effect on January 1, 2026. It also approved, by a separate vote, the new Art.259 regarding the new Jumping Recorded Warning. The new article imposes a mandatory “Jumping Recorded Warning” for all cases of blood that is caused by the rider (“Athlete induced”) or caused by tack/equipment. Where a rider receives 2 Jumping Recorded Warnings within 12 months, the rider will be automatically suspended for 1 month and incur a fine of CHF 1000. Also, under the new rule, all cases of blood will require a mandatory check by the Ground Jury with the official FEI veterinary delegate to assess if the horse is “fit to compete”. The Horse will only be allowed to continue in the Event if it is fit to compete. 

Unfortunately, there has been confusion, misinterpretation and wrong information in the media and on social platforms in recent weeks, despite a transparent consultation process since March. During that time the IJRC – an official FEI stakeholder group - has published regular updates on its proposals for future sanctions and other rules. It is important to highlight that  in Jumping blood cases only occur very rarely. Until October 2025, out of 340,000 starts in FEI Jumping competitions in 2025, only 0.029% of starts had a blood case.

IJRC has never advocated for lesser sanctions for blood and believes the new rule is actually stricter with more serious consequences. IJRC regrets that critics have read Art. 259 in isolation, instead of in conjunction with the complementary rules that mandate disqualification for spur marks (even when blood is not visible) and for abuse of the horse that can be referred to the FEI Tribunal for more serious sanctions.

From the outset, the IJRC sought a more proportionate response; a micro lesion on one horse resulted in the elimination of the entire Brazilian team from the Paris Olympic Games last year, which we believe was excessive, on the other hand an elimination after a round with faults has nearly no consequences.

As a result of the new rule careless riding or blood (even if minimal) caused by tack or equipment repeatedly by the same athlete will be sanctioned more strongly than it was in the existing rules.

In a press statement yesterday FEI General Assembly approves restructured FEI Jumping Rules | FEI the FEI highlighted the significant horse welfare enhancements of the new rule while agreeing to look into a more harmonised system across the disciplines.

FEI has a zero-tolerance approach to horse abuse.

• Before, blood cases were not followed up by a vet check; now a fitness to compete assessment is mandatory.
• Before, the decision whether to eliminate or not was subjective; now the sanction system  is objective.
• Before, elimination only happened after the class and the horse could continue in the Event and the rider did not incur any suspension (except in serious cases of abuse of horse). Now for cases where the blood is rider induced/caused by tack or equipment there is a Jumping Recorded Warning, with a second one within 12 months resulting in an immediate one-month suspension + a CHF1000 fine.

The rules on mandatory disqualification for excessive use of spurs remains unchanged and will continue to apply as will the abuse of horse rules.

In ALL cases of blood, horses must be passed as fit to compete by the Ground Jury in consultation with the Veterinary Delegate before being allowed to continue in the Event.

The rule allowing the Ground Jury to stop the horse during the class for safety/welfare reasons remains unchanged and will continue to apply.

The job of the officials and Ground Jury President, in which the IJRC has full trust, remains clear and unchanged and now they will consult with the veterinary delegate to assess if the horse fit to compete.

We hope that people will read all applicable rules with due attention and understand them.