The International Jumping Riders Club since 1977 is the voice of the showjumping riders from around the world.
International Jumping Riders Club
THURSDAY’S FEI BOARD MEETING: KEY DECISIONS
Abstract of the main discussions and decisions taken by the FEI Board at meeting in Cape Town (RSA), 10 November 2022:
Allocation of FEI Series:
The Board allocated the Mexican qualifier for the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ 2023 to San Miguel De Allende, from 26 to 30 April 2023, which replaces the previous venue in Coapexpan.
Equine Ethics & Wellbeing Commission (IDV/SIB)
The Chair of the Equine Ethics & Wellbeing Commission Professor Dr. Natalie Waran introduced the work of the Commission that was created by the FEI in June 2022: “What we’re trying to do is to make the case about why an understanding of both ethics and welfare science is important when making 1 decisions about the approach taken to maintain Social License to Operate.
As Equestrian stakeholders, we’ve all come from a background of traditions, many of which we hold dear. But to address issues related to Social License, we need to be prepared to adapt, and to embrace what we can learn from new research. As fellow equestrians, we are your critical friends, and we want to support you in not only protecting horse welfare but also ensuring the future use of the horse in sport, leisure and recreation. We will provide advice and recommendations to the Board for consideration, but it is up to the Board to decide to accept these and put them into practice…”.
FEI Athletes Committee 2022 – 2026
Following the end of the voting period which took place from 1 July to 31 October 2022, the FEI Director of Governance & Institutional Affairs presented the Athletes that were elected in each FEI discipline, for a non-renewable four-year term from 2022-2026.
Rodrigo Pessoa was elected Athletes’ Representative in Jumping Committee.
Medical and Maternity Leave Ranking Rules
The FEI Legal Department informed the Board of a review currently underway regarding the Medical and Maternity Leave Ranking Rules for FEI disciplines, including consultation with relevant riders’ clubs and the wider equestrian stakeholder groups. As part of the review process, the disciplines that currently do not have maternity leave provisions in their rules are reviewing the topic.
The Legal Department indicated a first proposal could be put forward to the FEI Board for consideration at its teleconference in December 2022.
Appointment of Technical Committee Members:
The Board approved the following appointments to the FEI Technical Committees:
FEI Veterinary Committee:
Lars Roepstorff (SWE) and Mark Sinnott (GBR) were appointed as members of the FEI Veterinary Committee for the four-year term 2022-2026, replacing outgoing members Tim Parkin (GBR) and Yves Rossier (CAN).
FEI Medical Committee:
Linsey Mason (IRL) was appointed as a member of the FEI Medical Committee for 20222026, replacing outgoing members Zoltan PALL (HUN).
FEI Jumping Committee:
Michael Stone (USA) was appointed as a member of the FEI Jumping Committee for the four-year term 2022-2026, replacing outgoing member Daniela Garcia Nigaglioni (MEX).
Jumping
The FEI President provided a short overview of the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Task Force Meeting that was held on 25 October 2022 in Lausanne where stakeholders from the Jumping community were brought together to consider the future of the Series. The FEI President confirmed that based on the constructive feedback from the meeting, an internal debrief would follow to establish future actions including drafting some concrete proposals which will be put forward to the community for further discussion.
The FEI Board approved clarifications and modifications to the 2023 Rules for the following series: Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ - FEI Jumping World Challenge - FEI Children’s Classics - Global Champions Tour/Global Champions League - Cavaliada Tour Rules 2022-23.
Veterinary Matters
The FEI Veterinary Director updated the Board on a case of West Nile fever that was found in a horse in Great Britain this week. The horse had been competing at an Event in Spain and developed symptoms of the neurological disease on arrival at its home stables. West Nile Fever is a zoonosis but it is important to note that West Nile Virus does NOT reach sufficient level in the blood of horses for them to pose an infectious risk to other horses, humans or importantly the mosquito vectors. So infected horses are NOT an infectious risk. For horses a very efficient and safe vaccine does exist. The FEI will launch an awareness campaign to increase the awareness of the disease and vaccine.
Technology and Sport Services
The Director of Technology and Sports Services provided the Board with an overview of recent developments of the Horse Health Requirements via the FEI HorseApp.
Since the Horse Health Requirements came into effect worldwide on 1 January 2022, the FEI HorseApp has recorded more than four million horse temperatures.
A key development for the App has been the Dashboard which gives Persons Responsible an overview of the status of their temperature recordings, Self-Certifications, Examinations on Arrival and Horse Check-outs for Events in which their horses are entered.
Education & Officials
The FEI Education Director provided the Board with statistics of the Education and Officials with the data broken down by the number of officials and their functions, their general gender and age distribution by function, the functions and officials per discipline, the geographical distribution of Officials and a breakdown of the shows, officials and assignments in 2022.
FEI Sports Forum 2023 & FEI General Assembly 2023
The FEI Sports Forum 2023 will be held in Lausanne (SUI) on 24 and 25 April 2023. The Board was advised that the following sessions are being considered for the FEI Sports Forum 2023:
- Report from the Equine Ethics & Wellbeing Commission;
- FEI Events Organisation which will include discussions on the cost of Events, payment of per diems for FEI Officials and the next steps for Event Classification;
- Update on the Longines FEI Jumping Nations CupTM Series; Progress report Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The FEI General Assembly 2023 will take place in Mexico City (MEX) from 17 to 21 November 2023.
Full Summary here