Photo by Eric Swinebroad.
Following the two-day FEI Sports Forum in Lausanne, Switzerland, held earlier this week, the FEI Bureau met for its spring in-person meeting on Wednesday and Thursday. Read for a summary of the key decisions and updates related to eventing. All decisions can be viewed here.
Final rule change proposals: The new draft rules based on the discussions that took place at the FEI Sports Forum and over the last 12 months will be sent to National Federations on July 15, with a deadline of September 9 for federations to give their feedback to the FEI. Final drafts will be published on the FEI’s website on October 28, with National Federations voting on the proposals at the FEI General Assembly in Tokyo on November 22.
Frangible penalties: Rule 548.1, which awards 11 penalties for activating a frangible device on cross country, has been modified as follows: “Each Athlete activating a frangible device will be awarded 11 penalties whenever the activation occurs as expected (i.e. activation by significant pressure exerted by the Horse which modifies the dimension of the fence).”
Name changes: The FEI’s controversial name change rule is going back to the drawing board. The FEI is asking National Federations to submit proposals on how best to handle horse name and prefix changes, which will then be presented at the FEI General Assembly in November.
New series: The FEI Bureau approved the Shearwater Insurance Tri-Star Grand Slam for 2016. The Tri-Star Grand Slam awards £50,000 to a rider who can win three of the following five CIC3* events: Burnham Market, Belton, Houghton, Hopetoun and Burgham. The FEI also approved Luhmühlen meets Copenhagen, a series for CIC* riders that will award €1.900 to the top finishers who compete at both the Luhmühlen CIC* in April and the Copenhagen CIC* in July.
Rio update: Progress at Deodoro, the equestrian venue for the 2016 Olympic Games, “has accelerated following the appointment of a new contractor. The Rio 2016 Organizing Committee has assured the FEI that the venue will be ready on time.
