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The USEF Eventing Technical Committee did not settle on a recommendation to the USEF Board regarding the one fall rule when they met this morning at the USEF convention in a meeting that was closed to the public. I am told that, as expected, the committee discussed the one fall rule but that since some committee members had not been able to attend several relevant safety and concussion forums at the USEA convention this weekend the committee would not vote on the rule until all committee members had the opportunity to view DVD recordings of those forums. The plan now is to have the rule change discussed and voted on by the committee at their January meeting during the USEF convention. This will still give them time to make a recommendation to the USEF Board to be ratified at the USEF convention.
Remember that the rules at USEA events are governed by the USEF. This means that any rule change must be approved by the USEF Board, which will vote on rule changes at their annual meeting in January. In order to reach the USEF Board, an eventing rule change needs to get through the USEF Eventing Technical Committee. As we all know, the USEA Board of Governors voted unanimously earlier this summer to recommend a repeal of the rule eliminating riders at training level and below for their first rider fall on cross-country. The specific wording of the rule specifically related to whether or not the rider has control of the horse after a fall is still being discussed. From two Eventing Nation polls, one conducted this summer, and one yesterday, about 70% of voters support repealing the rule.
I don’t think this decision to wait on a vote means anything for the one fall rule other than the committee wants to have as much information as possible before making a vote. My feeling about the overall chances of the one fall rule being repealed are that without all of this concussion discussion at the convention the rule would be repealed without question. But Dr. Sills and Dr. Halstead have provided some very sobering insights into the importance of not letting someone compete with a concussion and the challenges of evaluating if they are concussed. Clear as mud?
Go eventing.
Correction: As a quick correction the USEA board’s vote in August to endorse repealing the one fall rule was not unanimous.
