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The Event Riders Association in Great Britain has developed a petition asking the FEI to reconsider many of the new Minimum Eligibility Requirement (MERs) rules put into effect this year. The ERA states that the new rules impact animal welfare, as many Advanced horses and riders must go back to one-star competition to re-qualify “as a pair,” which requires a number of additional runs. The ERA also expresses concerns about the extra financial burden stemming from the the new MERs. The petition currently has 166 signatures, with a goal of obtaining 1,000 signatures before the FEI Eventing Committee meets on March 4. Click here to view the petition.
The ERA petition states the following:
The new requirements to participate in Eventing introduced in 2013 are having considerable negative impact on riders and horses.
1. Advanced horses and riders are having to go all the way back to 1-star competition, putting additional mileage on horses and extra costs on riders and owners. ERA propose that any horse and rider who have both achieved a 3-star or 4-star MER, should not be required to do 1-star level competitions regardless of Category.
2. The requirement to achieve all FEI MERs as a combination is again impacting the welfare of horses and creating considerable additional cost for riders and owners and impacting the value of schoolmaster horses. ERA support the GBR NF proposal that where multiple MERs are required by the FEI, one of those MERs can be achieved separately by horse and rider.
3. The MERs required for a Category are too high, even with the mitigations in place for 2013. ERA propose that the mitigations introduced as a temporary measure in 2013 are made permanent.
4. 15 MERs at 3-Star level to gain a B Category is too hard, given the number of runs that are available and practical at that level. ERA propose that the number of 3-star MERs required to gain a Category B or A are immediately reduced to 10 and that the number of MERs is further reviewed before 2014.
5. Defining an uncategorised International Athlete as a “National Rider” is derogatory and causing upset. ERA propose that the term “National Rider” rider is changed to “Uncategorised International Rider.”
