Endurance Department Updates

Inside.Fei.org

21 Dec 2018
FEI Endurance Rules

At present, the FEI Endurance Rules define a Catastrophic Injury as one requiring euthanasia. Sanctions are applied on the basis of the owner agreeing to the horse being euthanised and can be avoided if euthanasia is refused with obvious serious welfare consequences for the horse. The Endurance Temporary Committee discussed this serious issue during their meeting on the 12 December and has proposed that, in addition to catastrophic injury, the sanction would also apply when there is a “Severe Injury” of the horse.

In order to protect the welfare of the horse, the FEI Board unanimously approved during their teleconference of 19 December 2018 the following modification to Article 815.3 of the Endurance rules which can be found here. This change would become effective as of 1 February 2019.

Please take note that in keeping with FEI Statutes Art. 20.3, the FEI Board may pass resolutions which are normally the prerogatives of the General Assembly. In such cases, the National Federations are promptly notified. If a majority of the National Federations eligible to vote, respond within thirty (30) days of the date of the notice, signifies its disapproval, the measure shall be rescinded if possible.

In addition, as the Endurance Temporary Committee continues working on its proposals for Endurance Rule changes for 2020, which will be discussed at the FEI Sports Forum next April, the FEI will actively reach out to Organisers to test the implementation of modified Heart Rates and presentation times in order to gather valuable information that will be presented as part of the Endurance discussions at the Sports Forum.

Should you have any question, do not hesitate to contact Marc Chovelon at marc.chovelon@fei.org or Aude Barby at aude.barby@fei.org