FEI launches bid process for key events

FEI.org

15 Mar 2016

The bid process has opened today (15 March) for bid cities seeking to host the FEI European Championships 2019 and the FEI World Cup™ Finals in four disciplines for 2019 through to 2021.

Bids are invited for the FEI European Championships 2019 across all FEI Disciplines - Jumping, Dressage and Para-Equestrian Dressage, Eventing, Driving, Endurance, Vaulting and Reining – with the choice to host single or combined disciplines.

Applications for FEI World Cup™ Finals in Jumping, Dressage, Driving and Vaulting are open for 2019, 2020 and 2021, with bidders encouraged to host all four disciplines together.

Allocations will be made at the FEI Bureau meeting during the FEI General Assembly in November 2016.

“It is really exciting to launch the bid process for some of our key events”, FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez said today. “The process is designed to select candidates able to deliver sporting events of the highest quality and raise the profile of our sport.

“We are looking forward to receiving a wide range of bids from across Europe for the FEI European Championships 2019 and from cities around the world for the FEI World Cup Finals in 2019, 2020 and 2021 and expect applications from new cities as our sport continues to grow across the globe.”

The Bid Application & Questionnaire and Bid Guide is now available for download by interested parties here:
http://fei.org/news/fei-launches-bid-process-key-events

Four big UK endurance rides announced; prize-money only for best-conditioned

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

Horsetalk.co.nz | 15 March 2016

Four world-class endurance rides will be held at Euston Park in Britain this northern summer, with a promise that the ability of horses to finish in the best condition possible will be a focus of the contests.

In a major move, it was announced that all prize-money would be allocated for the Best Condition Award.

A similar strategy has been used with considerable success this season at the Bou Thieb endurance venue in the United Arab Emirates, where awarding the lion’s share of prize-money to the best-conditioned horses has been a key component in local rules that have kept speeds down and drastically reduced injury and veterinary issues...

Read more: http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2016/03/15/four-uk-endurance-ridesprize-money-best-conditioned/#ixzz42zGOyH5F

Endurance: Tales from the FEI’s X-Files

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

Horsetalk.co.nz | 14 March 2016

Many years ago, when I was at the bottom of the pecking order in a newsroom, it was my job to sort the morning mail and distribute it to the reporters.

I worked with a lovely woman named Gaynor Loriman. Every month or so, Gaynor received a mailed newsletter from the South Korean embassy in New Zealand. It was addressed to Gay Nor Fori Mar.

Years later, when I was picture editor at another newspaper, I got my very own letter from the Korean embassy. In the days before digital pictures, they had kindly sent me an updated head-and-shoulders file photograph of their beloved president. I opened the cardboard cylinder and pulled out a poster, measuring 1 metre by 1.5 metres.

This is the same nation that went on to give us Psy and Gangnam Style. That, I guess, is just how the quirky South Koreans roll.

I have been pondering these past few days about how the FEI rolls, as we digest the two FEI Tribunal decisions relating to the series of rides in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in which the results inexplicably mirrored those of previous races...

Read more: http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2016/03/14/endurance-tales-fei-x-files/#ixzz42tRCANmz

Endurance in UAE has outpaced skills of trainers and riders, expert suggests

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

Horsetalk.co.nz | 13 March 2016

Endurance in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has grown faster than the skills of trainers and riders, an American specialist in the discipline who once worked as a trainer in the region told an international conference.

Emmett Ross told delegates to the inaugural International Bou Thieb Endurance Conference of the need for education to further the sport in the region.

Ross is a past chef d’equipe to the US Endurance Team and is shortly to take on the organization of the endurance section for the upcoming World Equestrian Games in Bromont, Canada.

Ross suggested that the intense pressure to win from many owners and the high levels of prize money had given rise to many of the region’s problems...

Read more: http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2016/03/13/endurance-uae-outpaced-trainers-riders-expert/#ixzz42ndpjafN

UAE Suspensions: Return of the Bogi

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

Cuckson Report | March 11, 2016

News that Dr Hallvard Sommerseth has been suspended for a mere two years for his role in the submission of over 500 sets of bogus endurance results to the FEI makes you wonder exactly what heinous crime a senior figure in global equestrianism has to commit to get the possible lifetime FEI ban for fraud. I guess that holding up the FEI accounts department and demanding all the Longines money would result in little more than polite escort from the King Hussein building and a nice box of Swiss chocolates to eat on the way home.

Abdul Aziz Mohammed Yasin Sheikh, head of the endurance department at the UAE federation, is also suspended for just 18 months for his part in this fiasco. Both will also have to re-qualify as four-star judges before they are allowed to officiate again. Well, that’s an extra bummer for them – not.

To introduce some much needed levity when unravelling the Bogus Rides scam 12 months ago, my plucky helpers christened the perpetrators “the Bogi.”

Well, it looks like the Bogi will return soon. As they receive credit for time served already, Sommerseth can return to judging next year. He has no doubt been able to claim back his derisory 4,000 Swiss francs fine as a business expense from his employers...

Read more here:
http://www.horse-canada.com/cuckson-report/return-of-the-bogi/

Boudheib Endurance Rules Put Welfare of the Horse First

Horsereporter.com - Full Article

by Pamela Burton

"Reform or stop, no compromise," said HH Sheikh Sultan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan

11 March, 2016, Abu Dhabi ~ The 1st International Boudhieb Endurance Conference was held on 10 March, 2016 outside Abu Dhabi at the Boudhieb Endurance Village. Disrupted by extraordinary storms and a deluge of rain, the 1st International Endurance Seminar had to be postponed for a day, but this did not stop participants and guests from enjoying a most interesting and thought provoking event which set out to discuss and expand on what has become to be known as the Boudhieb Rules.

His Highness Sheikh Sultan Bin Zayed Al Nayhanthe moving spirit for not only the Conference but also for the Boudhieb Rules was present throughout, and he was delighted by the attendance and appreciated the strong support his ideas received from the speakers and guests.

The Boudhieb Rules have sparked an intense debate both Nationally and Internationally about the meaning of endurance, whether the long distance flat races run against the clock as seen in UAE can legitimately be called endurance or whether other criteria which ensure the welfare of the horse are not more relevant to the spirit of the sport. For His Highness there is no doubt and the Boudhieb Rules reflect his ideals. He issued an ultimatum, “Reform or stop – no compromise...”

Read more here:
http://www.horsereporter.com/boudheib-endurance-rules-put-welfare-of-the-horse-first/

FEI Tribunal publishes decisions in UAE Endurance cases

FEI.org

11 Mar 2016

The FEI Tribunal has this week published decisions in three Endurance cases in the United Arab Emirates involving Dr Hallvard Sommerseth, Abdul Aziz Sheikh and Ali Mohammed Al Muhairi.

Dr Hallvard Sommerseth, former Head of the Veterinary Department at the United Arab Emirates Equestrian Federation (EEF), has been suspended as an FEI Official for a two-year period for non-compliance with FEI Rules and Regulations and his involvement in a number of events from which duplicate results were submitted to the FEI.

The FEI Tribunal found that Dr Sommerseth had been “grossly negligent with regards to his duties as an FEI Official” during the events. Dr Sommerseth had been provisionally suspended by the FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez since 31 August 2015.

The FEI Tribunal suspension, which prevents Dr Sommerseth from acting as an FEI Official or having any involvement in FEI activities at a national or international level, runs through to 15 April 2017. The FEI Tribunal, which also fined Dr Sommerseth CHF 4,000 and ordered him to pay CHF 1,500 towards the costs of the legal procedure, took into account the ongoing provisional suspension imposed by the FEI Secretary General and the period from 12 March to 27 July 2015 when the EEF was suspended.

Dr Sommerseth has 21 days from the date of notification (10 March 2016) to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The full decision is available here.


Abdul Aziz Sheikh, former Head of the EEF Endurance Department, has been suspended from acting as an FEI Official or having any involvement in FEI activities at a national or international level by the FEI Tribunal for an 18-month period.

Mr Sheikh was provisionally suspended by the FEI Secretary General on 13 October 2015 for consistently failing to observe the FEI Rules and Regulations over a period of several years and for allowing a number of Endurance events to proceed without accurate timing systems.

The FEI Tribunal has now suspended him until 12 April 2017, taking into account the provisional suspension imposed by the FEI Secretary General. Mr Sheikh has also been fined CHF 3,000 and ordered to pay CHF 1,500 towards the costs of the legal procedure.

Mr Sheikh has 21 days from the date of notification (10 March 2016) to appeal the decision to CAS.

The full decision is available here.


The FEI Tribunal has also issued a decision in the case against Ali Mohammed Al Muhairi (UAE) regarding breaches of the terms of a four-year suspension imposed in March 2012 following an Equine Anti-Doping Rules violation. Under the terms of the suspension, Mr Al Muhairi was not allowed to participate in any capacity or be present at any Event authorised or organised by the FEI, other than as a spectator. The FEI Tribunal extended the period of ineligibility through to 21 April 2016 and ordered Mr Al Muhairi to contribute CHF 500 towards the costs of the legal procedure.

The Parties have 21 days from the date of notification (10 March 2016) to appeal the decision to CAS.

The full decision is available here.