August 6 2018
Endurance GB has completed both an internal process and external legal review following the withdrawal of GBR athlete Charlotte Chadwick from the FEI European Endurance Championship for Young Riders.
The findings of this review have confirmed that, in cases such as this, primary responsibility for eligibility is placed upon the rider; and Charlotte Chadwick’s entry to the European Championships for Young Riders was accepted and facilitated on the basis she was qualified to compete as per FEI rules. EGB does not therefore bear liability for the events surrounding Charlotte’s withdrawal.
The review has also found that no fault lies with the Technical Stewards at any of the events that Charlotte or her mother participated in during the lead up to the European Championships.
However, the review has also identified that improvements can be made to our systems and procedures to ensure they are helpful and minimise the risks of situations like this happening again. In the interests of responsible custodianship of our sport and our members, the organisation today outlines new measures to support our commitment to ensuring the highest standards of vigilance and to remove ambiguity with immediate effect. These include:
· Robust eligibility checks to be made mandatory as part of the selection process of international team members by the Team Chef or appropriate member of the Team Management, monitored consistently from selection through to competition.
· The introduction of a new automated rest period audit process for all ride results, which will enable potential breaches of rest periods to be identified.
· Expanding the results spreadsheets used by Technical Stewards to automatically include the current FEI registration status of the horse, which will reduce the risk of a FEI horse being allocated an EGB rest period.
It is not possible at this time to automatically calculate rest periods at the entry stage, and the onus remains on the riders to ensure that they are eligible to compete.
EGB will also take steps to underline that riders are responsible for compliance with all relevant regulations by implementing a new disclaimer on all ride entries, to indicate understanding of rules regarding eligibility, and to accept EGB, BEF or FEI regulations.
Whilst we reiterate that EGB is not liable for the unfortunate set of circumstances that prompted the introduction of these new measures, we nonetheless welcome the opportunity to review processes across the sport. It is our firm belief that this swift and affirmative response will lead to improved standards for all.
We would like to underscore our clear understanding that Charlotte, and her family, hold both horse welfare and the rules of Endurance with the upmost of importance and rules were broken completely unintentionally. The EGB Board is immensely proud of all our Young Riders and everything they have achieved and we are hugely disappointed for Charlie, who is a talented ambassador for our sport.
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