Equestrian is widely considered to be a gender-neutral sport that allows athletes of all sexual orientations, gender identities or expressions to compete on a level playing field. It is the only Olympic and Paralympic sport in which all competitions are mixed gender.

Aside from Vaulting, which has gendered competitions, the FEI disciplines of Jumping, Dressage, Para Dressage, Eventing, Endurance, Driving and Para Driving have male and female athletes competing as equals, at all levels.

In 2010, the FEI became the first International Federation to freeze the ranking points for athletes on maternity leave, a possibility that was later extended to athletes who are unable to compete following an accident. This furthered the equality agenda as it allowed male and female athletes, who are unable to compete for medical reasons, to maintain their ranking points.

On 6 December 2022, the FEI Board approved changes to the existing rules regarding maternity leave, to give athletes the option of adapting the duration of their maternity leave to their individual situation.

Within the FEI administration, current President Ingmar De Vos – a UN Gender Champion – became the first male president after a 28-year run of three consecutive female presidents.

The FEI’s headquarters personnel is made up of 65% women and that is at all levels of the organisation – from entry positions, to directors and all the way to the Secretary General.

Sabrina Ibáñez is the FEI’s first female Secretary General and is one of only eight women who hold the position among all the Summer and Winter Olympic Federations. She is a passionate supporter of gender equality and diversity and has spoken extensively on these topics. She was also a member of the IOC Gender Equality Working Group, and in October 2020 was appointed Chair of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) Diversity and Gender Equality Consultative Group (ADGEG), having been a member of ADGEG since its inception in May 2019.

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Equestrian is not a gender-affected sport that relies on the physical strength, stamina and physique of an athlete as there are no gender based biological advantages. Success in equestrian is largely determined by the unique bond between horse and athlete and refined communication with the horse.

The FEI does not need a transgender participation policy. Aside from Vaulting, which has gendered competitions, the FEI disciplines of Jumping, Dressage, Para Dressage, Eventing, Endurance, Driving and Para Driving have male and female athletes competing as equals, at all levels.

By its very nature, equestrian sport lends itself well to diversity. We have many high profile athletes from the LGBTQ+ community living their lives openly and who are role models for younger members still finding their way.

The topic of gender equality in equestrian sport is more than just about improving the conditions of women on the field-of-play, and other voices are now beginning to break through for a more nuanced conversation.

For instance:

• The specific nutritional, physiological and clothing requirements of female athletes need to be taken into account as this can deeply impact their training and their sporting careers. The effects of menstrual cycle phases on a female athlete’s sporting performance needs to be better addressed both scientifically and practically.
• In a sport like equestrian where athletes enjoy long careers, there is still not a great deal of understanding on the effects of perimenopause and menopause on a female athlete’s health and wellbeing.

Increasingly, there is evidence coming to light about the barriers to inclusion faced by black equestrians. A recent study by the British Equestrian Federation has highlighted how racial discrimination has impacted the ability of black equestrians to fully access and benefit from equestrian activity in the UK.

With more diversity of thought, opinions and perspectives in the sports industry, we are now identifying barriers to inclusion that have been more “invisible” in the past, and which require a proactive, rather than reactive, response.

At the FEI, we know that it’s critical to openly communicate about issues of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and address matters head-on.

This is why we dedicated an entire session to gender equality at the FEI Sports Forum 2019 which allowed us to take stock of where we are as a sport and to inject some new thinking and ideas into the discussion.

During this session we heard from an expert in leadership and human behaviour that unconscious biases can sometimes be present in our hiring practices and other administrative processes.

It was quite the eye-opener and it got us all thinking about gender equality from a different perspective and helped us identify some areas of practical action. While we have patted ourselves on the back for being champions of gender equality on our field-of-play, it was clear that we needed to match this in the workplace and at Board and Committee level, not just at the FEI but also within our member Federations.

Some of the steps we have taken to address imbalances:

• Nominations Committee: As an organisation, we have introduced key practices to reduce the structural barriers to gender equality and diversity at the leadership level. The criteria of the nominations committee now states that if there are comparable candidates for a position, preference needs to be given to the gender that is underrepresented in the body. This is applicable also to the committees where there are more women than men.
• Created the Gender Equality Grant in Equestrian Sport of CHF 20,000 which is given to one specific National Federation project or programme whose main aim and focus is the promotion of gender equality. This can include programmes relating to governance and administration, athletes’ participation, coaches, officials, grooms and farriers. The project or programme to benefit from the grant is selected by the FEI Solidarity Committee at its annual meeting.
• The FEI increased maternity leave from two to six months and now offers male employees a one-month paid paternity leave following the birth of each child, contributing to an improved work life balance.
• The FEI is currently working on concrete actions to make sure our everyday working practices are more inclusive to people with different sexual orientations.