Every year we take great pride in retracing and reviewing the many highlights of the equestrian year, from both a sporting and governance perspective. In line with our commitment to transparent governance, you will find reports on all the key sporting events and decisions made throughout the year as well as in-depth statistics for each of our disciplines, the full financial report, FEI Solidarity and numerous facts and figures as well as reference tools which you can use to extract and filter the information you are interested in.

Happy Reading!

All the FEI’s Rules & Regulations are available in our special FEI Rules hub, where they are arranged by theme and can be viewed online or downloaded in both clean and mark-up versions. This includes all the rules which govern our sport on the field of play and the relevant Covid-19 By-Laws, manuals for FEI Stewards, the FEI General Regulations and Statutes, as well as Veterinary and Anti-doping Regulations for both horses and humans.

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, a number of derogations have been put in place with regards to existing Rules and Regulations. These are all documented, chronologically and per theme in the dedicated Covid-19 hub under Resolutions and Decisions. Each Resolution and Decision includes the date – with the most recent at the top – and you will also find details of the decision-making authority behind each Resolution/Decision.

We are pleased to present you with the new version of the FEI Sustainability Handbook for Event Organisers.

Since we launched the first version of this handbook in 2014, a lot has happened and we have gained greater insights on Sustainability in general, as well as on how best to provide Event Organisers with a useful tool that contains content which can be actively implemented.

This is why, we have based our new handbook on the Global Reporting Initiative indicators, which are presented as practical initiatives in an easy to understand language. We have also regrouped the various initiatives under the different phases of an equestrian event’s timeline, ranging from Pre-planning (Event conceptualisation) to Post-event operations (Venue wrap-up).

You can discover all the functionalities, recommendations and ideas we propose in just one click by downloading the handbook right here.

We hope you will find this new FEI Sustainability Handbook comprehensible and easy to follow, and that it can accompany you in the successful and sustainable organisation of your event, every step of the way. Together, we can contribute to taking care of our planet Earth and who knows, it might be the only one with horses…

Extract from the Introduction of the Dressage Handbook:

A horse has to be obedient, but before that, the man must understand the needs of the horse. (Xenophon - 420 B.C.)

Dressage as a sport is growing rapidly.

Many countries throughout the world are interested in training and competing at all levels, even at the highest. Therefore it is important that all of us involved in the sport think and speak the same technical language and have the same foundation of basic principles.

This FEI Dressage Handbook is part of the globalisation policy of the FEI and will certainly improve the communication related to judging, riding and training.

It will not only help with the understanding and clarification of the scores, but also with the awareness of the criteria outlined in the FEI Dressage Rulebook.

The Training Scale is the “red thread” woven throughout this Handbook.

Learning this book by heart is not a guarantee for good judging, riding or training. It does not replace the FEI Dressage Rules, it is simply a tool based on those rules.

The FEI Dressage Handbook is available for sale only as a hard copy. Click HERE to download the order form, to be filled in and returned to dressage@fei.org
 

On 17 November 2021, the FEI Extraordinary General Assembly voted to remove Reining as an FEI discipline (click to see Reining Annexes 1 to 5) 

This was the result of an extensive consultation process spanning several years with all concerned stakeholders in order to ensure all possibilities for the future of Reining had been explored. But sadly, the removal had become unavoidable due to the coexistence of two international governing bodies for the same equestrian discipline which is against the FEI Statutes.

The removal of Reining took immediate effect and is reflected in the 24^th edition of the FEI Statutes, effective as of 17 November, available here.

We have archived all the relevant pages to ensure all historical data is preserved:

• Inside.FEI.org: About FEI Reining (Championships, results, rules, officials, organisers, etc.)
• Inside.FEI.org: Covid-19 Reining Resolutions & Decisions
• FEI History Hub: Reining at FEI World Equestrian Games
• FEI Database: Reining information (online results & rankings, events, etc.)

Recently published by Flammarion in collaboration with the FEI, and available in both English and French, this unique anthology - the only and one of its kind - tells the story of more than a hundred years of equestrian sports, focusing on the three Olympic disciplines of Dressage, Jumping, and Eventing. Featuring every major event since 1912, when the sport first appeared in the modern Olympic Games, the book gives a decade-by-decade breakdown of individual and team medal-winners, and reveals fascinating, behind-the-scenes anecdotes that bring these hard-fought contests to life.

Frank and intimate portraits of groundbreaking athletes - including Hans Günter Winkler, Joe Fargis, Isabell Werth, Charlotte Dujardin, and Mark Todd - and of the sport's most remarkable horses form a tribute to these sporting legends and evoke their dreams, setbacks, and triumphs. Richly illustrated with more than three hundred photographs and replete with key statistics, this book conveys all the excitement and drama of high-profile international equestrian competitions and is an essential reference for all enthusiasts.

The English and French versions are available to purchase in all the main online bookshops, as well as directly from the publisher Flammarion (french version only), where you can also browse through the first chapter digitally to get a feel for the book:

To purchase the French version at Flammarion, click here

 by Stefanie Krysiak, Master of Advanced studies in Sport Administration and Technology.

During the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) Sports Forum on 4 April 2016 an issue was raised by Olympic Champion Steve Guerdat who stated: “People need to learn to follow procedures. Judges need to learn that, but one thing we cannot miss is the horsemanship these people should have. Yes we need rules, the rules are black and white, but we must not forget we have a horse in our sport. A living animal and the officials must understand the importance of horsemanship.”

However, a comprehensive understanding of horsemanship was lacking and resulted in the matter often being mystified. Consequently, a study was initiated by the FEI Education and Standards Department to assist in determining whether the concept of horsemanship could be defined more substantively and to develop a potential baseline understanding of the necessary skills, abilities and attributes for horsemanship competence. An in-depth literature review along with qualitative semi-structured interviews with one hundred and five individuals from six continents, thirty different countries, in eight equestrian disciplines and twenty-one different stakeholder perspectives were conducted to address this subject matter.

To download the document as pdf, click here.

This document has been produced by the Swedish Equestrian Federation’s reference group for riding surfaces. The reference group and its advisors include representatives of equestrian sport, riding schools and the Equestrian Federation, equine veterinary scientists from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, and specialists with extensive practical experience of riding arena construction.

Traditionally, advice on the construction of riding arena surfaces have been based on experience and personal opinion, which can be subjective and lacking scientific rigour. In recent years this has changed, as research methods and equipment have been developed by scientists. This has allowed testing and analysis of riding surface properties, and their effects on the horse to be quantified.

While this scientific work is still ongoing, the aim of the guide is to share current scientific data that applies to equestrian surfaces, in combination with practical know-how from experienced arena specialists.

The FEI decided to finance a translation to English. The English version was reviewed by an international panel of leading biomechanics and equine surface researchers from the United States and the United Kingdom.

To download the document as pdf, click here.

The FEI has since 2009 supported research into the effect of arena surfaces on the orthopaedic health of sport horses. The document you can access below summarises the findings of this research.

The white paper focuses on arena surfaces within the broad context of providing training and competition arenas for sport horses that facilitate maximal performance while minimizing the risk of injury. It includes a description of the physical properties of the surface that determine how the horse perceives the footing and the effects of the footing on the horse’s physiological and biomechanical responses. It also covers aspects of composition, construction, and maintenance that are necessary to build and maintain arenas with the desired physical properties. Current methods of measuring the physical properties of the surface are described using terms that are easily understood by riders, trainers, course designers and arena builders. It is hoped that this information will provide a basis to guide future progress in this area.

This white paper has been drafted as a collection of published scientific papers and data. It is considered a work in progress and will be updated as new scientific studies and surface data become available.

To download the document as pdf, click here.

Constantly updated and covering all the terminology and jargon around the horse and horse sport, the FEI Campus Glossary has hundreds of definitions and is a reliable source for equestrian related words. Should there be a word that you are looking for that we have not covered - let us know - and we will make sure it is included in this comprehensive equestrian lexicon.

The FEI is proud to have participated in the campaigns displayed below, which aim towards promoting a life of mutual inclusion and respect. A simple click on the images will tell you more ...

APRIL 2021

MARCH 2021

Fearless Girls - a FISE project