Launched in 2012, FEI Solidarity is a global programme aimed at promoting and enhancing equestrian culture working directly with the FEI’s member National Federations by providing the tools, knowledge and infrastructure required to develop the sport and nurture talent from grassroots to the world stage. The FEI Solidarity Programme has provided assistance to more than 90 Member National Federations and been involved in over 460 projects some of which are still ongoing.

Among these projects, 237 have been completed, some are in progress and others have yet to begin due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on travel restrictions, sport activities and sanitary measures.

How does FEI Solidarity support work?

FEI Solidarity support is focussed on four key pillars of activity and three types of assistance with specific programmes available in each of the pillars in order to best target and fulfil specific development needs.

INCREASING THE SCOPE // SINCE 2012…

*These figures include funds allocated to National Federation projects (ie. 461 projects since launch in 2012) as well as development related assistance/funding areas such as grass roots events and series, education, IT and horse transport/quarantine.

2022 Highlights

ACES YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES 2022 TEAM MEDAL PROJECT

Created in 2019, this four-year project’s aim was to have team Africa earn a medal at the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) 2022, set to take place in Dakar (SEN). These Games unfortunately turned out to be postponed to 2026, however the FEI was determined a generation of young athletes would not miss out on this unique opportunity and ran a mock YOG replicating al the conditions called the Youth Equestrian Games (YEG) at one of the biggest shows in the world, in Aachen (GER).    

The last phase of the Solidarity ACES project was dedicated to preparing the Athletes selected to represent their National Federation (NF) at the YEG which had qualified via the FEI Jumping World Challenge Qualification Competitions, among them Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, Tunisia and Zimbabwe. The Royal Moroccan Equestrian Federation, under President HRH Prince Moulay Abdallah Alaoui, generously decided to host a Regional Training Camp from 5-8 May in Rabat, providing athletes with not only an excellent pool of jumping horses, but also with free accommodation and meals available onsite. A total of eight athletes took part in the training camp: two from Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Following this training, each NF then selected one athlete to represent their NF at the YEG along with one reserve athlete. Coaches Charley Crockart and Mohamed Khalifa, who both delivered the Talent Identification sessions in the first phase of the project also attended the training camp.

A second and final training camp, to best prepare the five Athletes representing Team Africa at the YEG, took place at Lars Meyer zu Bexten’ stables from 18-22 June. And the trainings as well as the entire project clearly paid off. At the YEG Team Africa, composed of Jad Guerraoui (MAR), Thomas van Rijckevorsel (RSA), Elyes Chaouachi (TUN) and Amy Hay (ZIM) won team bronze and  individual gold went to Thomas van Rijckevorsel (RSA) followed by Jad Guerraoui (MAR) winning silver!

BOLIVIA SENIOR JUMPING ATHLETES TRAINING

In 2019, FEI Solidarity began financing a three-year Athletes training programme for Seniors in Jumping in Bolivia with the aim of preparing the athletes for the Bolivarian Games which took place in Colombia from 24 June to 4 July 2022. Benefiting from several training sessions organised over the past three years, the 29 athletes taking part in this training programme greatly evolved and improved their skills in Jumping.

Two athletes were placed in the top 10 at the Individual final and the team finished in fourth position. Another major objective of this programme was the preparation for the South American Games in October 2022 in Asuncion (PAR) and here too, the outcome of the project was encouraging with an athlete ranked among the top ten individually.

FEI SOLIDARITY RELIEF FUND SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE YOUTH VAULTERS

Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces on 24 February 2022, the FEI set aside a CHF 1 Million Solidarity Relief Fund to aid the equestrian community in the country as well as those who have left the embattled nation. From a sporting and talent perspective, and in a bid to assist aspiring athletes in their quest to reach their goals, the Fund also supplied athlete scholarships and provided training support for young athletes.

Consequently, assistance was provided to five young Vaulting Athletes – Polina Shovkova (14), sisters Katya (14) and Jenya (11) Panasenko, Sonia Shulga (14) and Marta Lopaienko (15) – who became the first team to ever represent Ukraine in international Vaulting Event when they participated in CVI1* in Kaposvár (HUN) from 20 to 22 May.

The team’s participation in Kaposvár came just a few short months after fleeing their hometown of Poltava in central Ukraine to escape the war. They stayed and trained in Bernolákovo, a suburb of Bratislava (SVK), where they were welcomed wholeheartedly by members of the local Vaulting community. Furthermore, their Coach Anthony Bro-Petit, who was already involved in developing the discipline in Ukraine prior to the war, delivered four training sessions to the Team.

FEI YOUTH EQUESTRIAN GAMES 2022

As announced in 2021, the first-ever FEI Youth Equestrian Games (YEG) were held from 23 June to 3 July 2022. This special event was created by the FEI in collaboration with the organisers of the CHIO Aachen (GER) as a replacement for the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) 2022, scheduled to take place in Dakar (SEN) and which were postponed to 2026.

You can discover all the sporting highlights in the FEI World of Sport section.

The qualification process of the 30 Athletes that took part in the YEG was the same as for the YOG and 30 countries obtained a quota place in 2021. Each NF could then select one Athlete, aged between 15 and 18, represent their country at one of the most prestigious venues our sport has to offer, with Medal Competitions organised on the legendary grass arena of the Hauptstadion during the CHIO5* in Aachen.

Further details regarding the NFs that have taken part in the qualification process can be found here.

In parallel to the qualification process, the FEI and Organising Committee (OC) started working on the organisation of this unique event by putting together a custom-made programme.

Aiming to maintain the spirit of the YOG, the FEI organised a number of educational workshops based on the IOC’s 365 Athletes’ Education Programme, alongside the training sessions and the competitions.

For 11 days, the 30 young Athletes were very busy with by a diverse and fun programme made up of:

The success of this event exceeded everyone’s expectations. Thanks to the excellent collaboration between the FEI and the OC, along with a fantastic pool of borrowed horses, the young generation of Jumping athletes present in Aachen as well as their entourage, got to share a once-in-a-lifetime experience and create new friendships!

YEG 2022 participants

Further information about the YEG Athletes can be found here.

Read up on everything that happened at the YEG 2022 in just one click here.

FEI COURSE FOR NATIONAL FEDERATIONS’ SECRETARY GENERALS & ADMINISTRATORS 2022

Course duration: 5 days

Attendance: According to a specific application procedure

Where: FEI Headquarters, Lausanne Switzerland

Certificates provided: Certificates of Attendance

GROUP IX WORKSHOP ON NFS ROLES, MISSIONS & RESPONSIBILITIES

A two-day workshop took place following the FEI general Assembly held in Cape Town (RSA) in November 2022.The workshop covering “National Federation’s Roles, Missions and Responsibilities” was led by the FEI Solidarity Director, and provided an opportunity to reflect and discuss these essential topics within equestrian sport.  The workshop was specially designed for Presidents and Secretaries General, who are ultimately the “Decision-takers” of a National Federation, involved in strategic aspects such as an NFs Constitution and Governance. Seventeen participants from 10 NFs (ANG, BOT, CIV, ETH, MRI, NAM, RSA, SWZ, ZAM, ZIM) attended the course as well as the FEI Chair and Deputy Chair of Group IX.

Development of new Education Programmes for the FEI Solidarity Catalogue

Always aiming to provide National Federations with the necessary tools to develop equestrian sport and horse welfare in their own country, together with the help of experts in their field, FEI Solidarity has created two new Education programmes. These two new projects were announced in 2021, developed in 2022 and are set to be implemented in 2023.

It is with great enthusiasm that we present the:

1) Stable Manager Education Programme

The stable manager education programme was developed by the FEI in collaboration with a group of experts. The Portuguese Equestrian Federation showed huge interest in helping and hosting the pilot course in their country. This was accepted and the entire team involved in creating the course was present in Porto to test the programme at the end of October 2022. In total, five NFs have applied for the programme in 2023 and several other NFs have expressed an interest in the coming years.

2) Bio Security Education Programme

A pilot course on Biosecurity was organised in June 2022 with the help of the Turkish NF at the beautiful Kemer Country Club in Istanbul (TUR), following which the constructive feedback received from the participants allowed us to polish the content with the experts and make it available in the FEI Solidarity Catalogue. Two NFs applied for this Education Programme in 2023 and interest has been shown by various other NFs for the coming years.

In order to introduce these two newcomers, promotional videos of each have been shared with NF representatives via our FEI Solidarity Communication.

UKRAINE – FEI SOLIDARITY RELIEF FUND

Established in February 2022, following the invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces, the dedicated CHF 1 Million FEI Solidarity Relief Fund for Ukraine has been actively supporting a number of equestrian related schemes across Ukraine and its neighbouring countries taking in Ukrainian horses and athletes.

This included, providing support for the creation of a logistical hub in Granat (UKR), located between Lviv and the Polish border, to prepare horses for transfer into the European Union, provide funding and distribution to regional hubs in critical need of horse supplies such as fodder and bedding. The logistical hub also helped organise the emergency evacuation of a Vaulting team and set up a training camp for them to continue to prepare for International Vaulting competitions.

In order to deliver aid efficiently and have the desired impact, the FEI has been working hand in hand with the Ukrainian Equestrian Federation (UEF) and the UEF Charity Foundation. Among the programmes being launched in Ukraine throughout May 2022, four new Athlete Scholarships have been allocated, bespoke veterinary supplies have been sourced and prepared for dispatch and the costs for 80 temporary horse boxes has been covered in order to support the set-up of additional horse hubs in Ukraine.

Based on the existing FEI Solidarity Athlete Scholarship scheme, two Ukrainian Jumping Athletes – Oleksandr Prodan and Anastasia Bondarieva – and two Ukrainian Dressage athletes – Danylo Konovalov and Diana Borovyk – have been selected to receive the scholarship grant to support their training and competition related preparation with the ultimate goal of representing Ukraine at FEI Championships in 2022 and 2023.

The dedicated emergency veterinary supplies were packaged into specialised kits and dispatched to strategic locations around Ukraine included over the counter, as well as prescription medication in order for the veterinarians onsite to have all the necessary supplies they need to care for the horses remaining in the country. The FEI worked closely with various European companies to purchase 7,400 kg of veterinary supplies and equipment and transport them into Ukraine from the neighbouring countries for use by 22 local veterinarians to treat common conditions such as colic, infections, and lameness in 5,700 horses. Furthermore, large quantities of premix of vitamins, minerals and nutritional additives, were purchased and transported, which were enough to prepare hundreds of tons of horse feed on the ground in Ukraine.

The bespoke veterinary kits were sourced through the FEI Veterinary Department and entirely funded by the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Ukraine Relief Fund which supplemented the FEI Solidarity Fund, with 100 percent of all donations raised being distributed through the FEI to ensure effective and targeted use of the funds.

In addition to the existing horse hub in Granat, which was financed by the FEI to prepare all the necessary documentation for horses to cross the border, and which has been operational since March 2022, the FEI worked together with the UEF Charity Foundation to supply 80 horseboxes to two hubs which were built to allow horses to remain safely in Ukraine. These hubs were built near existing stables so that the horses have access to all necessary infrastructures and could continue to train in good conditions.

In total, CHF 559,640.- have been distributed from the FEI in 2022.

FEI Coach Education Programme

Courses for National Coaches

With a continued increase in activities in 2022, and travel restrictions lifted to a large extent, FEI Solidarity Tutors were finally able to travel again and deliver courses for National coaches. This lead to a total of 30 courses being organised throughout the year.

FEI Coach Education 2022

Level 1 Coaching Module in Driving

FEI Solidarity, and the FEI Driving Department, organised a first meeting with the Working Group of Experts in the discipline of Driving, to start working on a new Coaching Module for National Driving coaches as part of the FEI ongoing Education Programme for National Coaches. During the meeting, the working group established the education plan as well as the course content overview. The group of Experts then began to work on creating the content of the course with the aim of having the course ready in 2023.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

FEI World Challenges 2022

Jumping

2022 saw a decrease in the number of organising countries for the 44^th Edition of the FEI Jumping World Challenge series. Unfortunately, 12 National Federations had to cancel their events for diverse reasons such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, weather conditions or the War in Ukraine (RUS, and BLR). That being said however, a total of 29 NFs did organise the series and the calendar of competitions counted 215 Competitions for a total of 86 events at the end of 2022, with 1105 combinations taking part.

In 2022, we were thrilled to count Palestine as a new country taking part in the FEI Jumping World Challenge. For a first participation in the series, Palestine organised a total of five events, two of which took place in Gaza.

Category A

165 combinations made it to the rankings.

Category B

117 combinations in the World Rankings.

Category C

189 combinations in the World Rankings.

FEI Jumping World Challenge Final 2022

After being cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID pandemic, the 2022 edition of the FEI Jumping World Challenge Final took place in Zhitnitsa, Bulgaria from 27-31 August. This was the second time the Final was organised by the Bulgarian NF at this same location, with the first event in 2015. Following last minute withdrawals, a total of 16 riders of 11 countries took part in the event. And just as in 2015, the Final was won by an Iranian Athlete, namely Alireza Khoshdel.

Once again, this Final was organised on borrowed horses which always presents a challenge for the organising National Federation and the OC. Considering the short amount of time the BUL NF had between the allocation confirmation and the event itself, they did the best they could to deliver a successful event and a great job at finding a suitable pool of horses for the athletes to compete on.

Looking beyond the sport side of this event, a great part of the success of the FEI Jumping World Challenge Final is the cultural richness of bringing together amateur athletes from around the world who share the same passion of our sport. The competition is the original motivation, but the friendships and bonds created during the competition along with the cultural and social gatherings organised by the host NF are what makes it so special. The Bulgarian NF did a wonderful job at creating unforgettable moments and all athletes will keep fond memories of their time spent in Bulgaria thanks to them.

Read up on the FEI Jumping World Challenge Final 2022 here.

Dressage

As in Jumping, a six National Federations had to cancel their event. Consequently, a total of 34 events were organised in 29 countries we were happy to welcome back Bulgaria and Mexico to the series in 2022.

With three additional NFs taking part in 2022 as oppose to 2021, the rankings showed a considerable increase in participation from 390 combinations in 2021 to 518 in 2022.

Intermediate I (39 combinations)

Prix St Georges (91 combinations)

Senior II (134 combinations)

Senior I (167 combinations)

Youth (87 combinations)

Vaulting

The FEI Vaulting World Challenge was greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic after its launch in 2020, giving it a very slow start. However, in 2022, five competitions were organised in four countries, one in Brazil, Canada and Ecuador, and two in Uruguay. Unfortunately, Colombia and Mauritius had to cancel their event.

Eventing

In 2022, countries of Group IX tested the new FEI Eventing World Challenge series format as a pilot prior to its official launch in 2023. Namibia and Zambia both organised one or more categories (B and C) between October and November 2022 in order to provide the FEI with their feedback.