Department updates in Main Driving

The FEI will launch the "Be a Guardian" initiative today, calling on community members to embrace their roles as guardians of FEI horses. A full press release will be issued shortly and can be found here.

The ‘Be a Guardian’ initiative represents a significant shift in the FEI's approach to equine care, emphasising the importance of horse welfare.

Based on the concept of guardianship, the Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Commission created a comprehensive document highlighting six priority areas and 30 recommendations to improve the welfare of sport horses.

The FEI has since developed an Equine Welfare Strategy Action Plan to address the priorities identified by the Commission.

Supported by a CHF 1 million allocation approved by the FEI Board in June 2024, this plan aims to enhance the wellbeing of FEI horses through robust rules, guidelines, educational programmes, and various initiatives.

The goal is to respect the natural needs of horses in international equestrian sports, fostering a global commitment to equine welfare and ensuring that horses receive the care and respect they deserve.

We urge our National Federations to embrace this call to action, actively promote this shift in perspective, and recognise the responsibility we all share in being the guardians of our beloved horses. 

The FEI Board held a teleconference on 16 July. The Driving resolutions taken on this occasion are listed below.

Allocation of FEI Championships and Finals

FEI Driving World Championships 2024, Four in Hand – Change of Organiser
The Board accepted the request of from the Hungarian Equestrian Federation to change the organiser of the FEI Driving World Championships 2024, Four in Hand, from Állami Ménesgazdaság Szilvásvárad to Nemzeti Rendezvényszervező Ügynökség.
The dates and venue for the Championship remain unchanged.

We would like to inform you that the Qualification Criteria document for FEI Driving Championships in 2025 has been updated in order to reflect the addition of the Para Driving World Championship and the advancement in the publication of the new dressage tests.

The document is available on the FEI Driving hub on Inside.FEI.org and all modifications are visible in red.

The Rules Revision Process 2024 is well underway with the first draft of the proposed changes now available to National Federations and Stakeholders for review and feedback by 21 August 2024 prior to being submitted to the FEI General Assembly for approval in November as per the timeline below: 
1 March 2024
National Federations and Stakeholders with whom the FEI has signed an MOU have the opportunity to propose Rules changes as per the FEI Periodical Rules Revision Policy.
26 June 2024
The FEI provides National Federations and Stakeholders with the first Draft of proposed Rules changes.

IMPORTANT
The 1st Draft of proposed Rules changes Memos as well as the Templates to provide feedback by 21 August 2024 can be found here. ONLY proposals submitted online on the Rules Revision Platform using the respective Templates will be accepted.
21 August 2024
National Federations and Stakeholders are given eight weeks to review the first Draft and the proposed amendments in this first Draft and make comments and/or propose any changes in relation to the first Draft.
16 October 2024
Final Draft of the proposed Rules changes is provided to National Federations and Stakeholders.                                                                                  
12 November 2024
Rules Session at FEI General Assembly.
13 November 2024
Voting of Rules at the FEI General Assembly.

For more information on the FEI Rules Revision processes and timelines, click here.

If you have any questions please contact the FEI Director Governance & Institutional Affairs at Francisco.lima@fei.org.

We would like to kindly remind everyone that all FEI Officials must have “passed” their annual CES Online Assessment to officiate at FEI Events.

The CES Online Assessment not only ensures integrity at all FEI Events, as well as the validity of the results, it is also testimony to FEI’s commitment in providing services of the highest standard to the athletes, the public and the sport.

In order to ensure that all FEI Events take place according the FEI Rules and Regulations, and to proactively prevent potential issues from arising during competitions, we have updated the FEI Event Schedule Policy.

As of 1 August 2024, the following FEI Event Schedule Policy will apply:

Officials must have “passed” their CES Online Assessment of the current year to be added to schedules of events taking place after the 31 March.

For information, the officiating/maintenance year runs from the 15 December of each year and until the 15 December of the following year.

• Every year, from 16 December to 31 March (transition period), Officials with an open function can still officiate without having passed the annual CES Online Assessment of the current year.
• Every year, from 31 March to 14 December (regulated period), Officials must have passed the CES Online Assessment of the current year to officiate, and to keep their function open.

You can find all information here on Inside.FEI.org.

The FEI Sports and Veterinary Departments would like to draw your attention to the application deadline to host FEI Transfer Up or CES (FEI Competency-based Evaluation System) Maintenance Courses in 2025.

We kindly ask you to download the relevant application and budget forms, which can be accessed via the links provided below, and to send them to the FEI via the corresponding email address also provided below, no later than 31 July 2024.

Should you have any questions regarding the administration of our courses, please contact the relevant FEI Discipline or Veterinary Department who will be able to assist you.

We wish to remind you that, according to the FEI General Regulations, the deadline for Applications or modifications of CSI5*/CSIO5* Events taking place in 2025 is 1 May 2024.

From 2 May until 1 June 2024, NFs can request changes to the 2025 Jumping 5* Calendar with a Calendar Form. The 2025 Jumping 5* Calendar should then be approved by 31 July 2024 at the latest.

Should you have any questions related to the FEI Calendar, please do not hesitate to contact Guillaume Dolivo: calendar@fei.org.

Please be informed that the next update of the FEI Tack, Equipment & Dress Database (FEI Tack App) will be released after the Easter holidays, on 8 April 2024.

Further to feedback received from numerous Athletes and Officials, who are seeking clarity regarding the use of tack and equipment during the Olympic & Paralympic Games in Paris 2024, the FEI agreed that this would be the last update of the FEI Tack App prior to the Games. The temporary pause of updates to the FEI Tack App will be applied to all FEI Disciplines, including non-Olympic Disciplines.

Following the conclusion of the Olympic & Paralympic Games in Paris 2024, the updates shall resume on every first Monday of the month, as per the usual process.

The Organising Committee of the FEI World Championships 2026 in Aachen would already like to share some useful information with all National Federations in order to facilitate you, your teams, athletes and horses in the best possible way. Below you will find information regarding the key contact persons within the Organising Committee, who are available should you already have questions regarding the FEI World Championships 2026.

For all sports-related questions, please contact:
Ms. Jana Kun: jana.kun@aachen2026.com.
Jana will be your main sport liaison person.

For all non-sport related issues, i.e. accommodation, accreditation, transport, please contact
Ms. Jennifer Ingenhaag : jennifer.ingenhaag@aachen2026.com. 
Jennifer will be your main non-sport liaison person.

Ticketing:
Please note that ticket sales for the Jumping and Dressage competitions have already started. Tickets can be purchased at https://tickets.aachen2026.com.
As soon as tickets for the other disciplines are available, the Organising Committee will communicate this.
For any questions regarding tickets, please contact:
Ms. Lea Sous lea.sous@aachen2026.com

Hotel / Accommodation:
The Aachen tourism service will be the official partner for hotels and accommodation. The Organising Committee  kindly asks you do not contact the hotels directly, but always go via the Aachen tourism service.
They can be contacted via:  aachen2026@aachen-tourismus.de.

Lastly, the Organising Committee would like to create a list of contacts for all correspondences regarding the FEI World Championships Aachen 2026. Please send the names and email addresses of the people you would like to see added to this mailing list, so that they can stay up to date on the latest developments.
Please send the contact details to: jennifer.ingenhaag@aachen2026.com.

The Organising Committee of the FEI World Championships in Aachen 2026 looks forward to working together with you all and is available for any questions you may have.

The FEI Board held a teleconference on 27 February. The main resolutions taken on this occasion are listed below.

ALLOCATION OF FEI CHAMPIONSHIPS AND FINALS
FEI Para Driving World Championships
The Board approved the postponement of the FEI Para Driving World Championship 2024 to 2025 so that the Championship can be organised alongside the FEI Driving European Four-In-Hand Championships 2025.

Allocations
The Board allocated the FEI Para Driving World Championship 2025 to Lähden (GER), to be organised alongside the FEI Driving European Four-In-Hand Championships 2025.

DRIVING
FEI Driving Youth Cup Rule modifications
The Board approved the modifications to the FEI Driving Youth Cup Rules.
The updated document will be published here.
In addition, the FEI Driving Committee was tasked to establish a strategy regarding a qualification pathway for drivers participating in the FEI Driving Youth Cup.