Department updates in Main Endurance

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. 

Please note that the deadlines for the Nominated Entries of the upcoming FEI Endurance Championships are as follows:

• FEI Endurance World Championship for Seniors in Monpazier (FRA) 7 September 2024
  Tuesday, 23 July 2024 23:59 CEST
• FEI Endurance European Championship for Young Riders and Juniors in Arborea (ITA) 27 September 2024
  Thursday, 25 July 2024 23:59 CEST
• FEI Endurance World Championship for Young Horses in Arborea (ITA) 29 September 2024
  Thursday, 25 July 2024 23:59 CEST

Once you have validated your Nominated Entries List, please download the Certificate of Capability and email the signed document to endurance@fei.org.
For any questions, do not hesitate to contact the FEI Endurance Department.

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.

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

GOVERNANCE
Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Commission Final Report publication
The Board approved the publication of the Final Report of the Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Commission ahead of the FEI Sports Forum 2024. The report will be made available on the dedicated FEI Sports Forum hub here.

ALLOCATION OF FEI CHAMPIONSHIPS AND FINALS
Allocation of FEI Endurance Pan American Championships for Seniors and Young Riders 2025
The Board allocated the FEI Endurance Pan American Championships for Seniors and Young Riders 2025 to Haras Albar (BRA) on 17-18 July 2025.

Endurance Rules
The Board approved the proposed correction to the FEI World Endurance Ranking Rules.
The updated rules will be published here.

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.

In order to streamline and enhance the processing of sport nationality change by the FEI, a new Application Form for Athletes aged over 18 years, is now available on Inside.FEI.org/Sport Nationality. When filled out accurately, this Application Form will enable the FEI to process requests more efficiently by:

• Reducing the email correspondence regarding the Sport Nationality application,
• Allowing the applying National Federation to identify and provide from the outset the necessary supporting documents; and
• Allowing the FEI to identify all regulatory implications of the sport nationality change for the Athlete and inform the applying National Federation accordingly.

The Sport Nationality Form includes detailed instructions. It can be filled out and signed electronically. It can also be printed, filled in by hand, and scanned before sharing with the FEI. 

Kindly ensure that going forward all Sport Nationality applications for Athletes aged over 18 years will be submitted to the FEI using this form. Incomplete, unsigned and/or undocumented applications will not be processed by the FEI.  

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

ENDURANCE
FEI World Endurance Ranking Rules 2024
The Board approved the amendments to the FEI World Endurance Ranking Rules 2024.
The updated document will be published here.