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Endurance is a long-distance competition against the clocktesting the speed and endurance of a horse and challenging the rider over their effective use of pace, thorough knowledge of their horse’s capabilities and ability to cross all kinds of terrain. Although the rides are timed, the emphasis is on finishing in good condition rather than coming in first.
Endurance started as a sport in the United States, where the US cavalry tested its horses on a five-day, 300-mile (483km) ride, with each horse carrying over 200lbs (91kg). It did not become a competitive sport until the 1950s, when Wendell Robie traced the Pony Express route from Nevada to California in under 24 hours.
Each rider must safely manage the stamina and fitness of their horse and each course is divided into phases – in principle at least every 40km – with a compulsory halt for a veterinary inspection, or ‘vet gate’, after each. Each horse must be presented for inspection within a set time of reaching each ‘vet gate’, which determines whether it is fit to continue.
Arabian horses dominate the Endurance discipline though the most successful rider to date is Spain’s Maria Alvarez Ponton on her French-born gelding Nobby.
The premier Endurance rides are the FEI World Equestrian Games™, staged every four years in the middle of the Olympic cycle; the FEI World Endurance Championships, held in every Olympic year; and the biannual FEI European Endurance Championships.
Please note that the deadline for the Nominated Entries of the FEI Endurance World Championship for Seniors in Butheeb (UAE) is coming up this Wednesday, 18 January 2023.
Once you have validated your Nominated Entries List, please download the Certificate of Capability and email the signed document to endurance@fei.org.
The deadline for the Definite Entries is 25 January 2023.
For additional information on the Championship, please visit the dedicated webpage which can be found here.
If you have any questions, please contact the FEI Endurance Department.
We would like to inform you that additional information regarding the FEI Endurance World Championship for Seniors taking place in Butheeb (UAE) from 20-26 February 2023 is now available.
Among the information added you will now find the qualification criteria, with nominated and definite entry dates, as well as an informative document. The informative document provides useful information for Athletes and National Federations, on topics including the costs covered by the OC, the prize money distribution and provides a preliminary timetable.
All information can be found on the FEI Endurance Main Events page.
We are pleased to inform you that the FEI Secretary General has approved the FEI Calendar for 2023 for all disciplines. It can be consulted online in the FEI Database.
In accordance with the FEI General Regulations, Article 112 Official Calendar, National Federations (NFs) had until 1 October 2022 at the latest to send in applications and modifications to CIs taking place in 2023 to the Secretary General. The Secretary General approves the official Calendar for the following year.
Approval of the 5* Jumping Calendar for 2024 is scheduled for late November/early December 2022 but could be postponed should the FEI General Assembly in Cape Town (RSA) approve FEI’s proposal to change the deadline for receipt of applications for 5* to 1 May (the year before the Event takes place).
In addition, the Secretary General has extended the measure taken on 28 February 2022 to remove all international equestrian events in Russia and Belarus from the FEI Calendar. As a consequence, no FEI events will be accepted/entered in either country in the FEI Calendar for 2023.
The other measures approved by the FEI Executive Board in February remain in place, as follows:
Detailed information on the decision taken by the FEI Executive Board on 28 February is available here.
The Secretary General has also confirmed that the FEI Board’s Emergency Board Resolution of 2 March 2022 prohibiting all Russian and Belarusian Athletes, Horses and Officials from participating in FEI Events remains in place until further notice.
Should you have any questions, please send an email to calendar@fei.org.
The new and updated Draft Schedules 2023, to be used for all international events taking place next year, are now available on inside.FEI.org.
Below you will find the direct links to the schedules for each discipline as well as the relevant contact email should you require further information and/or assistance:
Click here for Jumping // Person in charge : jenni.saynajarvi@fei.org and/or kevin.Guttmann@fei.org
Click here for Dressage // Person in charge: philippe.maynier@fei.org
Click here for Para Dressage // Person in charge: laetitia.gillieron@fei.org
Click here for Eventing // Contact email: eventingschedules@fei.org
Click here for Vaulting // Person in charge: laetitia.gillieron@fei.org
Click here for Driving // Contact email: driving@fei.org
Click here for Endurance // Contact email: endurance@fei.org
The bidding process for the FEI Endurance World Championship 2022 is now officially closed. The list of bidders can be found on the FEI Bidding Platform.
For the timeline and relevant information pertaining to the bid process for the FEI Endurance World Championship 2022, you can refer to the FEI Update published on 12 September 2022 - available in the FEI Update library.
FEI Endurance World Championship 2022 – Re-opened Bid
See below a clarification to one of the bid criteria that was included in the FEI Update on 12 September 2022. Please kindly note that there was a typo in the original bid criteria where it was stated that the OC must have previously organised a CEI3* or a CEI2* 140. That criteria should have been written as follows:
NFs are kindly requested to inform their Endurance Organisers accordingly. As mentioned in the FEI Update of 12 September 2022, bids should be sent to bidding@fei.org no later than Monday, 10 October 2022.
FEI Series 2023-2024 bid process opens
The FEI is pleased to announce that the bid process for the 2023/2024 season of the FEI series listed below will open on Tuesday, 27 September 2022.
All interested organisers and/or National Federations (Applicants) are invited to submit their applications via the FEI Bidding Platform, using the application form available in the platform for that purpose, until Friday, 21 October 2022.
The FEI series opened for applications are the following:
Please find here below an overview of the relevant dates concerning the present bid process.
We kindly ask all National Federations to share this information with the organisers. Should you have any questions, please contact bidding@fei.org.
Please note that tomorrow (23 August 2022) is the deadline for the Nominated Entries of the FEI Endurance World Championship for Seniors in Verona, Isola della Scala (ITA).
Once you have validated your Nominated Entry list, please download the Certificate of Capability and email it to endurance@fei.org.
The deadline for the Definite Entries is 07 October 2022.
For questions regarding how to make entries for a Championship on the FEI Entry System please click here.
The Schedule for the FEI Endurance World Championship for Seniors in Verona, Isola della Scala (ITA) taking place on 22 October 2022 is now published and can be found on the FEI Database or by directly clicking here.
Kindly note that the deadline for the Nominated Entries for this Championship is 23 August 2022.
If you have any questions, please contact the FEI Endurance Department.
The FEI Endurance Department has made key changes to the Draft Schedule, in order to strengthen biosecurity at Endurance Events where national competitions (CENs) take place alongside International Endurance rides (CEIs).
The changes to the Draft Schedule have been made to ensure that Organising Committees oversee the safety of all horses at CEN/CEI rides.
The new Draft Schedule can be found on the Endurance Hub on inside.FEI.org. Organising Committee will also be provided with an information leaflet outlining specific requirements for holding CEN/CEI events together, safely.
We would like to take this opportunity to remind all athletes and support teams that awareness of, and strict adherence to biosecurity protocols, is critical to reducing the risk of ongoing disease transmission, and for the protection of the health of the equine athletes.
For more information on the FEI’s Biosecurity protocols:
Emergency Board Resolution*
The Board approved the temporary relaxation of Article 836.1.2 of the Endurance Rules for the Elite Young Riders and Juniors category only, giving the Athletes in this category the opportunity to qualify for the FEI Endurance European Championships for Young Riders and Juniors 2022 with one ride in combination instead of the two required originally.
As this is an Emergency Board Resolution, National Federations have until 18 March 2022 to signify their disapproval by sending an email to Francisco P. Lima, Director Governance & Institutional Affairs.
A similar amendment had been accepted in 2021 as well. The amended Rules, which are effective immediately, are notified in the Endurance Department Updates and will be updated in the Covid-19 and Endurance Rules hubs shortly.
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