Department updates in Main Vaulting

The FEI and the International Vaulting Officials Club (IVOC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The MoU formalises the relationship between the two organisations and allows the IVOC to contribute more efficiently within the FEI framework. IVOC’s focus is on ensuring good and fair working conditions for all Vaulting Officials.

Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) cover general topics and areas of specific interest between the parties such as mutual recognition, FEI Rules and Regulations, horse welfare, good governance, consultation, General Assemblies, and the FEI Sports Forum.

The list of the MoU stakeholders to date is available here.

A press release detailing the partnership between the FEI and IVOC is available here.

Since 1 January 2022, the FEI can test a new scoring system on a trial basis at selected events with the prior agreement of the relevant Organising Committee. This new scoring system is not being used to calculate the official results but for “testing” purposes. The details of the new scoring system are explained here.
The FEI, in consultation with the FEI Vaulting Committee, may make revisions to the new scoring system if the testing requires amendments. Any changes will be published here. If the FEI Vaulting Committee and the FEI conclude that the trial of the new scoring system has been successful, it will be proposed for inclusion in the FEI Vaulting Rules 2023.

The FEI Vaulting Technical Committee is pleased to announce that an online Forum will be held on Saturday 19 March 2022 from 15:30 to 18:00 CET.
The Forum will explore in detail the reference score, its methodologies and the Cartwheel exercise.
The registration for the Vaulting Forum 2022 is now open and all members of the Vaulting Community are invited to join. Please find attached, the official invitation, or visit the FEI Online Education Calendar ( discipline - Vaulting - Search to view the list of Vaulting Courses available).
Interested participants should contact their National Federation in order to be registered. The deadline for registration is 4 March 2022.
Any questions can be directed to the Vaulting Department.

FEI Vaulting Guidelines & Code of Points:

We would like to inform you that, following the 2021 FEI Vaulting seminar which took place online, and based on the comments of the participants, the FEI Vaulting Technical Committee have made some amendments to the first proposal of the 2022 FEI Vaulting Guidelines.

The 2022 FEI Vaulting Guidelines and the Code of Points are available on the FEI Website (here), effective from 1 January 2022.

Our sport is developing rapidly, and the Guidelines need to reflect this development by supplying a more professional, detailed and precise system for setting up the scores. The main goal of the revision of the FEI Vaulting Guidelines is to add more details, clarifications and meaningful reference scores for the exercises, which shall ensure a more consistent judging and at the same time provide a more detailed guidance for athletes.

FEI Vaulting Guidelines, effective 2022, main changes:

• Part I of the Guidelines is revised to avoid redundancies and will ensure easier navigation in the different chapters.
• Judging system with Reference score and General deductions: Effective 1 January 2022, the new Reference score system is implemented for the Technical exercise "Cartwheel movement from neck to back" and for Free Test exercises only. The description of the Cartwheel is incorporated to the 2022 FEI Vaulting Guidelines.
• Effective 1 January 2023, the methodology to evaluate exercises using the Reference score system, will also be applicable to Compulsory exercises and the remaining four Technical exercises.
• The description and scoring of the Compulsory exercises for 2023 can be found as Annex III to these Guidelines 2022. The FEI Vaulting Technical Committee would like to give the Vaulting community time to become familiar with this system. The descriptions and scoring of the four remaining Technical exercises will be published on the FEI website in due time.

For any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the FEI Vaulting Department.

The FEI has created a stakeholders survey to ensure the maintenance and continued improvement, of an already existing high standard, at FEI Events. This survey will help the FEI better understand the expectations of its key stakeholders, and the information collected will help guide the future approach of the FEI to ensuring that these are met.

The survey launches today and will be open until Monday 14 February 2022. We encourage everyone to take part in this survey, which should take no more than 10 minutes, and thank you in advance for your time.

Take the FEI Events Standards Stakeholder Survey - https://inside.fei.org/hub/fei-events-standards-stakeholders-survey

The FEI is pleased to inform you of the launch of a study on the use of side-reins and draw reins in Vaulting, in partnership with the IFCE and the FFE.

The IFCE, with the support of the FEI and the FFE, will organise different testing sessions in Europe on a series of different side and draw reins. The objective and the goal are to measure side and draw rein tensions, to define factors to ensure appropriate use of equipment for the welfare and well-being of the Vaulting Horse, as well as safety of the Vaulters.

The study will be conducted on horses of international level with FEI level competing Vaulters performing a set number of Vaulting exercises. Data on the pressure on the side reins will be collected as well as data on the locomotion and well-being of the horse.

The study will be conducted during 2022 and the findings will be available in Spring 2023.

The study will include the following factors:

• The effect of the Vaulter and exercises on the locomotion and well-being of the horse will be evaluated.
• The locomotion data will be completed by the scoring of Vaulting judges.
• The objective data collected will be complemented by the perceptions collected from the Lunger and Vaulter
• An FEI Veterinary will be on site to check the condition of the horses and more specifically their mouths before and after the tests.
• Results will be dealt with anonymously.

A clear protocol has been established for the horses and the Vaulters (details can be shared upon request):

• Horses and Vaulters of International level.
• 6 side and draw reins to be tested, 3 each day.
• Randomised order for the 6 reins, with or without vaulter, but each of them will be tested with and without Vaulter.
• The Vaulter will be asked in advance to learn the exercises they will have to perform on the horse, the same for each of the horses. This is part of the consent form to be signed in advance by the Vaulter and lunger.
• After each test, the lunger and the Vaulter will be asked to complete a questionnaire to report their perceptions.
• End of spring 2022, all videos of the testing sessions will be sent to the 3 selected FEI Judges to score each horse in line with FEI rules and Guidelines. The lunger and Vaulter will be blurred in the videos.
• The final results will be available in spring 2023.

Organising a testing session:

• Good Wi-Fi connexion and/or high 4G signal
• Two days of testing.
• Ideally in winter 2022.
• 7 to 10 horses of international level / the Vaulter can perform on more than one horse.
• Reserved Indoor arena for the session – can be organised in two half days if needed.
• The environment should be as quiet as possible during the testing phase.
• The testing session could be organised together with other training but consideration must be given to the fact that the testing session will take time for each horse.
• If interested in hosting a testing session please send an email to the FEI Vaulting department and the complete protocol can be sent.

The FEI Education & Officials Department have recently published explainer videos for the major FEI Vaulting 2021 Rule changes.

These videos are mainly aimed at Officials and Athletes who are required to be up-to-date with the different rules. For the wider audience these videos will serve a rather informative purpose, providing a deeper understanding of our sport. The goal of these short videos is to highlight the most impactful rule changes and their rationale in each discipline, as well as more general regulations including the Equine Anti-Doping Controlled Medication Regulations and the Anti-Doping Rules for Human Athletes which underwent a full review in 2020.

Here are the direct links to the below listed videos on FEI Campus by clicking on the relevant name:

• FEI Veterinary Regulations Changes 2021
• FEI General Regulations Changes 2021
• FEI Equine Anti-Doping Controlled Medication Regulations Changes 2021
• FEI Anti-Doping Rules for Human Athletes Changes 2021