Department updates in Main Vaulting

The FEI Vaulting Technical Committee is pleased to inform the Vaulting community that the FEI Vaulting Guidelines, effective from 1 January 2023, are available here.

The main changes are the following:

• Deductions in Horse score A2
• Specific deductions – compulsory/technical test
• Compulsory exercises – new description of the exercises
• Technical Test exercises - new description of the exercises
• New Technical Test exercise – Stand Backward replacing Kneeling forward to Stand

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

The Guidelines 2023 will be presented during the FEI Vaulting Seminar in Rome (ITA), in October 2022 and may lead to a few modifications being made, based on the outcome of the Seminar. The Vaulting community will be informed of any resulting changes.

Please make sure to send this communication to the concerned persons in your country.

On Tuesday 17 May, the final online meeting of the Free test concept Testing took place to evaluate the testing phase and the system.

The Chair went through her presentation that included all steps on how the testing phase had been structured and the different feedback received during this testing phase. She thanked the Judges for their dedication, their time and engagement to this project.

During this meeting, the Judges involved in the process, had the opportunity to share their point of view and their recommendations with the FEI Vaulting Technical Committee.

In summary, the Judges recommendation to the FEI Vaulting Technical Committee was not to implement the new concept. The main rational behind the recommendation were as follows:

• The proposed system is difficult to implement for Squads and Pas-de-Deux
• As proposed today, the system could work for Individuals in CVI3* only
• In general, the concern of the Judges was that in the proposed system, judging the Artistic score would become overly systematic with too many boxes to tick. Whilst the general idea is supported, all agreed that further review and testing was still needed.

The Chair thanked the Artistic working group for their time and efforts spent on the project. The testing group will look into a new/revised version of the concept in the near future.

The Chair closed the meeting by saying that all their feedback would be discussed with the FEI Vaulting Technical Committee.

The Overall Vaulting Qualification Criteria 2022 for Vaulting events has been slightly modified to reflect the correct qualification criteria for CVIY2*. These modifications can be found below and the full Vaulting Qualification Criteria is available on the FEI Vaulting Rules page.

On 19 March, the FEI successfully hosted its first ever FEI Vaulting Forum dedicated to the Reference Score and the Cartwheel. Eighty participants joined the Forum with a worldwide representation. 
FEI Chair of the FEI Vaulting Technical Committee, Pavla Krauspe, explained the main focus of the reference score and provided videos regarding the different systems. Isabelle Parker, member of the FEI Vaulting Technical Committee, presented the Cartwheel and explained how its description had slightly been reviewed by the Committee. 
Based on the comments raised during the FEI Vaulting Forum 2022, the FEI Vaulting Technical Committee has slightly amended the FEI Vaulting Guidelines with regards to the Reference Scores and the description of the Cartwheel exercise. These amendments can be found highlighted in blue in the updated Guidelines published on the FEI Vaulting Rules page.
Krauspe also expressed her gratitude to all participants and emphasised that organising a Forum once a year would be a good way forward in order to keep the Vaulting community informed and to gather feedback on specific topics. She also thanked the Athletes and all the Vaulting stakeholders who worked relentlessly over the past two years, facing the challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, and allowing for a return to competition in 2021 with two major championships. 
The agenda, presentations and wrap up of the Forum can be found in the dedicated Vaulting Forums section online.  

The Board approved the proposed amendments to the qualification period for the FEI Vaulting World Cup™ Final 2023 to a full year, starting on 1 January of the year preceding the Final to the 31 December of that same year. (Article 2.1 of the FEI Vaulting World Cup™ Rules 2023) The Rules will be updated to reflect this change and published here shortly.

The FEI Vaulting Technical Committee would like to give an update to the Vaulting Community regarding the testing phase of the New scoring system.
Eleven Judges, of global representation, applied for the testing phase. The applicants will start judging the new artistic structure onsite at CVIs and through selected online videos until the end of April 2022. They have already had pre-meeting(s) to review the supporting documents and the procedure. The Chair informed the Judges that regular meetings would be scheduled after each judging session. As a reminder, the focus of the exercise will be only on artistic aspects. The testing will include all categories and all-star levels.
A final meeting will take place at the end of May with all testing Judges, the FEI Vaulting Technical Committee and FEI Headquarters to review the outcome of the testing phase and to come up with a conclusion which will then be proposed to National Federations in July for the 2023 Rules.
The FEI Vaulting Technical Committee would like to remind the Vaulting Athletes and Coaches that they are requested to complete the dedicated questionnaire in order to have their feedback on this important project.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact the FEI Vaulting department.

The Overall Vaulting Qualification Criteria 2022  for Vaulting events  has been slightly modified to reflect the correct qualification criteria from CVIJ2* to CVIY2*. This modification can be found below and the complete Overall Vaulting Qualification Criteria is published on Inside.FEI.org in the Vaulting Rules section.

The FEI Vaulting Technical Committee is pleased to announce that three Education Sessions focusing on the Compulsory Exercises for 2023 will be held online on the following dates:

13 September 2022 (18:00-20:00 CEST) – Registration deadline 1 September 2022
27 September 2022 (18:00-20:00 CEST) - Registration deadline 13 September 2022
11 October 2022 (18:00-20:00 CEST) - Registration deadline 27 September 2022 
The Sessions will focus on the main changes in the Compulsory Exercises 2023. 
The registration for the FEI Vaulting Education Sessions are open to all FEI Vaulting Judges and one Coach/NF Representative per National Federation. Please find here, 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. 
For any questions please contact the Vaulting Department.

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.