FEI Para Equestrian Forum, Lamotte-Beuvron (FRA)

FEI Para Equestrian Forum, Lamotte-Beuvron (FRA)

25 – 26 May 2019

Over 70 participants representing 23 National Federations attended the FEI Para Equestrian Forum 2019 in Lamotte-Beuvron (FRA) where a number of key topics were presented, discussed and debated.

The Forum, which was hosted by the Fédération Francaise d’Equitation (FFE), was opened by their Secretary General Frédéric Bouix followed by Paralympic athlete Rodolpho Riskalla from Brazil, setting the scene and tone for productive discussions and meetings throughout the weekend. 

FEI Para Equestrian Committee Chair Amanda Bond went on to moderate the Forum, presenting an overview of the current state of affairs and the evolution of the sport over the past ten years, prior to inviting key speakers and industry specialists to present the main topics of the Forum, including: Classification and the FEI’s Classification Research Project; Tokyo 2020 preparations and climate mitigation; Athlete Welfare and Safeguarding; Coaching from grass roots to International level with a case study on Iran and the ongoing FEI Solidarity programme in place; Compensating Aids; Para Driving; and an update on FEI Education for Officials.

The diversity of the stakeholders including Officials, Judges, Athletes, Coaches, Organisers, Classifiers, FEI Committee, National Federation and National Paralympic Committee representatives attending the third FEI Para Equestrian Forum was extremely beneficial when it came to the interactive workshops providing a 360 perspective on the future of Para Equestrian with regards to the FEI Competition structure, the development of the sport at all levels, in new nations and specifically for the youth demographic. A practical judging session with insights from leading judges, coaches and athletes on how to apply the scales of training to gain maximum marks also generated enthusiastic discussion.

The FEI Para Equestrian Forum, which first took place in 2015, takes place every two years and was previously held in Essen (GER) in 2015 and Stow-on-the-Wold in 2017. The 2019 edition was also preceded by a two-day Classifiers Seminar and followed by the annual in-person FEI Para Equestrian Committee Meeting where many of the questions and ideas raised at the Para Equestrian Forum were assessed alongside proposed rule modifications and officials’ appointments for Tokyo 2020 to be presented to the FEI Board at the June In-Person Board Meeting in Lausanne (SUI).

The FEI would like to take this opportunity to thank the French Federation for their warm welcome and for playing host to these important meetings.

All the relevant information, documents and presentations relating to the Forum can be found below.