Host cities for the FEI World Championships 2022 and other major events up to 2023/2024 were allocated today by the FEI Board at its in-person meeting in the Russian capital Moscow.
Pratoni del Vivaro (ITA), venue for the Eventing discipline at the Rome 1960 Olympic Games, will host FEI World Championships for Eventing and Driving in September 2022. The Italian venue, located 35 kilometers south of Rome, is no stranger to hosting high-level equestrian events and FEI Championships. It was the site for the cross country competition at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ 1998 and hosted the FEI World Driving Championships for Singles in 2006 and 2010.
“When we opened the process for the FEI World Championships 2022 to single and multi-discipline bids, our intention was to have events that were more manageable and sustainable at proven venues,” FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez said. “By allocating these multi-discipline Championships to Herning and Pratoni del Vivaro we’re working with hosts that already have the necessary experience and required infrastructure in place to organize world-class equestrian championships.
“We received some truly excellent bids and unfortunately we don’t have enough FEI World Championships to allocate to everyone, but we very much hope that these excellent organizers will bid again in the future to host championships at their venues.”
The 2022 World Championships will serve as a qualifier for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Ride iQ’s popular “Ask An Expert” series features professional advice and tips from all areas of the horse industry. One of the most-downloaded episodes is an expert session with Peter Gray, an accomplished dressage judge and Olympic eventer. He has recently judged at events like the five-star at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event, and he served on the ground jury at the 2022 FEI World Eventing Championships in Pratoni, Italy. His background as a competitor in the Olympic Games riding for Bermuda and as a coach and selector for the Canadian eventing team adds depth to his understanding of the sport.
With a total of 382 volunteer hours in 2024, Catherine “Cathy” Hale not only topped the USEA Area III VIP Volunteer leaderboard, but she also ranked fourth out of all eventing volunteers across the country. Hale (The Villages, Florida) has worked as a travel agent for over 30 years, a career that suits her love of travel nicely. At the time of being interviewed for this article, Hale was passing the equator on a cruise to Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia.
The USEA office will close at 5:00 p.m. EST on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, and will reopen again on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. The USEA staff will return emails and phone calls when the office re-opens on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025 or at their earliest convenience.
After the success of the first annual USEA Intercollegiate & Interscholastic Eventing Championships at Stable View in Aiken, South Carolina, members are not going to want to miss the second edition in 2025! Barry and Cyndy Olliff, owners of Stable View, and their team are gearing up for an even bigger and better event in the coming year. If you are a current or prospective member of the Intercollegiate Eventing Program or the Interscholastic Eventing League, be sure to block off the weekend of May 3-4, 2025 to attend these exciting Championships.