United States Eventing Association

Notes from the FEI General Assembly

“We must continue to educate the non-equestrian community about equestrian sport and our values as there is a lot of misinformation which exists out there and could threaten the integrity of the sport we love," shared FEI President Ingmar De Vos as he opened the first-ever FEI Hybrid General Assembly in Antwerp, Belgium. Wrap-up notes following the conclusion of the Assembly were shared with the public online. Interesting highlights pertinent to the sport of eventing include:

• The Eventing Committee report, which includes an update on the FEI Eventing Risk Management Program including the 2020 Statistics that were published on January 21, 2021, can be viewed here.
• The Eventing Committee was pleased with the success of the eventing competitions at the Olympic Games and with the positive feedback on the simplicity of the overall classifications and exciting sport as well as congratulations to all Olympic medallists.
• The Eventing Committee has agreed to the development of an FEI Eventing World Challenge and will proceed with a pilot test in three different regions in 2022 in cooperation with the FEI Solidarity Department.
• The report also provides updates on the FEI Eventing Series and Championships held in 2021 with many pandemic challenges, the FEI World Eventing Athlete Rankings, the Education programs for Officials, and the Eventing Development program.
• The General Assembly approved all modifications to the Eventing Rules. All changes to the Eventing Rules can be viewed here in due course.
• The General Assembly approved the modifications to the FEI Internal Regulations as well as the FEI General Regulations. All changes can be viewed here in due course
• The FEI President had proposed at the previous day’s Session on the qualification systems for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 that there should be a separate vote on teams of three or four. National Federations voted in favor of teams of three at the 2024 Olympic Games by 70 votes to 30, with one abstention. The Paris 2024 qualification systems for jumping, dressage, and eventing were passed by 81 in favor, 15 against, and zero abstentions.
• David O'Connor (USA) was re-elected as Chair of the FEI Eventing Committee for the four-year term 2021-2025.
• The FEI Director of Games Operations then provided an update on preparations for Paris 2024. The Opening Ceremony for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 will take place on Friday, July 26, with the Games running through to August 11. Equestrian, staged against the stunning backdrop of the Palace of Versailles, will revert to its traditional order of eventing followed by dressage and jumping.

Quick Quotes from Antwerp

“This has been draining and overwhelming at times, but as I stand here I am proud and humbled by the strength of our community and our resilience in the face of adversity. We showed true resourcefulness, but especially we showed a positive and proactive community that can move forward and embrace change. And this is something we have really thought about a lot in our 100th year. What do we want for our collective future, for the next generations? From sporting integrity, good governance and sustainability, how are we creating a positive legacy for the future?” - President Ingmar De Vos on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Equine Herpes Virus outbreak.

“We can agree to disagree, we can have intense debates, but once a vote has been taken, and decisions have been made, we need to move on - Together – and this is exactly the word used to update the Olympic motto: Faster, Higher, Stronger, Together!” - President Ingmar De Vos

“The idea behind social license is that we must be transparent, ethical and accountable for what we do. We must do right by our horses – and be seen to be doing so. If we are not, we risk losing our social license and face dwindling support, and potential intervention by outside regulation. We have such a great story to tell about the horse-human partnership, about what makes our horses such
impressive athletes as well as such engaging characters. We need to demonstrate that this is a true partnership based on respect, and where there is no respect, there are serious sanctions.” - Chief Executive of World Horse Welfare Roly Owers.