On the final day of the Fédération Equestre Internationale General Assembly, held Nov. 10-14 in Rio de Janeiro, national federation delegations voted forward a rule for all disciplines requiring that mounted riders wear protective headgear unless in the competition ring or an adjacent warm-up. Delegates postponed implementation of the rule until Jan. 1, 2013.

“For jumping and eventing, helmets are already commonplace,” said FEI Vice President John McEwen. “For some disciplines, this will be a fairly new introduction and could take some education time.”

Other notable approved rule changes included:

– Changing the number of results for show jumping that will count towards 2012 Rolex Ranking points from 50 to 30.

– In show jumping, it will no longer be considered a fault at the water jump if the horse’s boot or fetlock leaves an imprint on the tape.

 – For dressage, all riders 18 years old and younger, and all riders on 6-year-old or younger horse, must wear approved protective headgear.

– All horses registered with the FEI for the first time must now be microchipped.

– Current acting chair of the jumping technical committee John Madden was elected to a two-year term, concluding in 2013. Hungary’s Karoly Fugli was elected as chair of the driving technical committee for a four-year term.

The proposed changes to the so-called “blood rule” were withdrawn, and the appointment of a rider representative to the FEI Dressage Committee was postponed.

For a complete list of changes, visit the FEI website.