PrintDutch dressage rider Adelinde Cornelissen and her Jerich Parzival started last year’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games as hot favorites for an individual medal. But their bid ended shortly after starting the Grand Prix test. A few movements into the ride, Parzival was rung out and eliminated from the rest of the competition for blood in the foam around his mouth. An examination back at the barn showed a small nick on the horse’s tongue.
WEG Technical Delegate Wojtek Markowski explained that Cornelissen was disqualified according to section 7 of Article 430 in the FEI dressage rules. This section covers elimination and states at the end: Other reasons for elimination may also be if “the performance is against the welfare of the horse.”
“It is standard practice in dressage that if there is blood coming from the horse’s mouth, then it is contrary to the horse’s welfare and results in elimination,” said Markowski. “The rules are very clear; this is elimination. There is no appeal.”
But it later turned out that the rules weren’t so clear. None of the Fédération Equestre Internationale rules directly addressed blood on the horse, though the U.S. Equestrian Federation rules specifically did. The USEF rule states: “Evidence of blood on a horse in the competition arena shall be cause for elimination from the class by the judge at ‘C’.”
This June, the FEI Dressage Committee proposed a new rule clarifying the appearance of blood on a competing horse. The proposal, created in part by the International Trainers Committee and set forth by FEI Dressage Committee members, states that a test will be stopped if blood is seen anywhere on a horse. The exceptions to that rule occur at the Olympic Games, World Equestrian Games, World Cup Finals and Continental Championships at the Grand Prix level. In those instances, the horse can be removed from the ring and then examined by an FEI veterinarian. If the veterinarian concludes that the bleeding is from a minor injury, and if the bleeding has stopped, the horse can resume competition.
The rule proposal was presented to all 133 national federations, and the USEF immediately came out against the change. Seven other countries responded in favor of it, and the rest of the federations didn’t respond at all. The USEF still plans to oppose the rule change at the FEI General Assembly on Nov. 11-14 in Rio de Janeiro and the German Equestrian Federation recently announced they would vote against it after receiving negative comments from the public.
“The FEI proposes a different rule from championships to normal shows. We don’t agree with that. We think it’s not the way to go,” said Janine Malone, USEF vice president for FEI affiliates and U.S. Dressage Federation secretary. “The FEI has the plan to allow horses to come back into the ring after they’ve been examined by the veterinarian, and we think that’s not going to be workable. It’s not fair to other entries, for one thing. Plus, televised events are on a tight schedule, and even with major events it doesn’t always work to have horses come back at a later time.”
Sjef Janssen, a board member on the ITC and the Netherlands’ dressage team chef d’equipe, helped develop the rule proposal.
