The Federation Equestre Internationale Bureau did more than select the Kentucky Horse Park to host the 2010 World Equestrian Games at its meeting in Bahrain from Monday to Wednesday. The Bureau members also approved the dramatically different medication-control rules, which for the first time establish threshold levels at which a legitimate medication becomes a performance-enhancing drug and is illegal.
The new medication rules will take effect on June 1.
The Bureau also heard a report about preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games, for which the equestrian events have been moved from Beijing to Hong Kong. FEI officials are still negotiating with the Hong Kong government about import quarantines, so the competition timetable cannot be finalized. FEI officials have proposed that horses undergo a seven-day quarantine in their home country and a 10-day quarantine after arriving in Hong Kong.
The FEI staff and technical committees are also still working on the qualification criteria. But they do know that the number of competitors will be the same as at the 2004 Athens Olympics—75 riders and horses for jumping, 50 riders and horses for dressage, and 75 riders and horses for eventing.
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Representatives of the 2007 Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) gave a report to the Bureau. They\’ll host show jumping, dressage and eventing.
Bureau members also allocated more than a dozen regional and world championships. The North American Young Riders Championships, which will now include junior rider championships, will be at the Virginia Horse Park on Aug. 1-6. No date or location has been set for the North American Dressage Championships in 2007, but the concept was approved. The Pan American Endurance Championships for 2007 will be in Woods Park, Manit., on July 7. The 2007 World Pairs Driving Championships will be in Warka, Poland, on an undetermined date. The 2007 World Pony Driving Championships will be in Dorthealyst, Denmark, on July 18-22.
In 2008 the World Singles Driving Championships will be in Warantow, Poland, and the World Endurance Championships will be in Malaysia. Rule changes for jumping, dressage and eventing go into effect on Jan. 1. The next scheduled rule changes aren\’t until 2009.
