For almost two years now, the Fédération Equestre Internationale’s independent Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Commission has been collecting data, developing recommendations, and periodically reporting back to the equestrian community about its progress on constructing a framework to “future-proof” equestrian sport and ensure that it maintains its social license to operate.

In that time, the very term “social license to operate“ has risen from obscurity to become part of the vernacular of sports governance and the subject of multiple U.S. Equestrian Federation and U.S. Hunter Jumper Association panel discussions and town halls. At the elite levels of the sport, initial skepticism gave way to acceptance of the fact that the general public really does have the final say over whether equestrian sport can continue to exist.

At the FEI Sports Forum, held Monday and Tuesday in Lausanne, Switzerland, the commission’s final report was made public for the first time. In its 51 pages, the commission laid out 30 recommendations and an action plan for the FEI to implement them.

“We can only make this happen if we work together. I really need your participation; we really need your participation,” FEI President Ingmar De Vos said during his opening statement. De Vos said a plan will be submitted to the FEI board later this year, and then put forward for discussion at the General Assembly.

“There will be quick wins, but there will also be things that take more time, for which we will have to undertake scientific research, et cetera,” he told forum participants. “We can only be successful if we work together. All of you need to be on board; nobody can kick the can to somebody else. And I really insist, stop sending me letters and emails sharing your concerns. I think we proved already back in 2022, when we created the Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Commission, that we are concerned, that we know that, hey, ‘Houston, we have a problem,’ and that we need to solve it. So don’t write to us, but look at what you can do yourselves.”

“A Good Life For Horses”

The entire morning session on the first day of the Sports Forum was dedicated to discussion of the commission’s report. (You can view the session PowerPoint presentation here.) Its recommendations were divided into six areas of priority: training and riding, tack and equipment; recognizing physical and emotional stress; accountability, enforcement and knowledge; the other 23 hours (a horse’s life outside of competition); competitive drive; and not fit to compete (masking health problems). The report outlined 62 action points.

The report also described two core objectives for a new FEI Equine Welfare Strategy. First, establishing “an enforceable expectation that all horses involved in sport must be given a Good Life,” which means that horses should be provided with the necessary care, management, training and performance conditions to ensure positive physical, mental, behavioral and social outcomes throughout their lives.

Second, to strengthen equestrian sports’ social license to operate. The report emphasized the FEI’s role in this, particularly in demonstrating ongoing commitment to addressing welfare concerns. To that end, it outlined four key areas where the FEI can demonstrate leadership, with an emphasis on being trusted, transparent, proactive and accountable.

FEI Veterinary Director Göran Åkerström and FEI Legal Director Mikael Rentsch walked through some of the proposed key actions, including a broader approach to reviewing tack and equipment; resuming scientific research on hyperflexion and rollkur; and developing guidelines, principles, rules and registration of trainers across the disciplines to ensure ethical training methods.

Other areas of discussion included post-mortem reporting on horse deaths occurring at national competitions, with support from national federations; updating the FEI Code of Conduct for the Welfare of the Horse in collaboration with World Horse Welfare; strengthening the awareness and use of the FEI Equestrian Charter; and the implementation of an out-of-competition testing program.

FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez emphasized that maintaining social license and pursuing optimal equine welfare will be a never-ending task. The next step will be developing a detailed action plan to be presented at the FEI General Assembly in November in Muscat, Oman. She also urged members of the equestrian community to provide their feedback by May 15 to a dedicated email address: welfare@fei.org.

A Crisis Of Championships

Day 2’s morning session (see powerpoint here) was devoted to championships and the difficulty in securing bids from venues willing to host them.

The FEI calendar includes world championships every four years for Olympic disciplines and every two years for non-Olympic disciplines. European championships are also held every two years for all disciplines, and there are yearly youth and young horse championships. In 2024, there will be a total of 28 FEI championships.

FEI Deputy Legal Director Áine Power kicked off the session by explaining the bid process and the financial and logistical responsibilities of host venues versus the responsibilities of the FEI, as well as the pros and cons of hosting championships for multiple disciplines at the same time.

The number of bids for championships has held relatively steady over the last decade, Power said.

“With a couple of exceptions, is it’s relatively consistent, ranging between one and three bids [for each championship],” she said, but there have been indications of trouble brewing, even though the bids look consistent on paper.

“But also we have a feeling, this perception versus reality,” she said. “And I think we have the feeling—at least in [FEI] headquarters, we have the feeling—we feel that there’s more reluctance of people to submit bids. And I think that feeling is probably reflective of the feeling that’s in the community with organizers and national federations. So that’s why we’re here today basically, to address that issue.”

There are currently no bids to host the 2025 FEI European Championships in jumping, eventing and para-dressage, she said.

A panel discussion followed, featuring FEI Commercial Director Ralph Straus, Italian Equestrian Federation Secretary General Simone Perillo, Wellington International President Michael Stone, Global Equestrian Group Chief Operating Officer Casper Cassøe Krüth and Longines CSIO St. Gallen President Nayla Stössel.

Among the points made by the panel and members of the audience:

• The prize money at championships is typically less than at regular competitions.
• Riders still want to participate in championships for the prestige of representing their countries.
• The events need to be profitable, and it may be necessary to explore new ways to share costs between stakeholders.
• A transfer of knowledge between former and future hosts would allow bidders to work together to develop more comprehensive and cost-effective bids.

The next step will be to develop a strategy for championships and present to the FEI board during the General Assembly.

Other News Of Note:

• A group of athletes, organizers, owners, trainers and officials’ stakeholder organizations signed the FEI Grooms Charter. Built around the principles of horse welfare, integrity, education and safety, the document was created to ensure that grooms are respected and supported in their role.

• The International Olympic Committee is set to reduce direct and indirect carbon emissions by 30% in 2024, and has committed to a 50% reduction by 2030. The organization is reducing its business travel, and is planting about 590,000 trees in an “Olympic Forest” in Mali and Senegal to compensate for residual emissions.

• During a session on gender equality, statistics gathered by the FEI’s Technology and Sports Services Department showed that although women make up about one-third of ranked athletes in jumping, female representation in the top 100 dropped to 20% by 2022, and to just 6.8% in the top 30. A similar trend is seen in eventing—women are the majority overall, but their representation diminishes at the highest ranks, dropping from 72% overall to 53% in the top 30 in 2022.

• The FEI’s equine anti-doping and controlled medications are undergoing a full revision this year, and in a session devoted to that topic, the use of hair and saliva in drug testing was discussed. Testing hair would allow the detection of banned substances going back several months from the time of testing, which would fit in with the goal of “a good life for horses” over their entire lifespan. Saliva testing could be used for substances that are quickly eliminated from the body and would allow for testing during competition, such as at a vet gate in endurance.

You can find all the session PowerPoint presentations, as well as archived video, at the FEI Sports Forum website.