Federation Equestre Internationale News 1 October 2002

- FEI/GANDINI World Jumping Riders Rankings
- WEG 2006
- Eventing recommended for Exclusion of the Olympic Programme
- Executive Board Committee Meeting
- FEI Committees Meetings
- Juniors European Eventing Championships
- Updated Standings for qualification for the Superleague

FEI/GANDINI World Jumping Riders Rankings

Despite the fact that the four riders qualified for the final competition of the World Equestrian Games in Jerez obtained bonus points, none of them managed to enter in the top ten.
Eric Navet who earned altogether 500 points in the WEG has reached place 13 compared to 24 last month. Dermot Lennon raised from 38 to 26, Peter Wylde
from 52 to 23 and Helena Lundbäck made the bigger jump from 149 to 68. The points obtained in the WEG will count fully during one year. In September 2003, a quarter of these points will be dropped, an other quarter will be dropped in 2004, the third quarter in 2005 and the remaining quarter will be replaced by the points earned in WEG Aachen 2006.
Jos Lansing, thanks to the points he earned in the WEG as well as in the World Championship for Young Horses in Lanaken, has found back the top ten for the first time since the beginning of 2002.
Markus Fuchs, went up from 7 to 5 as a results of his win in the WEG speed competition.
Complete rankings on the FEI website www.horsesport.org section consult/Results

2006 World Equestrian Games

On 18 September 2002, the FEI Executive Board awarded the 5th World Equestrian Games in 2006 to Aachen (GER).

Eventing Recommended For Exclusion Of The Olympic Programme By The IOC Olympic Programme Commission

The FEI Executive Board will meet with the IOC to propose a shorter Olympic formula for the Eventing competitions. The proposal will be available this week on www.horsesport.org , section reference/working docs/reports.

FEI Committees Met In Jerez de la Frontera (Esp.) During The WEG

Executive Board Meeting summary
The Executive Board met four times during the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez (ESP). In addition to the decision on the allocation of the 2006 WEG
and in-depth discussions held on the future of Eventing the following was agreed on:
New Commercial structure - Division for Marketing: In line with the FEI Business Plan it was agreed to create a "Division for Marketing" as part of the FEI Secretariat. The Division's exact structure was to be defined within the next weeks.
FEI Delegation to visit Athens: The Executive Board agreed that a Delegation consisting of the FEI President, the FEI 1st Vice President, the Secretary General and the Manager of the Olympic Department, would travel to Athens mid October in order to meet and discuss some pending issues with ATHOC. Allocation of Championships: The Executive Board allocated the 2003 Pan American Endurance Championship to Trout Lake, WA (USA) on 13 September. The 2003 Pan American Eventing Championship was allocated to the Fair Hill International venue in Elkton, Maryland, USA, on 22 to 26 October.
Jumping and Driving World Cups - Rules Revision: Following the recommendations of the respective Committees the Executive Board approved the Rules Revision for the World Cups in Jumping and Driving, effective for the 2003-2004 World Cup season.
Nations Cup Super League Format: The Executive Board approved, on the recommendation of the Nations Cup Committee, several changes to the Nations Cup Super League format, subject to approval by the Jumping Committee. The changes will be published in the next edition of the FEI Bulletin. Dressage Rules: Following the recommendation of the Dressage Committee the Executive Board approved a rule change to art. 456 Order of Starting, subsection 1 and 3.2, as well amendments to art. 421 and 422. The amended text will be published shortly on the FEI website www.horsesport.org.
The next meeting of the Executive Board will take place in conjunction with the FEI Bureau Meeting, on 5 November 2002 in Moscow (RUS).

Driving Committee Meeting:
The following points arise:
- An open forum will be held in 2003 to discuss and establish the number of marathon phases for all international events.
- Qualification requirements for Single and Four-in-Hand Championships will be raised from 2004.
- Two-phase Obstacle Driving competitions counting for combined driving events may continue to be organised on a trial basis until 2005.
- Rules for the 2003 World Combined Pony Driving Championship were established.
- A new dressage test is in the making.
- Two day CAI-A events may continue to be organised.
- Clear rules on substitution of horses and drivers are currently under consideration.
- Official International status for course designers will be created.

Jumping Committee Meeting
The following points arise:
- Beginning in 2003 five-star CSI events will not be permitted to clash with CSIO Super League events.
- Changes to the Super League rules relating to invitations, withdrawals, additional points, relegation and promotion of teams, classification of teams in the Nations Cup Series will be recommended to the Bureau for approval. Changes will be published in the FEI Bulletin if approved by the Bureau at its meeting in November.
- The intention to keep a weekend free each year from 2004 of International Jumping events in Western Europe to allow NFs host their National Championship was dropped by the Committee due to lack of support.

Ad Hoc Medical Committee Meeting
The Medical Committee met on 11 September 2002 during the WEG. This was the first official meeting of the Committee following a teleconference held previously on 7 May 2002.
During the meeting, a representative from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Mrs Françoise Dagouret, gave a detailed presentation on WADA with an emphasis on the new World Anti-Doping Code and WADA's interactions with international sports federations and athletes. Mrs Dagouret provided
information on WADA to the athletes and the public during the first week of the WEG.
The Committee reviewed the FEI's anti-doping control procedures and discussed the World Anti-Doping Code with an emphasis on the needs of equestrian athletes.
The Committee members were also solicited during the WEG for their review of various Medical Certificates presented to the FEI by some athletes and Chefs d'Equipe.
The need for clearer communication with the National Federations on all aspects of anti-doping controls on athletes was made evident at the WEG.

Ethics Committee Meeting
The Ethics Committee meeting was held on 16 September 2002 during the WEG to discuss the Code of Conduct on the Welfare of the Horse ("Code"). Mr Freddy
Serpieri, FEI 1st Vice-President and Chairman of the Ethics Committee, introduced the topic of discussion and invited Dr Andrew Higgins, Chairman of the FEI Medication Sub-Committee, to make a presentation on the newly drafted Code.
Dr Higgins explained that the Code had been reviewed by a working group and had been rewritten with the view to up-dating the wording of the Code. The working group was mandated to produce a Code that would increase awareness of welfare issues not only on the part of competitors throughtout the world but of the public in general.
Following a detailed presentation the specific language used in the new draft Code was discussed and the Chairman of the Judicial Committee, Mr Ken Lalo, and Dr Higgins agreed to re-draft certain passages to further clarify the document. The Committee felt that it would be of great benefit to the sport to have a public relations firm give their views on the draft Code before its publication.

Veterinary Committee Meeting
Items that were discussed included:
Olympic Games Athens: The progress in construction and monitoring of weather conditions were reviewed. In addition, a detailed review of the veterinary infrastructure for the Games was carried out together with ATHOG Olympic Games Beijing: A first visit of the FEI to Beijing illustrated that much work in to be done, especially with regard to sanitary issues (temporary importation and re-export of horses) and the testing protocol for horses.
Medication Control: A new approach for pharmaco-kinetic studies was discussed, which is important in the light of the current sensitivity of the forensic laboratory and the period that substances can be detected. Research: Hypersensitisation: Additional data on the thermographic images of the lower limbs in jumping horses would be collected during the WEG Disease control: The current outbreaks of West Nile virus in the USA have led to concern by EU based horse owners prior to ship their horses to the USA for competition. A vaccine for the disease is currently being tried out in the USA:
Piroplasmosis: The bid of Lexington (USA) for the 2006 WEG has resulted in extensive studies on the issue of Equine Piroplasmosis and import requirements for horses in the USA. It is hoped that these studies will help to find a more pragmatic approach to manage and control this disease, which is essential for further development of FEI events in the USA.

Vaulting Committee Meeting
The Vaulting Committee, under the chairmanship of its new Chairman, Mr Jean-Michel Pinel (FRA), held its statutory meeting in conjunction with WEG at Jerez (ESP) on 8 and 9 September 2002.
Besides the usual agenda items, the Committee mainly dealt with the development of the sport and all the aspects relating to it.
The Chairman, upon request of the FEI Secretary General had previously elaborated a paper outlining his ideas on the various steps proposed. This paper outlines that as in Jumping, Eventing and Dressage the horse counts for at least 50% of the performance, trainers must put greater emphasis on this aspect of the sport and judges' training in this regard must be intensified.
With a view to developing Vaulting further a free age limit was also discussed and the Committee strongly felt that it would help the sport. An enquiry previously launched with NFs on this issue should show that many nations were in favour whereas others had not opinion.
Following a lively discussion on the pros and cons of a reduction of the number of team members from eight to six in order to reduce the time and better safeguard the welfare of the horse, the Committee agreed that further studies would be required and that the issue be further discussed on the occasion of next year's rules revision.
The elaboration of rules for the inclusion of compulsory Free Test (Art. 741.4) in Individual Vaulting, including Championships, could not be finalised. A working group was formed and a final decision will be taken on the occasion of next year's meeting.
A detailed report will be published by the FEI following the November Bureau meeting.

Junior European Eventing Championship, 5-8 Sept., Waregem (Bel)

The Junior European Eventing Championships held at Waregem (BEL), from 5 to 8 Sept. 2002, went off smoothly and successfully thanks to the efficient organization.

From the artistic opening ceremonies held in the town hall where the riders were introduced with a ballet dancer carrying the respective flags of the 16 participating countries to the closing ceremonies at the stadium, everything ran smoothly blessed with fine weather.

The German team took the lead after the Dressage phase, with Christine Seitz on Amigo, receiving the good score of 73.33% leading the field with 40.01 penalties, followed closely by the French rider Vincent Pryen with 41.52 penalties. The French and Belgium teams placed second and third.

The Cross-country course, designed by Tom Ryckewaert (BEL), also organiser of the event, proved to be ideal for the level of the competition.

On the final day, 46 competitors took part in the final Show-Jumping, with Germany retaining their lead to win the Team Championship and Christine Seitz winning the Individual title, followed by teammate Inga Marie Hoper as silver medallist and Vincent Pryen taking the Bronze medal for France. The Belgium team overtook the French team to take the team silver with France finishing third.

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