Around the world, from the 'biggies' such as Badminton Horse Trials to grassroots, events were affected by Covid-19 in 2020 and may be again in 2021
Although the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games was the most high-profile sporting event casualty of Covid-19 in 2020, the repercussions on sport in general around the world has been far reaching
In equestrian sport, the expectation on the part of the FEI was that approximately 4,800 international events, in line with the 2019 figures, would take place in 2020
As it turned out, over 90% of international Vaulting, Reining, Driving and Para Driving competitions were lost due to the pandemic. For Jumping, Dressage, Eventing and Endurance, approximately 65% of their events were cancelled.
“The scale and the loss of Events is a huge concern because it affects a large cross section of our community and their livelihoods. For Organisers, Athletes and their entourage, Owners, Officials, Sponsors and the entire equestrian and connected industry, these cancellations are detrimental” said Ingmar De Vos, President of the FEI, in his opening speech of the 2020 Online General Assembly
The Eventing Committee Report presented at the General Assembly outlined a breakdown of events that took place in 2020 compared to previous years by week, by Regional Group and by Event Level, which give a good indication of the impact on the Eventing calendar
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