As of January 1st 2015 there are some new FEI Eventing Rules in place so make sure you know the changes in preparation for this year’s competition
You can find the full 2015 Eventing Rules and other documents on the FEI website which need to be read carefully if you are competing at international events in 2015. Some changes of interest include;
522.1: Reverse Qualification for the horse which entails;
“... the obligation for a Horse to show restored competence at a lower level (MER) after a number of unsuccessful attempts at a certain level. Reverse qualification only applies to the Horse.
A reverse qualifications is triggered by two consecutive Cross Country eliminations or a total of three Cross Country eliminations within a 12 months rolling period of time in an international Competition. . For this purpose the relevant reasons of elimination on Cross Country would be:
a)Three refusals
b) Fall of Horse
or
In the case of the Athlete:
c) Dangerous riding
In addition to the above, should an Athlete be involved with two (2) reverse qualifications within a 12 months rolling period of time (all incidents), his right to use the qualification pathway for categorised Athletes (Art 520.2) will be automatically suspended for one year.”
523.1: No medical card required to be carried on cross country
548.1 Clarification and procedure for the implementation of the penalty for “Breaking a frangible obstacle/device” where;
“21 penalties will automatically be given to each Athlete breaking a frangible obstacle/device.
Only in case of clear failure of the mechanism, Ground Juries can remove the 21 penalties. In evaluating the possible removal of a penalty for breaking a frangible obstacle/device, it is made clear that Ground Juries are not called to investigate if a Horse would have fallen or not or if the contact was with the front or hind legs, but simply if a clear mechanical failure has produced an unexpected activation of the mechanism through a light tap similar to the behaviour of a show jumping fence. This is the only case where penalty can be eventually removed. In this case a detailed report explaining the reasons for removing the penalty must be produced by the Course Designer/Technical Delegate and signed by the President of the Ground Jury must be returned to the FEI”
539.2.3: Boots and bandages have been removed from the Forbidden List for the dressage test so that now, instead of incurring elimination, the use of bandages or boots is considered an error for which two (2) points will be deducted as per the FEI Dressage rules (refer to FEI Dressage rules – article 430.6.2)
A copy of the Dressage Rules are a good thing to keep to hand this year as the Eventing Rules now line up with the FEI Dressage Rules and only exceptions are referred to in the Eventing Rules
FEI Eventing Rules Annex A – Dressage There are plenty of changes in this section to take a close look at including the Permitted Bits for Dressage Tests. Information in the FEI Updated FAQ Use of Tack in Eventing document may also be useful.
A review of the Cross Country bits will be made during 2015 for implementation in 2017
