108 delegates from 24 National Federations (NF) attended the FEI Eventing Forum and National Safety Officers Seminar 2023 at Haras de Jardy in France from January 20th – 23rd 2023
The sessions at Jardy, moderated by Chair of the FEI Eventing Committee and USEF Chief of Sport David O’Connor, alongside Geoff Sinclair, Chair of the FEI Eventing Risk Management Steering Group (RMSG), covered some of the big issues facing the sport of eventing today and are now available to watch (see below)
Topics in the spotlight
Social License and Media Training were the first topics to be tackled followed by a discussion on sanctions to help improve safety and the future development of 5* events with feedback from the Organisers of Badminton, Burghley, Lexington and Pau.
The remainder of the first day was dedicated to discussions around Risk Management statistics and trends based on comprehensive data collected since 2004, highlighting that 2022 had recorded the lowest number of rotational falls at FEI level since reporting had started.
The delegates also discussed standards for cross-country courses; the potential to make safety stirrups mandatory; as well as the use of the Horse Form Index within the community. Throughout the Forum, the delegates were also presented a number of technology and design related innovations to increase safety from enhanced biometric data to boot design.
Among the breakthroughs from the weekend, a proposal made by Sweden’s Staffan Lidbeck regarding cross-country flag rules and the addition of penalties for displacing a flag was met with overwhelming support.
Lidbeck referred to the system currently used at national level in Sweden, where at present the rule is zero penalties for jumping clear through the flags, 7 penalties when a flag loses its upper attachment, and 20 penalties for a run-out or when a horse jumps the fence with no part of the hind end going through the flag
Breakout Discussion
A range of subjects covered during the Forum were also discussed in seven different Breakout Groups on the Saturday, with the findings and different solutions and ideas presented to the entire delegation. The final day focused on Risk Management statistics and programmes being conducted by National Federations with National Safety Officers from eleven countries - Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and USA – making individual presentations and sharing their safety initiatives at a national level.
You can watch all sessions covering these topics on the FEI Eventing Hub here
