OFFICIALS’ OUTLOOK

Text: Amelia Campbell-Horne

As most of us know, it takes an army of staff, volunteers and officials to ensure the smooth running of an equestrian event. Through this series, we hope to shed some light on the important roles that these individuals play in making equestrian competition possible in Southern Africa.

Stay tuned for some interesting interviews and an in-depth understanding of these roles, the required qualifications and experience, and how to become an official in the sport.

Over the coming months, we will interview show organisers, course designers, judges, stewards, technical delegates, and other support staff to hear their stories and learn about their roles in our sport.

As an introduction to the series, we wanted to share the significant rule updates for 2025 according to the FEI. These rules provide the basis for the work of our officials here in South Africa and help govern sport internationally.

Know your rules

Here are some key changes to the FEI Regulations for 2025, following the FEI General Assembly held in Abu Dhabi in November 2024.

FEI GENERAL REGULATIONS

https://inside.fei.org/content/fei-general-regulations-2025-0

Changes to General Regulations include those made to:

1. Article 142: “Any person witnessing an Abuse must report it without delay. If an Abuse is witnessed during or in direct connection with an Event, it should be reported as a Protest (Article 161) to an Official. If the Abuse is witnessed at any other time, it should be reported to the FEI through the FEI Horse Abuse Reporting Form available on inside.fei.org who, following a review of the report, shall take a decision as to whether or not to open disciplinary proceedings (either through the Administrative Disciplinary Procedure or by referring the matter to the FEI Tribunal).” This change redefines the role of the responsibility to report horse abuse with the new FEI Horse Abuse Reporting Form, which is available on the FEI website.
2. Article 164: Fraudulent conduct was previously added as a reason to disqualify under Article 164, but the list of offences that the FEI may sanction has been detailed further for 2025. Among these offences is now any conduct that is contrary to the integrity of equestrian sport, or that risks bringing the FEI and/or equestrian sport into disrepute or that risks causing the public opinion of the FEI and/or equestrian sport to be diminished, as well as breaches of the FEI Social Media Policy. This has led to the table of sanctions under this article being updated accordingly, with violations of the FEI Social Media Policy resulting in sanctions such as warning cards, fines, disqualifications, as well as suspensions within a range of three months to three to five years, while breaches of the FEI Code of Ethics, the FEI Code of Conduct on the Welfare of the Horse, as well as bringing the FEI and/or equestrian sport into disrepute can carry sanctions up to a maximum of a lifetime ban.

FEI VETERINARY REGULATIONS

https://inside.fei.org/content/fei-veterinary-regulations-2025

There are a multitude of significant changes to the veterinary regulations for 2025. These include changes to:

1. Article 1004: This now prohibits removing or shortening hairs in the ears unless individual hairs have been removed by a veterinarian to prevent pain and discomfort for the horse. Clipping of these sensory hairs will result in disqualification from the event.
2. Article 1026: This Article refers to the prevention of infectious disease transmission and now allows the FEI to impose pre-event quarantine and or require testing for infectious diseases in certain instances where cases have been reported
3. Article 1035: If you compete a horse barefoot and need to present a horse for inspection, take note! If you jump barefoot, you will have to trot up barefoot. If you compete barefoot with hoof boots (allowed in jumping, eventing, vaulting and endurance), you must present the horse in the hoof boots you compete in. The inspectors can request the boots be removed to inspect the hooves. Failure to comply will result in the horse not being accepted to compete.
4. Article 1044: Refers to the often-debated nose-band tightness issue. It states that measuring must now be done using the FEI-approved measuring device. This rule applies to all nose-band types and both upper and lower nosebands.
5. Article 1045: This article previously allowed stewards and official veterinarians to check any part of the horses’ legs, boots and tack at any time during the event. This Article has now been extended to allow stewards and official vets to examine the horse’s whole body and to check for the presence of blood.
6. Article 1061: Additions have been made to this article whereby horses are now prohibited from competing If they are administered an injection or infusion of vitamins and or minerals during the period of an FEI event, unless in the event of an emergency, where a veterinary form must support their use.

FEI EQUINE ANTI-DOPING AND CONTROLLED MEDICATION REGULATIONS

https://inside.fei.org/content/equine-anti-doping-controlled-medication-regulations-2025-0

This past year (2024), these regulations went through a complete revision as per the FEI Rules Policy. These are the changes that have come into effect:

1. Article 2: Equine Anti-Doping Rule violations in the past were established by an adverse analytical finding in a positive blood or urine sample. This has now been extended to include “any biological or other material, including any tissue, body fluid, excreta, hair, skin scraping or swab” sample. Furthermore, three missed tests or failings to file the whereabouts of a horse within a 12-month period will result in an EAD rule violation. This aligns with the regulation that the registered trainer/owner or person responsible for any horse in the FEI registered testing pool must notify the FEI quarterly of the horse’s whereabouts and ensure the horse is available for testing.
2. Article 5: ‘Testing’ now includes a section on the FEI’s entitlement to request information on a horse’s whereabouts to conduct ‘out of competition’ testing. In out-of-competition testing, the finding of a banned substance will lead to the provisional suspension of a horse for a two-month period, which can be increased if there are exceptional circumstances. Suspensions of people will also be possible in some cases.

Did you know?

“Prohibited substances that are used out-of-competition will not always be detected in an athlete’s sample if the athlete is tested in-competition. For this reason, out-of-competition testing is a necessary part of an anti-doping programme.” That is why Art.5.1 states: “All Horses registered with the FEI or a National Federation shall be subject to Out-of-Competition Testing by the FEI.”

FEI EQUINE PROHIBITED SUBSTANCES LIST (EPSL)

https://inside.fei.org/content/anti-doping-rules

The FEI EPSL will be evaluated during the 2025 annual review process. Individuals can submit suggested changes to the list through the FEI Website before the 1^st of February by completing a form.

The new EPSL is published on the Clean Sport website 90 days before it becomes effective, usually on 1 January each year.

Understanding ‘Banned substances’ vs ‘Controlled medications’

• ‘Banned substances’ are substances that are deemed by the FEI to have no legitimate use in the competition horse and/or have a high potential for abuse. They are not permitted for use in the competition horse at any time.
• ‘Controlled medications’ are substances deemed by the FEI to have therapeutic value and/or be commonly used in equine medicine. Controlled medications have the potential to affect performance and/or be a welfare risk to the horse.