International Federation for Equestrian Sports explained

Fédération Equestre Internationale
Abbrev:	FEI
Logosize:	250px
Sport:	Equestrian
Category:	Sports
Jurisdiction:	International
Affdate:	1921, 1983
Headquarters:	Lausanne, Switzerland
President:	Ingmar De Vos
Vicepresident:	Jack C. Huang Mark Samuel
Secretary:	Sabrina Ibáñez
Sponsor:	Longines
Url:	fei.org

The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (French: Fédération Équestre Internationale, FEI) is the international governing body of equestrian sports. The FEI headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The FEI is responsible for drafting and enforcing regulations within the six disciplines under its jurisdiction. Besides regulation, overseeing all international competitions and Championships, overseeing and cooperating with all affiliated national federations, overseeing and educating officials and registering riders and horses are core tasks of the FEI. As an umbrella equestrian organisation, the FEI focuses on promoting equestrian sport, attracting and cooperating with sponsors, media and fans, and representing equestrian sport on various online and offline channels.^[1]

An FEI code of conduct^[2] protects the welfare of the horses from physical abuse or doping. On 2 March 2022, in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the FEI banned Russian and Belarusian athletes, horses, and officials from FEI events, and subsequently an FEI Tribunal panel dismissed an appeal by Russia's Federation of Equestrian Sports challenging the ban.^[3]

Disciplines

The FEI recognizes six disciplines under global governance in both regular and para-equestrianism competition: ^[4]

• Dressage and Para Dressage^[5]
• Driving^[6] and Para Driving^[7]
• Endurance^[8]
• Eventing^[9]
• Jumping^[10]
• Vaulting^[11]

Reining was an FEI discipline from 2000 until 2021.^[12]

The following two disciplines are under regional governance:

• Horseball (- FIHB)
• Tent pegging (International Tent Pegging Federation - ITPF)

The FEI does not govern or provide rules for horse racing (International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA)) or polo, but in the latter case, it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federation of International Polo (FIP).

Values

Vision

To grow the unique and mutually beneficial bond between horse and human in sport globally.^[13]

Mission

To drive and develop equestrian sport globally in a modern, sustainable and structured manner with guaranteed integrity, athlete welfare, equal opportunity and a fair and ethical partnership with the horse.^[13]

Sub Federations

1. Asian Equestrian Federation
2. European Equestrian Federation

Regions

Normal

1. Southern Europe – Group I: ALB AND AUT BEL BUL CRO CYP CZE ESP FRA GRE HUN ISR ITA LIE LUX MKD MLT MON POR ROU SLO SMR SRB SUI SVK TUR
2. Northern Europe – Group II:DEN EST FIN GBR GER IRL ISL LAT LTU NED NOR POL SWE
3. Eastern Europe & Central Asia – Group III:ARM AZE BLR IRI GEO KAZ KGZ MDA PAK RUS TKM UKR UZB
4. North America – Group IV:ANT BAR BER CAY CAN HAI ISV JAM PUR TRI USA
5. Central America – Group V:CRC CUB DOM ESA GUA HON MEX NCA PAN
6. South America – Group VI:ARG BOL BRA CHI COL ECU PAR PER URU VEN
7. Middle East – Group VII:ALG BRN EGY IRQ JOR KSA KUW LBA LIB MAR OMA PLE QAT SUD SYR TUN UAE YEM
8. Asia and Oceania – Group VIII:AUS BRU CAM CHN HKG INA IND JPN KOR MAS MGL MYA NZL PHI SIN SRI THA TPE
9. Africa – Group IX:BOT COD ETH KEN MAD MAW MRI NAM RSA SEN SWZ ZAM ZIM

World Cup

By 2024 FEI World Cup Finals (show jumping and dressage):

1. FEI Western European League
2. FEI Central European League (Northern, Southern)
3. FEI Pacific League
4. FEI North American League
5. FEI Arabian League (Middle East, Northern Africa)
6. FEI Eurasian League
7. FEI Japan League

Events

Source:^[14]

Olympic and Paralympic Games

See main article: Equestrian events at the Summer Olympics. The first Olympics held under its authority were in 1924. Jumping, Dressage and Eventing have been a part of the Olympics since 1912.^[15] Para-Equestrian Dressage has been part of the Paralympic games since 1996.^[16] Jumping has been part of the Youth Olympic Games since its creation in Singapore in 2010.^[17]

FEI World Equestrian Games

The FEI has organized the FEI World Equestrian Games every four years since 1990. The idea of the World Equestrian Games (WEG) came into being in the mid-1980s and was strongly supported by HRH Prince Philip, who was then FEI President.

The WEG encompasses the World Championship titles in all the FEI global disciplines.^[18]

World Cup

The FEI World Cup is an indoor series and takes place throughout the world with qualifying leagues leading to a final in each of the disciplines. The FEI World Cup series began with show jumping in 1978 and has since been extended to the disciplines of dressage, driving, and vaulting. Main events include:

• FEI Show Jumping World Cup since 1978
• FEI Dressage World Cup since 1985
• FEI Driving World Cup since 2001
• FEI Eventing World Cup 2003-2012
• FEI Vaulting World Cup since 2010
• FEI Endurance World Cup since

FEI Jumping Main Events

Source:^[19]

1. Global Champions Tour
2. Longines League of Nations™
3. FEI Jumping World Cup Series
4. Longines FEI Jumping World Cup
5. FEI Jumping Nations Cup Youth - Since 2018
6. FEI Jumping Children's Classics - Since 2008
7. FEI Jumping Ponies' Trophy - Since 2017
8. FEI Jumping World Challenge (FEI World Challenges exist in Jumping, Dressage, Eventing, Vaulting, Driving and Para Dressage) - Since 2016
9. Continental & Regional Games

World, continental and regional championships

FEI World, Continental and Regional Championships are held in all the FEI disciplines and age categories. Events include:

• World Dressage Championships
• World Eventing Championships
• World Show Jumping Championships
• FEI World Eventing Championships for Young Horses
• FEI World Driving Championships for Singles, Pairs, Pony and Four-in-Hand
• FEI World Endurance Championships for Seniors since 2012
• FEI Endurance World Championship for Young Horses since 2012
  • FEI World Para-Equestrian Driving Championships

European

• European Dressage Championships
• European Show Jumping Championships
• European Eventing Championships
• Equestrian at the Friendship Games
• Ljubičevo Equestrian Games
• 2019 FEI European Championships
• 2017 FEI European Championships
• 2009 FEI European Championships
• 2013 European Para-Dressage Championship

American

• Equestrian at the Pan American Games

Asian

See main article: Asian Equestrian Federation.

• Equestrian sports first time at the 9th Asian Games in 1982.
• Equestrian at the Asian Games
• First Asian Equestrian Championships in Pattaya (THA) 30 Nov to 8 Dec 2019

Ratings

See main article: Concours de Saut International, Concours Complet International and Concours de Dressage International.

History

The FEI was formed in 1921 with the joining of the national organizations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden and the United States of America.^[20] Today, there are 136 National Equestrian Federations affiliated with the FEI.^[21]

Year	Number of affiliated nations
1921	8
1928	21
1938	31
1960	48
1970	54
1975	62
1986	81
2014	132
2015	133
2016	134
2018	135
2020	138
2021	136
2022	137

On March 2, 2022, in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the FEI banned Russian and Belarusian athletes, horses, and officials from FEI events, and subsequently an FEI Tribunal panel dismissed an appeal by Russia's Federation of Equestrian Sports challenging the ban.^[3]

Presidents

There have been 13 different presidents of the organization. Major Jhkr Karl F. Quarles van Ufford is the only individual to have served twice. Nowadays, a President can serve for a maximum of three terms. Since 2014, the President of the FEI is Ingmar De Vos from Belgium.

	President	Nation	Term
1	Baron du Teil	France	1921–1927
2	General Gerrit Johannes Maris	Netherlands	1927–1929
3	Major Jhkr Karl F. Quarles van Ufford	Netherlands	1929–1931
4		USA	1931–1935
5	Baron Max Von Holzing-Bertstett	Germany	1935–1936
6	Major Jhkr Karl F. Quarles van Ufford	Netherlands	1936–1939
7	Magnus Rydman	Finland	1939–1946
8	Baron Gaston de Trannoy	Belgium	1946–1954
9	Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld	Netherlands	1954–1964
10		UK	1964–1986
11		UK	1986–1994
12		Spain	1994–2006
13		Jordan	2006–2014
14		Belgium	Since 2014

See also

• French Equestrian Federation
• French National Olympic and Sports Committee

External links

• • FEI TV: Official Equestrian Sport streaming website
• FEI Inside
• FEI Database

Notes and References

1. Web site: About FEI. www.inside.fei.org. 2019-12-15. 2023-11-01.
2. Web site: The FEI Code of Conduct for the Welfare of the Horse. https://web.archive.org/web/20170410050807/http://inside.fei.org/system/files/Code_of_Conduct_Welfare_Horse_1Jan2013.pdf. 10 April 2017. dead.
3. Web site: FEI Tribunal dismisses Russian appeal against equestrian ban. 30 May 2022. www.insidethegames.biz.
4. Web site: Sport . 15 July 2020 .
5. Web site: Disciplines – Dressage – About Dressage . Fei.org . 25 February 2016 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304065332/http://www.fei.org/fei/disc/dressage/about-dressage . 4 March 2016 . dmy-all .
6. Web site: Disciplines – Driving – About Driving. Fei.org. 25 February 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20151222113429/http://www.fei.org/fei/disc/driving/about-driving. 22 December 2015. dmy-all.
7. Web site: Disciplines – Driving – About Para Equestrian Driving . Fei.org . 25 February 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304061939/http://www.fei.org/fei/disc/driving/about-para-equestrian . 4 March 2016 . dmy-all .
8. Web site: Disciplines – Endurance – About Endurance . Fei.org . 25 February 2016 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304071455/http://www.fei.org/fei/disc/endurance/about . 4 March 2016 . dmy-all .
9. Web site: Disciplines – Eventing – About Eventing . Fei.org . 25 February 2016 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304072023/http://www.fei.org/fei/disc/eventing/about . 4 March 2016 . dmy-all .
10. Web site: Disciplines – Jumping – About Jumping. Fei.org. 25 February 2016. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304064546/http://www.fei.org/fei/disc/jumping/about. 4 March 2016. dmy-all.
11. Web site: Disciplines – Vaulting – About Vaulting . Fei.org . 25 February 2016 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304071006/http://www.fei.org/fei/disc/vaulting/about . 4 March 2016 . dmy-all .
12. Web site: Welcome to Reining . FEI . July 13, 2024.
13. Web site: FEI Values FEI. 12 June 2019 .
14. Web site: All Events .
15. News: Does Olympic horse-riding have a gender problem?. The Economist. 2018-10-05. en.
16. News: Americans Hart, Shoemaker & Trunnell Win 4 Para-Equestrian World Medals – For A Program That Had None. https://web.archive.org/web/20180923133616/https://www.teamusa.org/News/2018/September/22/Americans-Hart-Shoemaker-Trunnell-Win-4-Para-Equestrian-World-Medals-For-A-Program-That-Had-None. dead. 23 September 2018. Team USA. 2018-10-05. en.
17. Web site: Equestrian. https://web.archive.org/web/20121221072321/http://www.singapore2010.sg/public/sg2010/en/en_sports/en_26sports/en_equestrian.html. dead. 2012-12-21. 2012-12-21. 2018-10-05.
18. Web site: FEI Championships. FEI. 6 October 2013. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20131012012842/http://fei.org/fei/events/championships. 12 October 2013. dmy-all.
19. Web site: Jumping Main Events . 9 March 2012 .
20. Book: Allen. K. Schumacher. SA. Sprayberry. KA. Robinson. NE. Robinson's Current Therapy in Equine Medicine. 2015. Elsevier Health Sciences. 9780323242165. 112–115. 7th. Chapter 26: Impact of FEI rules on sport horse medications.
21. Web site: FEI National Federation Members . fei.org . 25 February 2016 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20150316185120/https://data.fei.org/NFPages/NF/Search . 16 March 2015 . dmy-all .