The discussion regarding the newly announced FEI
requirements are excellent. After talking with several individuals involved at
various levels of international, I would simply like to add some background to
that discussion.
The new rules applicable only to the 2008 Malaysia WEG
require that the horse and rider, as a team, completed a 160 k race within 12
months of the 2008 WEG in 10 hours and 40 minutes thereby obtaining their
certificate of capability or “COC”. The COC will, however, be
revoked if (1) within 6 months of the close of nominated entries the horse is
eliminated from any FEI or national competition for metabolic reasons that
require invasive treatment, or (2) within 12 months of the close of nominated
entries the rider is eliminated from any two consecutive FEI or national
competitions for metabolic reasons. While some people feel this is changing
the rules in mid-stream, it is important to note that we are still 17 months
away from the WEG and the qualification must be completed within 12 months of
the race. Hence, riders have 5 months to plan how and at what race they will
attempt to meet this requirement and then another several months to actually
achieve the requirement.
While I think that most of those involved in international
agree that the new requirements are imperfect and create some problems on their
own, it is equally important to recognize that there are legitimate reasons for
implementing such rules. As I understand it, the overall goal of the FEI Endurance
Committee in implementing these rule changes is to try to (1) improve
completion rates at the Malaysia WEG and (2) to try to protect the welfare of
those horses that compete in that competition. It was felt that, at many prior
WEG events, many countries sent horses and/or riders that had insufficient
experience to compete at a world championship event. Not only has that
resulted in low completion rates, it has placed horses at risk. For that
reason, the U.S.
and a few other countries have argued that a smaller and more elite field is
desirable at world championships. The U.S. has also argued that speed
should not be the sole focus and that speed should be controlled through more
challenging courses which are created by design, climate, and terrain or best
by a combination. Put differently, the goal was not to speed up ride times but
to eliminate horses and/or riders who may try to ride at speed because they are
in a “world championship” when they have no prior experience at
doing so.
Malaysia
will be a very challenging course, primarily because of the climate.
Consequently, the risks to poorly prepared horses and barely qualified riders
will be significant. Recognizing that the risk to metabolically challenged
horses is significant, the FEI Endurance Committee decided to take a proactive
approach by setting a standard that requires countries to prepare their horses
and riders for a very strenuous race. While no one expects a 7 hour
winning time in the Malaysia WEG, the FEI Endurance Committee felt that horses
that are not capable of doing a fairly fast 100 mile ride should not be
there. It is too risky. Likewise, horses that have a recent history of
suffering a metabolic pull that required treatment should not be raced in an
environment where the climate will present a particular challenge to the
horse. It is too risky. Similarly, riders who have two consecutive pulls for
metabolic reasons do not have the skills necessary to safely take their equine
partners over a 100-mile course in what may be difficult climatic conditions.
It is too risky.
So, while reasonable minds can disagree as to whether or not these rules are
good or flawed, at least the FEI is finally doing something rather than nothing
and is, even if flawed, attempting to take some action to protect the welfare
of the horses that will race in Malaysia.
This is just a starting point, and it will hopefully continue to be a work in
progress.
