New regulations intended to strengthen horse welfare
According to several equestrian online media, the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) and the international equestrian federation FEI have adopted new regulations for the World Championships for young show jumping horsers intended to strengthen the welfare of the animals.
Specifically, the changes concern minimum quality requirements and updates to the qualification procedures for classes for young horses. With the first-mentioned new quality requirements, the aim is to ensure that no animals take part in competitions that are not sufficiently prepared. Whether this is the case or not has been defined in so-called “Minimum Eligibility Requirements” (MERs) (see below).
The goals of these criteria are a uniform and transparent qualification pathway. For five-year-old show jumpers they are also attempting to reduce time pressure in order to “promote a correct, pedagogically valuable way of riding,” according to the portal ehorses.de. An ideal time rather than a stopped time will be judged. This rule is intended to better support the development of young horses.
The national federations are responsible for implementing and enforcing the new rules. According to spring-reiter.de, the ultimate aim is “to secure the future of the sport by adapting competition structures to the needs of young horses while at the same time maintaining the high sporting standards of the championships.” Details can also be found on the website wbfsh.com.
The “Minimum Eligibility Requirements”
– Five-year-old jumping horses: three clear rounds at a minimum of 1.15 meters
– Six-year-old jumping horses: three clear rounds at a minimum of 1.25 meters
– Seven-year-old jumping horses: three clear rounds at a minimum of 1.35 meters
Translated from German by AI and adjusted by Paul Krier. Original article was previously published in the “Lëtzebuerger Bauer” weekly newspaper.