While day one was all about jumping, the welfare of equines and human athletes in eventing took up the bulk of the time on day two of the FEI Sports Forum 2017 in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 11 April. Discussions about dressage and officials were cramped into the morning session.
More than 330 delegates gathered at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne (SUI) for the 2017 FEI Sports Forum.
Mark Samuel (CAN), Chair of the FEI Working Group on FEI Officials opened day two’s first session when details of 13 concrete recommendations were provided, including a code of conduct and job descriptions for officials, the withdrawal of the age limit, online education for officials and course directors, appointments and remuneration, and a mentoring programme for younger officials.
Delegates were also given an update on the initial findings of the FEI Dressage Judging Working Group. The Group’s discussions, which have lasted for several months, were based on analytical studies of the current judging system and exploring judging procedures in other FEI disciplines, such as Reining and Vaulting.
The need to introduce a code of points and to concentrate further on education and training of judges across all levels are some of the long-term objectives proposed by the Working Group, with a revised multi-media FEI Dressage Handbook to be delivered as support.
FEI President Ingmar De Vos closed the FEI Sports Forum 2017 by thanking delegates and sponsors, and saying: “We’re very proud of the Sports Forum. This is what we need to do to fully engage with our community and take the necessary next steps. It is very important for the FEI to listen to what our National Federations and stakeholders have to say. The end of the Sports Forum means the start of a lot of work, but this is always a positive move forward. It was great to have so many young people contributing to the success of this year’s Sports Forum, and we very much hope to increase the participation of our youth in other editions of the Sports Forum.”
FEI press release, edited by Eurodressage - Photo © Richard Juilliart
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