Changes planned to whip and blood rules
The FEI has released its proposed rule changes for the 2019 season
FLAGS, whips and blood are among the major proposed areas of change to international eventing rules for next year.
Ground juries will have the power to take stronger actions on those abusing the whip, if these amendments are accepted.
The proposals reduce the number of times the whip may be used for any one incident, from three to two, and misuse of the whip can now include multiple excessive uses between fences.
The FEI has added that if a horse’s skin is broken or has visible marks, use of the whip will always be deemed to be excessive.
It has also changed the rule’s wording, so excessive and/or misuse of the whip is “not limited to” the nine scenarios laid out.
The change follows debate over the constraints on the ground jury following Oliver Townend’s whip use at Badminton (news, 10 May).
Four-star judge and 2018 Badminton ground jury president Sue Baxter welcomed the changes, including the extra wording and new categories.
“After Badminton, I wrote to the FEI on behalf of the ground jury on the need to enlarge the scope of the seven prescriptive categories of the whip rule and, in particular, to include the wording that it was ‘not limited to’ these categories,” she told H&H.
“All the suggestions we made have been included in the wording of this draft, which is good news.”
Four-star course-designer and former British Eventing chief executive Mike Etherington-
Smith also welcomed the wording.
“The proposed changes are good — these clarify something we thought ground juries had the authority to do anyway,” he told H&H. “A lot of people were surprised by the Badminton situation, therefore the FEI had to tidy it up as it was a grey area.”
H&H has reported debate on the design of whips (news, 5 July; features, 28 June). Mr Etherington-Smith also said this needs looking at.
“I think the time has come where we need to define the type of whip permitted,” he said, adding that it could be right to look at the design of racing whips, on which there are strict rules.
New rules on “athlete-induced” blood on a horse, specific to each phase and in line with the other FEI disciplines, are also set to be introduced.
Mrs Baxter said she believes the blood rules are “moving in the right direction”.
“I think it is a good idea to bring in the ‘athlete-induced’ wording so we have some parameters — it is a physical sport and there will be some instances of blood on horses that are not welfare issues,” she said.
She added a horse can have blood in the mouth from biting his tongue or lip. Or, across country, horses may pick up minor cuts.
“I think it is good to be able to stop the horse, check, wipe any blood or pink foam around the
‘The FEI had to tidy it up as it was
a grey area’
MIKE ETHERINGTON-SMITH
mouth, allowing it to continue if there are no concerns. The new rules are explicit: any fresh blood means elimination,” she said.
“In these proposals, if it is an athlete-induced injury, as a result of use of bit or spurs, the ground jury will automatically give a recorded warning; two of these within a three-year period will result in a yellow card. The rules still allow the full range of penalties for abuse, including yellow card and elimination, depending on its severity or how the blood was induced.
“But the proposals don’t help us with horses who have repeatedly shown some blood that is not athlete-induced. We need a recording system so the FEI can notify the rider and their national federation of the FEI’s concerns.”
Warnings and the penalties for multiple yellow cards have also been overhauled.
The FEI suggests changing “recorded verbal warning” to “recorded warning”, for clarity. Two warnings for the same offence will mean a yellow card. A rider’s suspension for two yellow cards for the same offence in a year would increase from two to four months — in all disciplines.
In blood cases, riders will be suspended for four months for two yellow cards in three years.
The controversial “flag rule” has also been rethought.
The FEI is suggesting 20 penalties for a run-out if the body of the horse fails to pass through an obstacle’s extremities, or 15 for a horse who misses a flag “but clearly negotiated the element”.
H&H columnist and four-star eventer Harry Meade said the rule, which currently stipulates 50 penalties for missing a flag, is “bad for everyone involved”.
“We should stop tweaking it
and go back to the original rule, which eliminates anyone who clearly misses a flag, with the rest awarded a clear,” he writes in this week’s column (p43).
Mr Etherington-Smith added he would like to see “clarity” on the proposed wording.
“This is one of those rules I think where we all know what they are trying to say, but it is very hard to write,” he said.
“There needs to be penalties for these situations — I think it should be 20 as I think it is pretty much the same as a run-out.”
The FEI has also said it will only take official video evidence from next year on flag disputes.
Video rules are also in debate for the dressage phase, where a video review for flying changes is suggested, if a judge’s mark varies by more than three points to the average for that movement.
Other major changes include a double-weighted “harmony mark” to replace collectives, one timefault for every two seconds over the optimum showjumping time, bans on unattached neckstraps, and hackamores used instead of a bit for cross-country and multiple changes to bit rules.
National federations and stakeholders have until
31 August to submit feedback on the proposals. A second draft will then be released, changes voted on at the FEI general assembly in November, and the rules would apply from 1 January 2019.
WHAT ELSE CHANGES?
IT has already been agreed that dressage riders will be able to hold some of their rankings points if they are away from the sport for a period due to maternity or health reasons.
The rule currently applies for showjumping, but the FEI was
not able to explain why this is not being introduced for eventing.
The FEI is proposing a CHF100 (£76) fine for owners of dogs found off leads at any international event.
In showjumping, riders must be cleared by a medic after a fall — from as soon as the rider enters the competition arena until he passes through the finish.
Dressage riders will be allowed to wear a “greatcoat” in rain, or no jacket in hot weather.