International bid to get endurance in line
Emergency measures are being called for to bring the sport back to its roots
TWO distinguished British vets, Sarah Coombs and Tim Parkin, have been co-opted on to an emergency FEI committee to “urgently assess” welfare and other issues in endurance.
This temporary measure follows the resignation of chairman Brian Sheahan (citing health reasons) and Ignasi Casas Vaque’s leaving the FEI endurance technical committee (see box).
FEI president Ingmar de
Vos asked the new committee to “identify the most effective way of bringing the discipline back to its original roots of endurance riding as opposed to endurance racing, with horse welfare and horsemanship at its core.
“What we need is rules that place greater emphasis on completion, rather than the ‘win at all costs’ mentality that is more and more threatening our sport.”
CREDENTIALS
DR COOMBS is an FEI endurance and former British team vet, trustee of World Horse Welfare and chair of its veterinary advisory committee.
Dr Parkin heads the FEI’s global endurance injuries study research, and is standing for the FEI veterinary committee.
Other members are Saudi rider Tarek Taher, Pieter Wiersinga, a police commissioner and chef
d’equipe of the Dutch endurance team, and vet Meg Sleeper, also a trainer and rider on the US team.
Dr Sleeper was at the forefront of a US lobby for change, before the disastrous events during the World Equestrian Games (WEG) culminating in the endurance ride’s abandonment. FEI second vice president Mark Samuel, of Canada, will also be involved.
Dr Coombs told H&H: “I am under no illusion about the scale of the challenge, but I sense a collective appetite for change following recent events.
“I very much look forward to working with my distinguished colleagues who bring extensive scientific and endurance knowledge. We have been given free rein by the FEI to consult widely, and I would further like to pay tribute to the tireless work of Dr Brian Sheahan, who has had to step down with serious health issues. I know Brian’s many friends and colleagues will join me in wishing him well.”
Tarek Taher is also forming the True Endurance International Riders Association, bringing endurance in line with FEI jumping, eventing and dressage rider groups. This grew from a riders’ meeting the day after the WEG debacle.
Tarek, 60, who rode at Tryon, was involved in endurance before the evolution of the racing-style sport. He was elected by his peers to the FEI athletes’ committee, on a “traditional values” ticket.