No suspensions for Blenheim officials
The ground jury members have been given formal warnings for the incident
FOUR Blenheim Horse Trials officials who faced allegations of wrongdoing by the FEI following confusion that resulted in a competitor being allowed to restart after a cross-country fall will not be suspended.
The president of the ground jury for the 2021 CCI4*-S for eight- and nine-year-old horses, Laure Eslan, and members Angela Tucker and Douglas Hibbert, plus the event’s technical delegate Patricia Clifton, each faced the allegation of “failing to comply with duties and obligations as an FEI eventing official”.
The proposed sanctions were suspensions of three months for Mrs Clifton and Mme Eslan, and one month for Mr Hibbert and Mrs Tucker. These have been downgraded to formal warnings.
The cases relate to a situation in which Izzy Taylor and Carolines Air KM were allowed a fresh start after a rider fall at fence one.
The FEI’s administrative disciplinary procedure said not eliminating a rider who has had a cross-country fall is “serious from a risk management perspective”, and the FEI and officials have a duty to protect competitors’ safety and apply rules “fully and consistently”.
“Allowing an athlete to have another start on the same crosscountry after a fall undermines all the FEI’s efforts to protect athletes,” it said, adding that the FEI legal department “took note” of factors in the officials’ favour.
These included their acceptance they took the wrong decision, that they were acting on what turned out to be “unreliable information” that represented a different situation to what had happened, and that their failure to apply the rules was “not due to bad faith but rather a failure to duly verify the initial oral report”.
There are no allegations against Izzy, she was not the person who provided this “initial oral report” and has no FEI disciplinary case to answer.
They also ensured Izzy was checked by a doctor prior to her restart, showed willingness to share their experience as part of the FEI officials’ education programme and would take
“all necessary steps” to verify information if a similar situation should arise in future.