The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (, FEI) is the international

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

sports. The FEI headquarters are in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

, Switzerland. An FEI code of conduct protects the welfare of the horses from

physical abuse Physical abuse is any intentional act causing injury or trauma to another person or animal by way of bodily contact. In most cases, children are the victims of physical abuse, but adults can also be victims, as in cases of domestic violence or wo ...

or doping. On March 2, 2022, in the wake of the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. A ...

, the FEI banned Russian and Belarusian athletes, horses, and officials from FEI events, and subsequently an FEI Tribunal panel dismissed an appeal by Russia's Federation of Equestrian Sports challenging the ban.

Disciplines

The FEI recognizes eight disciplines under global governance in both regular and para-equestrianism competition: *

Dressage Dressage ( or ; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined by ...

* Combined driving *

Endurance Endurance (also related to sufferance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from an ...

Eventing Eventing (also known as three day eventing or horse trials) is an equestrian event where a single horse and rider combine and compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This ...

* Para-equestrian *

Reining Reining is a western riding competition for horses where the riders guide the horses through a precise pattern of circles, spins, and stops. All work is done at the lope (a version of the horse gait more commonly known worldwide as the canter), ...

Show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes ...

Equestrian vaulting Equestrian vaulting, or simply vaulting, is most often described as gymnastics and dance on horseback, which can be practiced both competitively or non-competitively. Vaulting has a history as an equestrian act at circuses, but its origins stre ...

The following two disciplines are under regional governance: * Horseball *

Tent pegging Tent pegging (sometimes spelled tent-pegging or tentpegging) is a cavalry sport of ancient origin, and is one of only ten equestrian disciplines officially recognised by the International Equestrian Federation. Used narrowly, the term refers to ...

The FEI does not govern or provide rules for

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small ha ...

, but in the latter case, it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federation of International Polo.

Values

Vision

To grow the unique and mutually beneficial bond between horse and human in sport globally.

Mission

To drive and develop equestrian sport globally in a modern, sustainable and structured manner with guaranteed integrity, athlete welfare, equal opportunity and a fair and ethical partnership with the horse.

Events

Olympic and Paralympic Games

Jumping, Dressage and Eventing have been a part of the Olympics since 1912. Para-Equestrian Dressage has been part of the Paralympic games since 1996. Jumping has been part of the Youth Olympic Games since its creation in Singapore in 2010.

FEI World Equestrian Games

The FEI has organized the FEI World Equestrian Games every four years since 1990. The idea of the World Equestrian Games (WEG) came into being in the mid-1980s and was strongly supported by HRH Prince Philip, who was then FEI President. The WEG encompasses the World Championship titles in all the FEI global disciplines.

World Cup

The FEI World Cup is an indoor series and takes place throughout the world with qualifying leagues leading to a final in each of the disciplines. The FEI World Cup series began with show jumping in 1978 and has since been extended to the disciplines of dressage, driving, and vaulting. Main events include: * Dressage World Cup *

Show Jumping World Cup The FEI Show Jumping World Cup is an annual international competition among the world’s best show jumping horses and riders. The series, created in 1978, today comprises 14 leagues on all continents. The best riders from 132 preliminary competiti ...

* World Cup Driving * World Cup Vaulting

World, continental and regional championships

FEI World, Continental and Regional Championships are held in all the FEI disciplines and age categories. Events include: * World Eventing Championships for Young Horses * FEI World Driving Championships for Four-in-Hand * FEI World Driving Championships for Singles * FEI World Endurance Championships for Seniors * FEI World Vaulting Championships for Seniors * FEI World Para-Equestrian Driving Championships

European

European Dressage Championships

European Show Jumping Championships The FEI European Show Jumping Championships is the European Championship for the equestrian discipline of show jumping. First held in 1957 in Rotterdam, and on an annual basis, it is held every two years, on the years between Olympic Games and Wo ...

European Eventing Championships The European Eventing Championships, like most other European Championships, is held every two years. Today it is a three star eventing competition. A three star event is one step down from the grand slam which consists of three four star events. ...

Equestrian at the Friendship Games Ljubičevo Equestrian Games

2019 FEI European Championships The 2019 FEI European Championships was held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, from 19 to 25 August 2019. Competitions was held in three disciplines; jumping, dressage and para-dressage. Medalists Dressage Jumping Medals table Reference ...

2017 FEI European Championships The 2017 FEI European Championships was held in Gothenburg, Sweden, from 21 to 27 August 2017. Equestrian competitions were held in four disciplines: jumping, dressage, driving and para-dressage. The main venues were Ullevi Ullevi, sometime ...

2009 FEI European Championships 2013 European Para-Dressage Championship

Asian

Equestrian sports first time at the 9th Asian Games in 1982. Equestrian at the Asian Games First Asian Equestrian Championships in Pattaya (THA) 30 Nov - 8 Dec 2019

Ratings

History

The FEI was formed in 1921 with the joining of the national organizations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden and the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. Today, there are 136 National Equestrian Federations affiliated with the FEI. On March 2, 2022, in the wake of the

Presidents

There have been 13 different presidents of the organization. Major Jhkr Karl F. Quarles van Ufford is the only individual to have served twice. Nowadays, a President can serve for a maximum of three terms. Since 2014, the President of the FEI is

Ingmar De Vos Ingmar De Vos (born 5 August 1963) is a Belgian professional sports manager serving as the thirteenth and current President of the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (''Fédération Equestre Internationale'') (FEI). Educated in sports ...

from

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

References

External links

*
FEI TV: Official Equestrian Sport streaming websiteFEI InsideFEI Database
{{Authority control Equestrian organizations IOC-recognised international federations