The Fédération Equestre Internationale approved new requirements for competing in CCIs and CICs at the 2012 General Assembly, held Nov. 5-8 in Istanbul. All rules will take effect Jan. 1, 2013.
The new qualifications are laid out in a matrix of eligibility and include more requirements than before. For instance, in addition to fulfilling national federation requirements, riders must now achieve a qualifying score at a CIC* in order to enter a CIC**.
To compete in a CCI**, riders must fulfill their national federation requirements, one CCI* or CIC**, and an additional CIC**. Previously, the riders had the choice between a CIC** or a CCI* with no additional CIC** required.
The FEI has also introduced four athlete categories (A, B, C and D) to define proven competence at each level. A rider who meets the requirements for athlete category C (20 minimum eligibility requirements in the last eight years at the two-star level) wouldn’t have to ride a horse in its qualifiers in order to enter a two-star.
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U.S Equestrian Federation Eventing Committee chair Malcolm Hook said that on a whole, the committee members are in favor of the changes, but they need some time to look over the matrix of eligibility. “Figuring out the new qualification matrix is going to be a steep learning curve, including [for] the eventing technical committee. While 2013 has no championships or Olympics in it, which is an ideal time to introduce something like this, it’s also something that is very different than what the riders have been used to and could cause some confusion,” he said.
Hook said the Eventing Committee has asked the FEI to delay the implementation of the matrix of eligibility requirements until 2014 so they can have time to review and make sense of them, but they haven’t received a decision yet. The committee is also in the process of approving a new matrix for USEF rules for eventing appendix 3, which covers qualifications. Hook hopes the new matrix will be clear enough for riders to use it effectively.
Other notable FEI changes include:
- Any CCI event will now be known as a long format event, while any CIC will be known as a short format.
- A second horse inspection will be compulsory if the jumping test is the last test.
- At the one- and two-star level, three judges are no longer required at CCIs, while two judges are no longer required for CICs.
To view the FEI’s rule changes, see this document.
