The 2025 FEI Sports Forum kicked off in Lausanne on Monday, with four sessions on the program. The most important of them all was session three, which was dedicated to the ongoing implementation of the FEI Equine Welfare Strategy Action Plan. 

At the beginning of the session, FEI Veterinary Director Göran Åkerström introduced the FEI Equine Welfare Advisory Group – which will provide the FEI with independent advice on the FEI Equine Welfare Strategy. “Today we are proud to introduce the FEI Equine Welfare Advisory Group, which is composed of the world’s most prominent specialists in this area who represent key areas of expertise,” Dr Åkerström said. 

The group will be chaired by FEI Vice President and Chair of the FEI Veterinary Committee Jenny Hall, and its members are Dr Andrew McLean (AUS), Professor Madeleine Campbell (GBR), Dr Malin Axel-Nilsson (SWE), Professor Inga Wolframm (GER), and Dr Roly Owers (GBR). FEI added that an athlete representative will be confirmed shortly. 

Dr McLean, Dr Axel-Nilsson and Professor Campbell are also part of the FEI’s Ethical Training Methods Expert Consultative Group, a key component within the delivery of the Equine Welfare Action Plan. This group also includes representatives from all six of the FEI disciplines: Monica Theodorescu (dressage), Philippe Guerdat and Jens Fredricson (jumping), Christopher Bartle (eventing), Michel Assouline (para dressage), Abdul Aziz al Redha (endurance), Lars Kristensen (vaulting) and Andrew Counsell (driving and para driving). FEI Veterinary Director Dr Göran Åkerström, FEI Solidarity Director Jean-Philippe Camboulives, and Senior Manager of Equine Welfare Initiatives & Implementation, Governance & Institutional Affairs Somesh Dutt are also part of the group.

The participants at the Sports Forum were provided with a progress update on the six focus areas at the core of the Action Plan, based on the Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Commission recommendations, in which training methods have been identified as a top priority.

There were three deep-dives during the session, first into ethical training methods, then into fitness to compete, and thirdly into research and development. 

Dr Axel-Nilsson and Dr McLean focused on the proposed FEI First Principles of Ethical Training Methods for Sport Horses, and the proposed FEI Definition of Ethical Training Methods – topics that were discussed at the Expert Consultative Group’s first meeting in mid-February. The overarching goal is the development of a globally applicable framework for ethical training methods, specifically for sport horses across all FEI disciplines. The aim is to develop the framework in time for the FEI General Assembly in Hong Kong in November 2025.

Dr McLean’s presentation on the proposed FEI First Principles of Ethical Training Methods for Sport Horses focused on seven key points: 1) Regard for human and horse safety, 2) Regard for the nature of the horses, 3) Regard for the horses mental and sensory abilities, 4) Regard for emotional states, 5) Regard for equine learning process, 6) Correct use of aids, and 7) Regard for self-carriage. Dr McLean’s presentation can be watched in replay via this link.

FEI Vice President and Chair of the FEI Veterinary Committee Jenny Hall spoke on fitness to compete, also a central theme in the Action Plan, while FEI Veterinary Director Dr Göran Åkerström presented information on the latest research – including updates from different projects such as the the ‘Oral Cavity Project’, correlation of footing to potential risk to injury, and the potential use of sniffer dogs for prohibited substances detection in equine saliva. 

Closing off the session,  Andreina Wipraechtiger – Senior Manager, FEI Solidarity – presented the Rider’s Education Programme.