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The FEI has published the first draft of their proposed rule changes for 2026, together with relevant memos.

Stakeholders had until 1 March to submit their proposals, which can be found in memos on FEI’s website. The memos also include rule change proposals put forward by the FEI. This year, the stakeholders are given seven weeks to comment on the first draft to the proposed rule changes instead of the usual six.

After comments from the stakeholders have been considered, the FEI will publish the final draft of the proposed rule changes on 10 October. The proposed rule changes will then be voted on at the FEI General Assembly that takes place in November. 

As per the periodical FEI Rules Revision Policy, the FEI Jumping Rules are subject to a full revision this year. Several national federations have used the opportunity to submit proposals regarding issues such as use of mobile phones while mounted, falls and eliminations, as well veterinary inspections and prize money distribution – to mention a few of many topics touched upon.

Following proposals from the Irish, Swedish and U.S. national federations, as well as from the International Jumping Riders Club (IJRC), concerning the wording to art. 241.3.30 on eliminations, the FEI has suggested modifications to the much-debated article, also referred to as “the blood rule”.

The FEI has proposed the following amendments to the wording of art. 241.3.30:

“Art. 241.3.30 Minor Blood on the horses flank will result in a Jumping Recorded Warning

Art. 241.3.31 Horses bleeding in the mouth or in the area of the mouth (in minor cases of blood in the mouth, such as where a Horse appears to have bitten its tongue or lip, Officials may authorize the rinsing or wiping of the mouth and allow the Athlete to continue; any further evidence of blood in the mouth will result in a Jumping Recorded Warning; First Offence – Jumping Recorded Warning Second Offence – Jumping Recorded Warning Should the same Person Responsible receive two (2) or more Jumping Recorded Warnings at the same or any other International Event within twelve (12) months of the delivery of the first Jumping Recorded Warning, the Person Responsible shall be issued with a fine of CHF1,000 and be automatically suspended for a period of one (1) month, such suspension to commence on the day after the last day of the Event where the Second Jumping Recorded Warning was issued. The FEI Secretary General shall notify the Person Responsible and confirm the date of suspension. For the avoidance of doubt, the delivery of the notification from the Secretary General after the start date of the suspension shall in no way invalidate or postpone the commencement of the suspension.”

The Swiss national federation has suggested a change to art. 254; increasing the number of horses allowed at CSI events, from three to four for each rider – a proposal the FEI has accepted.

The Swedish national federation has proposed that riders using a speed competition judged as a Table A or C as a schooling must inform the organising committee beforehand, as well as sanctioning those who fail to do so with elimination – a proposal the FEI has accepted.

The FEI has also partially accepted a proposal from the Dutch federation concerning art. 280.2.7 which regulates horse inspections – landing on the following proposed wording: “At FEI Jumping World Cup™ Finals, Longines League of Nations™ Finals, Championships and Games, Athletes or the person designated by the athlete must present the Horse(s) at the Horse inspection. Nevertheless, the Athlete must be present at the horse inspection when the horse is presented, if non-compliant a 2’000.- CHF fine.”

Several stakeholders – such as the Brazilian and Swiss national federations, as well as the IJRC and Pan American Equestrian Confederation (PAEC) have suggested edits to art. 273.2.2.2. which regulates a competition over two rounds, proposing the following wording: “In all Grand Prix competitions all Athletes without penalties will return to the second round even if this number is higher than the percentage established in the schedule” – a proposal that the FEI has accepted.

Noteworthy proposals that have been rejected by the FEI include a suggestion from the International Grooms Association (IGA) and Grooms Consultative Group (GCG) – both initiated by the FEI to give grooms a voice. The IGA and GCG have proposed to add a new article to the FEI Jumping Rules that would rein in the late-night classes that have been a subject of discussion for years. In their proposal, the IGA and GCG suggested the following wording: “Classes in horse shows should not begin before 8.00am and should be concluded (prize giving included) by 11.00pm at the latest. There should be a minimum of 10 hours between the end of the last class a horse has jumped in and the start of those horses first class the next day (i.e. a horse that competed in the last class, terminated at 11.00pm cannot compete before 9.00am the following day).” The FEI rejected the proposal, commenting: “Already included in the schedules, the FEI will work on sanctions for non-compliance.”

To comply with the Jumping Rules art. 117.2 and 251.4, which regulate entries to FEI events, the Austrian national federation requires specific national results from their members before accepting their entries to FEI events. Due to several of their members questioning these criteria, which are not requested by all of FEI’s national federations, the Austrian NF has suggested to the FEI to encourage other national federations to introduce similar requirements. “We urgently ask and appeal to the FEI once again to reconsider whether it would be possible to inform other European nations that it is absolutely necessary to establish a uniform rule for the MER (Horse-Rider-combination) before the responsible Federation enters the Horse-Rider-combination in an international event and assumes responsibility for it,” the Austrian NF wrote in their proposal, highlighting how they find it important to present beautiful and harmonious images to the public as equestrian sports are under strong criticism and scrutiny. With reference to their General Regulations, the FEI stated that it is up to the national federations to make their selection and do entries – rejecting to add such suggested criteria to their rules.

The Irish national federation highlighted the safety of the warm-up areas at FEI events, suggesting a ban on the use of mobile phones to watch videos of a round while mounted – a suggestion the FEI rejected, stating that this is “(…) controlled by the officials.” The Dutch national federation made a similar proposal – suggesting to ban the use of phone by hand for any person while on a horse at events – which was rejected as well, despite the fact that this has been a topic of concern also on previous occasions.

Find the full memo for FEI Jumping Rules here.

To mitigate the issue of late-night classes, the International Grooms Association (IGA) and Grooms Consultative Group (GCG) also submitted a proposal to only call back the top three placed riders to prize giving ceremonies taking place after 10 PM. This was accepted by the FEI, and will be included in the FEI General Regulations art. 125 regarding ceremonies.

Proposals put forward by the FEI in regard to their General Regulations include further sanctions and warnings, as well as requirements for national federations to include provisions against horse abuse and to protect safeguarding in their national rules (art. 100).

The FEI has also suggested edits to art. 164.2 regarding warnings, explaining how, under the current system, warnings have no real weight or impact. Hence, the FEI has proposed the following system: “If the Person Responsible receives 2 Warnings within 12 months: A fine of CHF 2’000 will be automatically issued - If the Person Responsible receives 3 Warnings within 12 months: A fine of CHF 3’000 will be automatically issued - If the Person Responsible receives 4 Warnings within 12 months: A fine of CHF 4’000 will be automatically issued. In addition, the provisions on Recorded Warnings will be amended and moved to a dedicated section as other Disciplines are implementing such concept as well, such as Jumping and Driving.”

Up until now exclusive to eventing, the FEI wants to introduce a recorded warning in other disciplines as well. For jumping, a recorded warning would mean the following: “Should the same Person Responsible receive two (2) or more Jumping Recorded Warnings at the same or any other International Event within twelve (12) months of the delivery of the first Jumping Recorded Warning, the Person Responsible shall be issued with a fine of CHF1,000 and be automatically suspended for a period of one (1) month, such suspension to commence on the day after the last day of the Event where the Second Jumping Recorded Warning was issued. The FEI Secretary General shall notify the Person Responsible and confirm the date of suspension. For the avoidance of doubt, the delivery of the notification from the Secretary General after the start date of the suspension shall in no way invalidate or postpone the commencement of the suspension.”

When it comes to tack and equipment, the FEI has suggested creating a standalone document to make it easier to react to changes in the equipment market. Explaining their proposal, the FEI details: “The FEI proposes to remove the tack and equipment requirements and principles from the Sport Rules and transfer them to standalone documents (the “Tack and Equipment Requirements”) separately for each Discipline. This would address the below-described challenges, by allowing changes to the Tack and Equipment Requirements to be made outside the rule revision process, when needed. If approved, the FEI will proceed to remove descriptions and principles related to tack and equipment from all Discipline Rules and simply transfer them to the Tack & Equipment Requirements effective as of 1 January 2026, with the exception of Jumping, which is deferred to a later date, possibly as of 1 January 2027 given the full revision of the Jumping Rules.”

Additionally, a proposed new provision to art. 109 “will allow the FEI to require OCs to use specific FEI Certified Service Providers, such as data handling and results providers, as communicated by the FEI.”

One of the proposals to changes in the FEI General Regulations that were rejected by the FEI, was another suggestion to regulate the use of mobile phone while mounted – this time from the Swiss national federation. Despite multiple similar suggestions to regulate the use of phones while riding in the FEI Jumping Rules, the FEI turned down the proposal stating “(…) it does not seem to be realistic in practice.”

The Polish national federation suggested adding hyperflexion to the FEI General Regulations art. 142 regarding horse abuse but the FEI did not support the proposal – stating: “Given all the current working groups, studies and action plan on horse welfare, any potential change should be carefully assessed and reviewed, taking into account all elements. Therefore, the FEI suggest to wait until we have more information and outcome on said studies and working groups to then potentially suggest changes as part of next year’s Rules revision process.”

Find the full memo for FEI General Regulations here.

Further edits have been suggested to the FEI Veterinary Regulations, regarding – but not limited to – prohibited methods, stables and vaccinations.

The Australian national federation has proposed changes to art. 1002.5 regarding vaccinations and infectious diseases, suggesting to use the standard day/month/year format when recording vaccinations in passports – which was accepted by the FEI.

The Australian national federation also proposed further details to be included in art.1004.1 regarding prohibited methods, more specifically the clipping of ears and the use of infusions – both proposals accepted by the FEI.

The U.S. federation proposed to drop the use of Form B when using nebulisers at FEI events, currently regulated in art. 1060.1, citing the ubiquitous nature of nebuliser use, the overwhelming paperwork it creates and the difficulty of effective stewarding of its use, as reasons to make the use unrestricted – similar to many other therapeutic devices. The U.S. federation suggested to replace the use of Form B with potential testing of the fluid at any time – a proposal that the FEI rejected.

Proposals put forward by the FEI include an addition to art. 1008, to detail that: “Only Equidae, dogs and humans are permitted access to the FEI Stables Area”.

The FEI has also proposed to detail art. 1054 regarding same-day treatment further, as well as prohibiting injections into tendons, ligaments and joints at FEI events.

Furthermore, the FEI has proposed to limit the number of people accompanying a horse to sampling, suggesting edits to the FEI Veterinary Regulations art. 1066. “This is to reduce the risks of accidents to horses and PRs, as well as supporting the integrity of the sampling procedure,” the FEI reasoned.

The FEI also proposes amendments to FEI Veterinary Regulations Annex VI, with stricter sanctions in case of rule violations, including fines, yellow warning cards, disqualifications and suspensions.

Find the full memo for FEI Veterinary Regulations here.