Text © World of Showjumping

Last weekend, on Saturday morning, the International Jumping Riders Club’s (IJRC) General Assembly 2025 took place in Geneva, Switzerland.

The mandate for IJRC President Francois Mathy Jr. was renewed for another two years, while the IJRC Board will consist of Ludger Beerbaum (GER), Emilio Bicocchi (ITA), Michael Duffy (IRL), Steve Guerdat (SUI), Rodrigo Pessoa (BRA), Kevin Staut (FRA) and Richard Vogel (GER).

As part of the discussions during the IJRC General Assembly, IJRC Director Eleonora Ottaviani and IJRC President Francois Mathy Jr. addressed the aftermath of the FEI General Assembly 2025 that took place in November, while Gaspard Dufour – FEI Technology Operations Director – presented the review and adjustments of the scale that will be used for the 2026 Longines Rankings in Groups HH and H.

At the FEI General Assembly 2025, the restructured FEI Jumping Rules, which will take effect on 1 January 2026, were approved, among them the proposed article 259 on Jumping Recorded Warnings – a proposal originally brought forward by the IJRC.

The first draft of the proposed rule changes – including the IJRC’s proposal that resulted in the addition of the FEI Jumping Rules article 259 – was published in July, and the stakeholders were given seven weeks to comment on the initial document, while the final draft was published in October. However, the final proposal caused discussions among national federations – as well as in media and in social media – which resulted in a separate vote on article 259 at the FEI General Assembly, where it eventually was approved.

Many of those who have been criticizing the new rule, which will replace the current article 241.3.30 and .31, have argued that it contains a relaxation in cases where blood is detected on a horse at FEI competitions. Under the current rule in article 241.3.30 and .31, blood on a horse’s flanks, or a horse bleeding in the mouth – with certain exceptions for ‘minor cases of blood’ in the mouth, such as where a horse appears to have bitten its tongue or lip – will result in mandatory elimination by the Ground Jury.

In comparison, as per the wording in the new rule in article 259, any blood detected on a horse that is caused by tack or equipment or is athlete induced, will result in the sanction ‘Jumping Recorded Warning’ which will be issued by the President of the Ground Jury. Two or more Jumping Recorded Warnings within 12 months will lead to a fine of CHF1.000 and an automatic suspension of the rider for one month. Additionally, in all cases where blood is detected on a horse, the horse in question will only be permitted to continue competing if the Ground Jury, together with the Veterinary Delegate, deems the horse fit to compete. Currently, and in the past, no mandatory check by a veterinarian was included in the assessment of the horse under article 241.3.30 or .31.

The IJRC pointed out that the critics of the new rule in article 259 need to take into consideration that marks indicating excessive use of spurs or of the whip anywhere on the horse still will lead to mandatory disqualification by the Ground Jury, as per the FEI Jumping Rules article 264.2.1 (formerly 242.3.1) – which will be enforced alongside article 259. Furthermore, article 265.1 states that “all forms of cruel, inhumane, or abusive treatment of Horses are strictly prohibited” – listing yellow warning cards, fines, elimination and/or disqualification as available sanctions within the enforcement of the rule. Additionally, the FEI General Regulations article 142 regarding horse abuse remains unchanged, leaving the governing body with the option of opening further disciplinary proceedings.

IJRC Director Eleonora Ottaviani and IJRC President Francois Mathy Jr. noted how they felt frustrated about the debate concerning article 259, attributing the social media pushback to many influencers and professional journalists not reading article 259 in its entirety. They also expressed frustration with those national federations that had not read the proposals, and who only “woke up” when they got to the FEI General Assembly in Hong Kong.

The Swiss federation’s representative shared how supporting the riders’ proposal had left the federation under huge pressure. “Since the FEI General Assembly in Hong Kong, the silence that followed from the riders was really difficult to understand from the federation’s perspective,” Michel Sorg, the Swiss Equestrian CEO, pointed out as the discussion went on. “And when your voice remains silent – and we have seen this after the General Assembly – those against the rule become stronger, louder and more convincing. And that is the balance that we have at the end, after Hong Kong. I just want us to do better in the future, all together, so that we can have one voice, one united voice when a decision like this is taken. Because we all want the same thing; a fair, strong and respected sport. We have to speak and act together for the future of our sport.”

“We think this is absolutely the right rule for the sport and for the horse,” Áine Power, FEI Executive Director Sport & Games, expressed about the FEI’s point of view. “And that is something that we really try to explain to the national federations. At the end of the day, we are a sport, and we need to have rules that work for the sport. And yes, we want to take care of our horses and we want to take care of welfare, and for us and why we are so surprised that people couldn’t see that fact that a rule that is better for the sport and is better for the horse, should have been more universally accepted than that. But it is a learning and we know now that people can use these opportunities for their own benefit, for their own purposes, and I think that is a learning for all of us in the room. People, who are looking at our sport, are not always coming from the same place as we are.”

In follow-up remarks to World of Showjumping after the IJRC GA, Power expanded on her comment, adding that, as the FEI had previously acknowledged, the reasons for the opposition to the rule were not uniform – some voted against because they would prefer a more harmonised rule across the disciplines, whereas others preferred the existing rule which sees mandatory elimination for blood on the flanks, while some favoured an even stricter system. “We are committed to continuing the discussions with our National Federations to find consensus,” Power commented to WoSJ.

As the discussion moved on to the increased costs the riders are faced with and the IJRC’s attempts to control the fees organizes can charge, Jessica Kürten – FEI Executive Board member and Athletes’ Committee Chair – noted how riders should not abandon their national circuits in the pursuit of showing internationally.

Gaspard Dufour – FEI Technology Operations Director – presented the review and adjustments of the scale that will be used for the 2026 Longines Rankings in Groups HH and H. Instead of measuring the rate of double clear rounds, the rate of single clear rounds will be used to determine the scale of points, a change that hopefully will lead to a more even distribution of ranking points.

You can watch the full IJRC General Assembly 2025 here.

You can read the IJRC's own summary here.