The Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) General Assembly, which took place Nov. 4-7 in Hong Kong, has approved restructured FEI Jumping Rules, with 96% approval. These will take effect on 1 January 2026, per the following press release.

Added measures and safeguards

The proposed Article 259 on Jumping Recorded Warnings was also approved. In doing so, National Federations acknowledged the Rule as a meaningful advancement. The changes are intended to enhance horse welfare through added measures and safeguards, as follows:

• New mandatory fitness-to-compete checks by the Ground Jury, in consultation with the Veterinary Delegate, in all cases of blood
• Horses now only permitted to continue competing if passed fit-to-compete following the above Veterinary check.
• Clearer rules for FEI Officials, removing the “minor” distinction and ensuring greater consistency and objectivity
• Increased transparency and accountability for athletes, with all Jumping Recorded Warnings published by the FEI
• Automatic notification to National Federations of all Jumping Recorded Warnings concerning their athletes. This will enable them to better monitor cases and decide whether to impose additional welfare checks or measures.

Unchanged rules

The rules that are still in place and remain unchanged are:

• mandatory disqualification for excessive use of spurs;

• the Abuse of Horse provisions; and
• the possibility of opening separate disciplinary proceedings to impose additional sanctions.

“We fully acknowledge and thank the National Federations for the constructive discussions throughout the week, which clearly reflected a shared commitment to finding solutions,” FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibanez said.

“Despite differing opinions, we were able to gain a clearer understanding of each other’s positions and were also able to clarify several misunderstandings and misconceptions.

“We acknowledge that the approval was not unanimous and have taken note of the request from several National Federations for a more harmonised approach to the topic across disciplines and we are committed to looking into this.”

Continued horse welfare support

“We will take a structured, evidence‑based approach grounded in thorough consultation and driven by data,” Ibanez continued. “Our ongoing projects at the FEI will play a key role in supporting accurate data recording, and we will continue to advance safety and welfare through evidence‑based measures that are both rigorous and robust to further demonstrate our unwavering support to horse welfare.

“We acknowledge that a number of National Federations voted against the proposal. While their reasons may vary, we take this outcome seriously and are committed to examining it carefully to better understand the concerns and address them as we move forward.”

NOTE: The presentation on the FEI Jumping Rules Revisions including information on Rule 259 can be found here (link at the end of the section on Session 2 – p. 11 – 32).

About the FEI

The Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) was created more than 100 years ago to oversee the Olympic disciplines of Jumping, Dressage and Eventing with just eight member signatories. Today, the FEI also governs the non-Olympic disciplines of Driving, Endurance and Vaulting as well as the Para Equestrian disciplines of Dressage and Driving. The FEI has 136 member National Federations.