As a result, the FEI Board recently approved the Terms of Reference for a Horse Condition Task Force to be established, which will report to the Board.

The Task Force, which will be led by an independent facilitator, will include Discipline and Regional Group Chairs, Veterinary and Athletes’ Committee Chairs as well as representatives of key stakeholder groups, National Federations and FEI Officials.

The primary objective of the Task Force is to review current protocols, regulations and sanctions across all disciplines and recommend a more harmonised regulatory framework before, during and after competitions. Final approval of any recommendations would be voted upon by the FEI General Assembly.

The FEI Board has approved the following objectives for the Task Force:

  • Conducting a comprehensive review of the current rules regarding blood on the horse within the general and discipline-specific rulebooks.
  • Identifying inconsistencies and gaps in the current regulatory framework.
  • Assessing the rule proposals submitted by 1 March 2026 on the topic in accordance with the FEI Rule Revision Policy by National Federations and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) stakeholders.
  • Standardising of definitions, categorisations, and subsequent field-of-play protocols for FEI Officials when blood is detected.
  • Ensuring that any proposed harmonisation upholds the FEI’s commitment to horse welfare, whilst acknowledging and providing for any strictly necessary discipline-specific nuances.

Task Force Terms of Reference can be found here.

Commenting on the Task Force, FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez said:

“We have very different disciplines within our sport but we share a common goal of ensuring the best welfare for our horses and our athletes. Injury occurs in any sport but it is our responsibility as the governing body to review, reduce and regulate, where possible, using clear protocols, rules and sanctions that everyone in our sport and our millions of fans understand and respect.

“We hope this joint Task Force of representatives across our sport will be able to review, discuss and debate protocols and regulations in a unified and open way and, where possible, reach common recommendations for approval by the FEI Board and ultimately the FEI General Assembly”.

Invitations to join the Horse Condition Task Force have been issued this week with the aim of holding the first meeting on 29 June 2026 at which time the Task Force membership will be communicated.