The decision by the international governing body of horse sports based in Lausanne, Switzerland was disclosed to dressage-news.com Tuesday, the day before the start of the Global circuit of seven weeks of CDI over winter at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center’s Stadium complex.
Global begins its sixth year Wednesday as the world’s richest dressage circuit and attracts competitors from more than two dozen countries for 12 weeks of horse shows, seven CDIs including four World Cup events, a CDI5* and a CDI4* as well as a CDIO3* Nations Cup.
The FEI notified Equestrian Sport Productions that organizes the Global circuit that it would not approve the $120,000 purse that had been included in the draft schedule, identical to the prize money approved in 2015 and 2016 and compared with .
The FEI gave its reason for cutting the prize money to $95,000 for the CDI4* scheduled for Mar. 15-19 as the strength of the United States dollar that has altered the conversion rate with the Swiss franc. The FEI has made no provision for grandfathering, a practice that is typical in most rule-making procedures.
FEI rules specify prize money for a CDI4* as a minimum of 24,000 and a maximum of 89,999 Swiss francs, regardless of the country the event is staged, the comparative values of the currencies or past history.
The FEI dressage rules specify various prize money and service fees for officials, for example, in Swiss francs and euros but no other currency and set the rates in those currencies regardless of conditions in the location of the competition. Switzerland has only two dressage competitions on the calendar for 2017–one for amateurs, pony, junior and young riders and a CDI5* as part of the Rolex International Jumper Riders Club show next December.
Just weeks ago, the FEI rejected inclusion of consolation Grand Prix in the four World Cup events scheduled for Global, although they had been approved in 2016 as a move by ESP to provide another way to reward riders.
Another change ordered by the FEI is that youth riders, including children’s classes newly adopted at Global for this year, must perform a freestyle in addition to team and individual competitions.
The requirement does not apply to senior divisions and has sparked criticism.