It can be rather endearing when someone who is not a native English speaker mixes their metaphors. At the end of an intense, five-hour debate about the future Olympic formats, FEI president Ingmar De Vos told me that “we can’t keeping going round and round the hot potato.” I did know how he felt, though. […]
The UAE was reinstated after signing a legally binding agreement to do better. This was promptly forgotten in the 2015-2016 winter season.
Dr Hallvard Sommerseth has been suspended for a mere two years for his role in the submission of over 500 sets of bogus endurance results to the FEI.
Well, as an American endurance chum put it, that was as useful as a bucket of warm spit. I don’t know a single sceptic who wouldn’t have been ecstatic to be proved wrong about the efficacy of the “strong new measures” put in place on February 13th for the remainder of the UAE winter season. […]
Two days ago, the FEI wrested its latest second/third/fourth-chance agreement from the UAE over the breaking of endurance rules and the breaking of horses. There is no black and white solution. After 20 years of doing exactly what they want, the UAE was never going to roll over in a matter of months. At first […]
After just eight rides over three weekends, Sheikh Sultan Al Nahyan has achieved significant improvements – well documented on this blog and elsewhere.
The FEI has grown a pair of something that isn’t wings and wants all UAE rides to adopt similar measures to Bou Thib, to reduce the killer speeds.
For eons he has despaired about the evolution of the desert racing and yearned for classical endurance, or anything that doesn’t view horses as expendable.
Virtually no controversies have happened in 30 years at the London International Horse Show. But this year there was two on the last day. Blood was spotted.
I am not a fan of everything the FEI does, but sympathise with them over the Global Champions League (GCL). The FEI and Global Champions Tour (GCT) have uneasily coexisted since 2006, especially after GCT forgot it wasn’t meant to clash with super-league Nations Cups. That’s when GCT had about eight shows per summer. Now […]
