A return to teams of four with no drop score is the unanimous plea to the FEI from countries feeding back on the controversial Olympic format used at Tokyo. There is also a call for more “authentic” qualifying standards, after it became clear that some riders who attained their MERs (competence certificate) at specially arranged or “closed” competitions were over-faced, notably in the first round of the jumping.

To increase countries represented at the 2020 Olympic Games to around 55 within the normal 200 overall starter limit, the FEI reduced team sizes from four to three riders, with no drop score. However, because of the risk of too many teams failing to complete, teams were allowed to bring a spare horse and rider for potential substitution during the competition, which in itself caused problems.

It remains to be see whether the FEI views the responses as representative of the whole horse community. The FEI has 136 member countries, yet just 17 responded to the consultation on both future Olympic format and other Paris 2024 related matters. Only two stakeholder groups responded, the Pan American Equestrian Confederation (PAEC) and the International Dressage Riders Club.

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