Meetings

The first key point of discussion during the Commission’s inaugural meeting were the Terms of Reference for the work of the group. There was a general consensus that the main purpose of the Commission will be to focus on the welfare of the horse and not on environmental sustainability, while acknowledging the importance of this topic and the related work being done by the FEI and the European Equestrian Federation in this field.

To this end, the Commission decided that it was necessary to reconsider the name of the group and that alternatives would be put forward for consideration at the next meeting.

The Commission acknowledged that two Working Groups may need to be created and consulted (details to be discussed further):

• Scientific Research Working Group to gather and analyse data that the Commission will use to inform their decision-making.
• Education and Communication Working Group to consider ways in which to disseminate the Commission’s findings to the equestrian community and members of the public.

Additionally a Survey Working Group composed of the Chair, Professor Visser-Riedstra, Professor Heleski and Jessica Stark was created to work on the design of a questionnaire to be circulated among National Federations, FEI MOUs, national horse welfare organisations, mainstream and equine specialised media, and other stakeholders.

The Commission agreed to the following work plan and timings:

Stage 1: June to November 2022

• A first report will be presented by the Chair to the 2022 FEI General Assembly which will take place from 9 to 13 November in Cape Town (RSA).

Stage 2: December to April 2023

• A final report will be presented by the Chair to the 2023 FEI General Assembly in Mexico (MEX).

With regards to Communication of the Commission’s work, members agreed on the need for transparency and consistency and that for clarity, the Commission should communicate with ‘one voice’. The Commission acknowledged that the Chair would be the main spokesperson.

Finally the Commission agreed to design a questionnaire to be circulated among National Federations, FEI MOUs, national horse welfare organisations, mainstream and equine specialised media, and other stakeholders.

Following the approval of the minutes of the previous teleconference and the Commission Terms of Reference, members agreed on changing the name of the group to the Commission for Equine Ethics and Wellbeing. Commission members were also informed about the work of the FEI Tack and Equipment Expert Group, which was created in 2020, to ensure harmonisation across the FEI disciplines on the equipment approval process and rationale. The FEI Equipment Expert Group is composed of FEI staff, veterinary, scientific and equine behavioural experts who are all involved in the consultations during the equipment approval process and is led by the FEI Legal Director.

The Commission also made the following key decisions:

• The Chair of the Commission to begin consultations with the FEI Legal Director as the conclusions and recommendations of the Commission will impact the standards used for approval for tack and equipment by FEI Equipment Expert Group.
• The FEI to provide the Commission with a review of the current FEI Horse Welfare Rules.
• The Commission to begin an internal review of the social license practices of other equestrian organisations.
• The Survey Working Group to provide the Commission with a draft of relevant questions for the survey.

Following the approval of the minutes of the previous teleconference and the Commission Terms of Reference, members agreed on changing the name of the group to the Commission for Equine Ethics and Wellbeing. Commission members were also informed about the work of the FEI Tack and Equipment Expert Group, which was created in 2020, to ensure harmonisation across the FEI disciplines on the equipment approval process and rationale. The FEI Equipment Expert Group is composed of FEI staff, veterinary, scientific and equine behavioural experts who are all involved in the consultations during the equipment approval process and is led by the FEI Legal Director.

The Commission also made the following key decisions:

• The Chair of the Commission to begin consultations with the FEI Legal Director as the conclusions and recommendations of the Commission will impact the standards used for approval for tack and equipment by FEI Equipment Expert Group.
• The FEI to provide the Commission with a review of the current FEI Horse Welfare Rules.
• The Commission to begin an internal review of the social license practices of other equestrian organisations.
• The Survey Working Group to provide the Commission with a draft of relevant questions for the survey.

The Commission agreed on conducting two separate surveys targeting the equestrian community and the general public.

The survey created for National Federations, Athletes, Officials and MOU Stakeholders, has been designed to capture baseline information among equestrian stakeholders who have an interest in horses and use horses for leisure and/or sport. The questions are aimed at determining the main concerns of the community and how these should be tackled in the short to long term.

The Commission members agreed that the survey for the equestrian community needs to be disseminated to as many people across the community as possible, and should be simple and translatable into different languages.

It was agreed that the second survey will target individuals who are not involved with, or knowledgeable about, horses to determine the public perception regarding the use of horses generally, and also in sport. It was decided that this survey will be carried out by a specialised third party.

The first in-person meeting of the Commission, held at the FEI HQ in Lausanne (SUI), was an opportunity for members of the Commission to hear more about the work of the different FEI Departments. The Commission discussed presentations from the Communications, Education, Veterinary and Legal departments of the FEI regarding engagement and communication, education of FEI Officials, effective regulations and enforcement of rules and regulations.

The Chair of the Commission also introduced the concept of the Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Framework and Dashboard which will help monitor the progress being made in relations to Social License to Operate in the long term.

Some of the key points of discussion over the two days were are follows:

• Consideration of equestrian’s social license to operate in the context of other sports;
• Broader development of the Framework to include ethics, sustainability, health & safety, and culture;
• Evaluation and training of FEI Officials;
• Continued development of courses and information provided on FEI Campus;
• Communications at national and international level;
• Setting of minimum (core) standards of welfare;
• Expanding the roles and responsibilities of the ECIU.