Skip to content
Surf Wiki
Save to docs
sports

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

International Federation for Equestrian Sports

International governing body of equestrian sports

International Federation for Equestrian Sports

International governing body of equestrian sports

FieldValue
nameFédération équestre internationale
abbrevFEI
logoInternational Federation for Equestrian Sports logo.svg
logosize250px
sportEquestrian
categorySports
jurisdictionInternational
founded28–
aff
affdate1921, 1983
headquartersLausanne, Switzerland
presidentBelgium Ingmar De Vos
vicepresidentChinese Taipei Jack C. Huang
Canada Mark Samuel
secretaryUSA Sabrina Ibáñez
sponsorLongines
urlfei.org

Canada Mark Samuel

The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (, FEI) is the international governing body of equestrian sports. The FEI came into being following the Olympic Congress in Lausanne (SUI) in 1921 from May 28 to May 30. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The FEI is responsible for drafting and enforcing regulations within the six disciplines under its jurisdiction. Besides regulation, overseeing all international competitions and Championships, overseeing and cooperating with all affiliated national federations, overseeing and educating officials and registering riders and horses are core tasks of the FEI. As an umbrella equestrian organisation, the FEI focuses on promoting equestrian sport, attracting and cooperating with sponsors, media and fans, and representing equestrian sport on various online and offline channels.

An FEI code of conduct protects the welfare of the horses from physical abuse or doping. On 2 March 2022, in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the FEI banned Russian and Belarusian athletes, horses, and officials from FEI events, and subsequently an FEI Tribunal panel dismissed an appeal by Russia's Federation of Equestrian Sports challenging the ban.

Disciplines

The FEI recognizes six disciplines under global governance in both regular and para-equestrianism competition:

  • Dressage and Para Dressage
  • Driving and Para Driving
  • Endurance
  • Eventing
  • Show jumping
  • Vaulting

Reining was an FEI discipline from 2000 until 2021.

The following two disciplines are under regional governance:

  • Horseball ( - FIHB)
  • Tent pegging (International Tent Pegging Federation – ITPF)

The FEI does not govern or provide rules for horse racing (International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA)) or polo, but in the latter case, it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federation of International Polo (FIP).

Values

Vision

To grow the unique and mutually beneficial bond between horse and human in sport globally.

Mission

To drive and develop equestrian sport globally in a modern, sustainable and structured manner with guaranteed integrity, athlete welfare, equal opportunity and a fair and ethical partnership with the horse.

Sub Federations

  1. Asian Equestrian Federation
  2. European Equestrian Federation

Regions

Normal

  1. Southern Europe – Group I: ALB AND AUT BEL BUL CRO CYP CZE ESP FRA GRE HUN ISR ITA LIE LUX MKD MLT MON POR ROU SLO SMR SRB SUI SVK TUR
  2. Northern Europe – Group II:DEN EST FIN GBR GER IRL ISL LAT LTU NED NOR POL SWE
  3. Eastern Europe & Central Asia – Group III:ARM AZE BLR IRI GEO KAZ KGZ MDA PAK RUS TKM UKR UZB
  4. North America – Group IV:ANT BAR BER CAY CAN HAI ISV JAM PUR TRI USA
  5. Central America – Group V:CRC CUB DOM ESA GUA HON MEX NCA PAN
  6. South America – Group VI:ARG BOL BRA CHI COL ECU PAR PER URU VEN
  7. Middle East – Group VII:ALG BRN EGY IRQ JOR KSA KUW LBA LIB MAR OMA PLE QAT SUD SYR TUN UAE YEM
  8. Asia and Oceania – Group VIII:AUS BRU CAM CHN HKG INA IND JPN KOR MAS MGL MYA NZL PHI SIN SRI THA TPE
  9. Africa – Group IX:BOT COD ETH KEN MAD MAW MRI NAM RSA SEN SWZ ZAM ZIM

World Cup

By 2024 FEI World Cup Finals (show jumping and dressage):

  1. FEI Western European League
  2. FEI Central European League (Northern, Southern)
  3. FEI Pacific League
  4. FEI North American League
  5. FEI Arabian League (Middle East, Northern Africa)
  6. FEI Eurasian League
  7. FEI Japan League

Events

Source:

Olympic and Paralympic Games

Main article: Equestrian events at the Summer Olympics, Equestrian events at the Summer Paralympics

The first Olympics held under its authority were in 1924. Jumping, Dressage and Eventing have been a part of the Olympics since 1912. Para-Equestrian Dressage has been part of the Paralympic games since 1996. Jumping has been part of the Youth Olympic Games since its creation in Singapore in 2010.

FEI World Equestrian Games

The FEI has organized the FEI World Equestrian Games every four years since 1990. The idea of the World Equestrian Games (WEG) came into being in the mid-1980s and was strongly supported by HRH Prince Philip, who was then FEI President.

The WEG encompasses the World Championship titles in all the FEI global disciplines.

World Cup

The FEI World Cup is an indoor series and takes place throughout the world with qualifying leagues leading to a final in each of the disciplines. The FEI World Cup series began with show jumping in 1978 and has since been extended to the disciplines of dressage, driving, and vaulting. Main events include:

  • FEI Show Jumping World Cup since 1978
  • FEI Dressage World Cup since 1985
  • FEI Driving World Cup since 2001
  • FEI Eventing World Cup 2003–2012
  • FEI Vaulting World Cup since 2010
  • FEI Endurance World Cup since

FEI Jumping Main Events

Source:

  1. Global Champions Tour
  2. Longines League of Nations™
  3. FEI Jumping World Cup Series
  4. Longines FEI Jumping World Cup
  5. FEI Jumping Nations Cup Youth – Since 2018
  6. FEI Jumping Children's Classics – Since 2008
  7. FEI Jumping Ponies' Trophy – Since 2017
  8. FEI Jumping World Challenge (FEI World Challenges exist in Jumping, Dressage, Eventing, Vaulting, Driving and Para Dressage) – Since 2016
  9. Continental & Regional Games

World, continental and regional championships

FEI World, Continental and Regional Championships are held in all the FEI disciplines and age categories. Events include:

  • World Dressage Championships
  • World Eventing Championships
  • World Show Jumping Championships
  • FEI World Eventing Championships for Young Horses
  • FEI World Driving Championships for Singles, Pairs, Pony and Four-in-Hand
  • FEI World Endurance Championships for Seniors since 2012
  • FEI Endurance World Championship for Young Horses since 2012
  • FEI World Para-Equestrian Driving Championships

European

American

  • Equestrian at the Pan American Games

Asian

Main article: Asian Equestrian Federation

  • Equestrian sports first time at the 9th Asian Games in 1982.
  • Equestrian at the Asian Games
  • 1st Asian Equestrian Championships in Pattaya (THA) - 30 November - 8 December 2019
  • 2nd Asian Equestrian Championships in Pattaya (THA) - 24 November - 7 December 2025

Ratings

Main article: Concours de Saut International, Concours Complet International, Concours de Dressage International

History

The FEI was formed in 1921 with the joining of the national organizations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden and the United States of America. Today, there are 136 National Equestrian Federations affiliated with the FEI.

YearNumber of
affiliated nations
19218
192821
193831
196048
197054
197562
198681
2014132
2015133
2016134
2018135
2020138
2021136
2022137

Russia and Belarus suspension

On March 2, 2022, in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the FEI banned Russian and Belarusian athletes, horses, and officials from FEI events, and subsequently an FEI Tribunal panel dismissed an appeal by Russia's Federation of Equestrian Sports challenging the ban.

The suspension was extended in 2023. At the end of 2023, FEI announced the capacity and criteria for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at competitions as neutral athletes. In early November 2025, the Russian and Belarusian athletes was allowed to participate in international team competitions in a neutral status starting in 2026, and that FEI competitions in Belarus will also resume under the same conditions.

Presidents

FEI Headquarter in Lausanne, Switzerland.

There have been 13 different presidents of the organization. Major Jhkr Karl F. Quarles van Ufford is the only individual to have served twice. Nowadays, a President can serve for a maximum of three terms. Since 2014, the President of the FEI is Ingmar De Vos from Belgium.

#PresidentNationTerm
1Baron du TeilFrance France1921–1927
2General Gerrit Johannes MarisNetherlands The Netherlands1927–1929
3Major Jhkr Karl F. Quarles van UffordNetherlands The Netherlands1929–1931
4General Guy V. HenryUSA USA1931–1935
5Baron Max Von Holzing-BertstettGermany Nazi Germany1935–1936
6Major Jhkr Karl F. Quarles van UffordNetherlands The Netherlands1936–1939
7Magnus RydmanFinland Finland1939–1946
8Baron Gaston de TrannoyBelgium Belgium1946–1954
9Prince Bernhard of Lippe-BiesterfeldNetherlands The Netherlands1954–1964
10Prince Philip, Duke of EdinburghUK United Kingdom1964–1986
11Anne, Princess RoyalUK United Kingdom1986–1994
12Infanta Pilar, Duchess of BadajozSpain Spain1994–2006
13Princess Haya bint HusseinJordan Jordan2006–2014
14Ingmar De VosBelgium BelgiumSince 2014

References

References

  1. "FEI".
  2. (28 May 2021). "Celebrating 100 years of FEI.".
  3. "FEI Headquarters Flowchart".
  4. (2019-12-15). "About FEI".
  5. "The FEI Code of Conduct for the Welfare of the Horse".
  6. (30 May 2022). "FEI Tribunal dismisses Russian appeal against equestrian ban".
  7. (15 July 2020). "Sport".
  8. "Welcome to Dressage & Para Dressage".
  9. "Welcome to Driving & Para Driving".
  10. "Welcome to Endurance".
  11. "Welcome to Eventing".
  12. "Welcome to Jumping".
  13. "Welcome to Vaulting".
  14. "Welcome to Reining".
  15. (12 June 2019). "FEI Values {{!}} FEI".
  16. "All Events".
  17. "Does Olympic horse-riding have a gender problem?". The Economist.
  18. "Americans Hart, Shoemaker & Trunnell Win 4 Para-Equestrian World Medals – For A Program That Had None". Team USA.
  19. (2012-12-21). "Equestrian".
  20. "FEI Championships". FEI.
  21. (9 March 2012). "Jumping Main Events".
  22. https://www.acpattaya2025.com/
  23. https://data.fei.org/Calendar/DraftSchedulePush.aspx?p=501D640372C5AD26CCC1EBE38E3471580849F99437202B3BEB913D4C0FEE0D626B398C7BD30F3810DAC59D0C716BF550450726D10392615F42F90E4C1648ECA1E3BDFA89773BAEBC205024F452E7B513D7CA73C911AC47FC6121F7205D5157A972D6A45AA186A2B6C544BCE7042C266458F0EDFFDCE1493D2B5206B461E4F4007B15B97B8CCFBF0329090ADB9806D8804E1354866FC45C613689C901437818A3
  24. https://online.equipe.com/shows/75840
  25. https://online.equipe.com/startlists/1183546
  26. https://www.fei.org/events/2025_CH-AS_0001/Pattaya
  27. https://eurodressage.com/2025/11/21/scores-2025-asian-championships-dressage
  28. "FEI History".
  29. (2015). "Robinson's Current Therapy in Equine Medicine". Elsevier Health Sciences.
  30. "FEI 100 Years – FEI Annual Report 2021". FEI.
  31. "FEI National Federation Members". fei.org.
  32. "FEI Extends Ban and Removes All Russian and Belarusian International Events from 2023 Calendar".
  33. "FEI Sets Strict Criteria for Participation of Russian and Belarusian Athletes, Horses and Officials in FEI Events".
  34. (2025-11-05). "GA25 Hong Kong: FEI Strengthens Global Framework with New Rules, Appointments, and Welfare Initiatives".
  35. "Ingmar De Vos".
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about International Federation for Equestrian Sports — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report