Guest columnist of this week is former Italian eventing team trainer Michele Betti. He was the Italian junior/young rider team trainer and Italian selector and chef d’equipe with countless medals won at the European Eventing Championships . He was the vice senior team trainer for the Olympics Games in 1992 and 1996 and senior team trainer and selector for Italian eventing since 2001, having won bronze at the Europeans in Pau and Pratoni del Vivaro and fielding Italian riders at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games. He is a recipient of the FISE Master of Excellence title. Betti lives in Germany, where he is a trainer of dressage, show jumping and eventing riders. He is a consultant for the development of a huge equestrian education centre and competition venue in China.
FEI's Deafening Silence as Demand Grows for More Sustainable, Animal-Friendly Dressage Sport
It couldn't have been worse. At the end of the 2024 World Cup final in Riyadh, it is with great sorrow that I observe the many problems gripping dressage and the equestrian world in general. The tragic death of a show jumping horse and the elimination of two horses due to the blood rule, one even before the competition began highlight an extremely troubling situation. Now, with the Paris Olympics as the next target, it is important to reflect on what has happened.
Witch Hunt
In recent months there has been much discussion about horse welfare, but it seems that the search for culprits has taken over with riders, judges, stewards, photographers, veterinarians, media, and others accusing each other. It has turned into a witch-hunt climate. This attitude only fuels internal conflicts in dressage and gives more voice to those who want to destroy dressage, instead of truly caring about the welfare of the horse.
It is crucial that everyone involved in the equestrian community understands that our sport has become more accessible thanks to social media and technology, and like in all other sports, we cannot expect everyone to be true experts! They may like it or not, but this is the way. We must take advantage of this potential in a positive way by taking a united and transparent stance in the face of the current challenges. In short: everyone will have to concede something for the common good!
Deafening Silence
The community expects from us a clear, quick, and concrete change-oriented responses. Certainly, FEI's deafening silence does not contribute to solving the problem, and when I think of how vehemently they discussed the choice between helmet or top hat, excuse me... but today I have to laugh!
Change in Eventing
As a former eventer (I emphasize former because for the past 18 years I have been mostly involved in dressage), I can bring up the example of what happened to eventing back in 2004. In 2003, eventing was in the same situation as dressage is now.
The criticism was two-pronged: firstly it focused on the length of the cross-country phase, which often led to not-in-shape horses being completely exhausted, and secondly it discussed the safety of the more difficult, fixed obstacles, which were dangerous for horse and rider and caused rotational falls
Prompted by the fear of eventing being kicked out. FEI made a very quick decision which completely changed the nature of the discipline. As of the 2004 Athens Olympics, the steeplechase was dropped (also because of the unsuitability of the venue due lack of space) and length of the course was reduced by 75%. The most difficult obstacles became mobile and no longer fixed (with safety pins). This naturally required all riders to radically change their approach, and even the type of horses used in this phase.
True Champions Adapt
The extremely positive thing is that all stakeholders in eventing immediately understood that this change was not only necessary, but essential for eventing to remain and Olympics sport, also for the sake of animal welfare. Furthermore, the real eventing champions continued to win anyway as they adapted themselves and trained horses more suitable for the shorter format. As the most expensive Olympic equestrian discipline, eventing is still not safe of its spot for the next Olympics!
Abuse, Blood and Blue Tongues
In the current climate where we get to see videos of horse abuse in training, which I believe requires not just sports justice, but severe legal justice and good psychiatric care, it is surprising that the discipline that is most criticised nowadays is dressage: Abuse, Blood in the mouth or caused by spurs, and Blue tongues. Many of the mouth problems are related to the double bridle in addition to the rider's hand!
So, with the same pragmatism, FEI should also remove judges, stewards, and others from certain embarrassment when they prove inadequate to follow the FEI rules and Judges Manual. It should also forbid the use of the double bridles and prohibit the use of spurs or al least spurs with rowels. Making it "optional" won't have an impact. It will create a list of good and bad riders and increase judging problems. Ideally the FEI does this across all disciplines: only snaffles and no spurs with wheels.
Maybe this may seem provocative and ultimately it's a bit of a system failure, we absolutely need to do something drastic... now!
Related Links
Michele Betti: "Allow Teams from Growing Nations to Compete at Championships"
Christian Landolt: "Time to Empower and Professionalise the Officials"