INTERNATIONAL event riders are speaking out about the controversial new FEI rule of 15 penalties for ‘missing’ or knocking a flag on the cross-country course, saying it is not a good rule for the sport.

In addition, an online petition to suspend the rule immediately was launched by British event horse owner and rider Katie Walls this week after her horse, Cooley Lands ridden by Australia’s Christopher Burton, was penalised during the CIC3* in Bicton last weekend. It had been signed almost 4,000 times by lunchtime on Friday.

The current flag rule, 549.2 b, which came into force at international events on January 1st 2019, states: “b) Missing a flag: A horse is considered to have missed a flag (15 penalties) if the horse jumps the dimension of the obstacle and the majority of the horse’s body (as defined above) passes through the flags. This means that some part of the body is not inside the flags (eg one shoulder, or one shoulder and part of one hip).”

Under the old rule, the horse’s shoulder had to pass between the flag, whereas the definition of the body of the horse has been redefined to include the head, neck, shoulders and pelvis in the new rule.

Sam Watson, WEG team silver medallist and co-founder of data analytics company EquiRatings, said the new rule is not practical. “I just think this has all come about very logistically in that we have had an issue of flags been knocked over two years ago [at the Olympic Games] in Rio and people feeling ‘did that horse jump the fence?’ So it was right to go down the route of trying to do something,” Watson told The Irish Field this week.

“We have ended up with this rule, where all of the horse has to go between the flag. When you see it in reality and practically, which we have this season, we’ve gone too far. I wouldn’t be criticising anyone for it, they are trying to be fair, but what we have got is not practical for the sport. We have got to be more lenient on flags.”

BADMINTON

Watson said the rule is likely to cause more controversy at the five-star Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials next week. “The majority of what we do as event riders is we want to ride bold, positive, attacking lines at angled fences, and that is a brave and skilful thing to be able to do.

“I have walked the Badminton track and there is one fence – over a ditch up a little hill – and we are going to see flags knocked there because the right way to ride that fence is to stay positive and take the brave line, therefore it’s only natural. What we can control as riders is getting the horses’ head and neck, and shoulder as well, through the flag.

“The bottom line is I think that we have got to avoid being too strict on flags, I don’t think it’s good for the sport. I have considered everything. It would be so easy to say ‘he knocked the flag give 15 or 20 penalties’ but that wouldn’t be good for the sport,” Watson added.

While Watson has steered clear from the online petition, American international Liz Halliday is among those to voice her support by signing it and writing: “This rule does not represent what our sport it about!”

An FEI spokesperson, in a statement to Horse & Hound, said that the amendment was unanimously approved by National Federations as part of the eventing rules at the FEI General Assembly in Bahrain last November.

“The FEI is monitoring the implementation of this rule closely. Since its introduction at the beginning of the year, there have been no issues to date at events except in Great Britain, and there were no comments or questions about the 15 penalty rule during the athletes’ briefing in Lexington this week,” the spokesperson said.

“However, we are aware of concerns raised in Great Britain and the online petition launched this week, so we are planning to have meetings with the athletes, ground jury and technical delegate, and the IEOC at Badminton.”

Unless there is a risk management impact, a change of rule is not possible during the year.