The whole process of entering an FEI ride can be a bit daunting so I thought I’d go through what I had to enter Estrid and I to our first FEI ride (even if we didn’t get to go this time).
First of all we’ve completed our Novice FEI qualifications which are two rides of 40-79km and two rides of 80-100km at under 16kph. The first ride must not be less than 1 year and 6 months before the first 1* and all four rides must be done within a 3 year period. You don’t have to be registered with the FEI to do these, they are normal EGB national rides.
Next up we had to register with the FEI. This can be done by going to the FEI services page on the EGB website and selecting FEI horse registration and FEI rider registration. You then pay £50 to register and upload all the relevant passport pages.
At this stage if you are competing on home soil you don’t need an FEI passport until you’re up to 3* level. Once you’ve paid for FEI registration EGB will send off your Novice qualifications for verification and you’ll get your FEI ID number which allows you access to the FEI horse app.
For entering FEI rides in the UK you just use the EGB events page and enter as you normally would. My entry fee for my 1* was £215, the reason for the increase in price from national to FEI is under FEI rules the ride organiser needs more officials to run the ride, such as FEI qualified vets, and foreign officials so you’re paying for the increased running costs of the event.
The other thing that is slightly different about entering an FEI ride is in the week before you have to record AM and PM temperatures for your horse, this is for bio-security and to ensure no one brings an unwell horse to an event. When you arrive at the venue a Vet will check the temperatures, scan the microchip of your horse and check the passport.
In terms of the actual ride and vetting it is run very much the same as national events and if you’ve completed your four national rides you’ll know the drill! It’s well worth downloading the FEI rule app and making sure you understand the rules before jumping into FEI, it seems a bit daunting at first but I make my own notes about the bits relevant to me and it helps me understand them.
Beth Endurance 