24 Open letter to the FEI to allow bit-free on welfare grounds

OPEN LETTER to the FEI

Date: 16/04/2024 09:13 BST

Subject: Bit-Free Bridles in FEI Competition 

Dear Göran

Urgent Repair request
 
Thank you for your email of the 8th of April.  Our initial thoughts are that we are very disappointed by your brief communication, we first raised the matter of the impact on horse welfare relating to bit-induced mouth pain to the

• FEI’s Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Commission (EEWC) in September 2022, and then,
• We wrote again to Catrin Norinder on the 10th of March 2023 who informed us that the matter would be discussed in a meeting, with yourself, Roly Owers of WHW, and Olivia Robinson.  
• We wrote to you, Goran, with further evidence on the 27th of March 2023.  
• We wrote to you again on the 16th of February this year and you responded with this comment  

‘Please be informed that equipment and tack is now managed by the FEI Equipment Expert Group. Your message has been forwarded to the group and they will come back to you’.

•  We received no such response from the EEG’
• Therefore, we wrote to you on the 22nd of March, asking for an update and supplying further evidence and information
• We wrote again on the 4th of April asking for a response to our earlier communications.

At no time were we advised to take this matter through a National Federation, Technical committee or a Stakeholder with an MoU, certainly not by Gonçalo Paixão as you seem to infer.  We understood that welfare was a priority for the FEI and as the governing body that the FEI would act according to your policy and rules concerning horse welfare.  Why has it taken over a year for the FEI to suggest that we should follow a technical route for rule change?  This is at odds with the communication on the 23/06/2023 from Gonçalo Paixão who wrote:
 
Thank you for this information and input, we are currently reviewing and working on the current sets of rules on tack and equipment for the different disciplines, aiming at harmonizing the regulations where possible, while assessing its implication on matters such as welfare, level playing field and security, this includes the rules on the use of bits and bitless bridles. The data and information you have provided will be taken into account in this process.  Any proposed changes will then go through the regular consultation and approval processes that will allow for further feedback from the stakeholders.

I should like to raise the following items with you for clarification by the veterinary or legal teams of the FEI.
 
Firstly that World Bitless Association has raised the issue of bit-induced mouth pain / injury as a serious welfare risk and we have supplied unequivocal evidence of the impact on the health of the horse.  Our request for the FEI to review, is based on urgent welfare grounds – we do not consider or raise this request as a ‘technical’ matter. 

In the link you have provided relating to the FEI GA ‘rules-revision-process-new’ the rules clearly state that:-
 
The other set of FEI Sport Rules, as mentioned in the Policy, can only be modified in the following cases:

1.  Urgent repairs, i.e., changes in the Rules that cannot await because of their impact on the welfare of the Horses or the safety of the Athletes.

So that we can understand exactly how this process works, are the FEI stating that Urgent repairs can ONLY be referred by National Federations or by stakeholders with an MoU?
 
We draw your attention once again to the matter of the clipping of vibrissae, we understand that the recommendation for the ban on clipping was generated by the FEI veterinary department and not by a rule request by a National Federation?  Can you please urgently confirm the facts surrounding this rule change?   The impact on the health and welfare of the horse from bit-induced mouth pain/injury has far more evidence to support the scientific assertions that bit-free bridles should be an option offered to every horse, in all sporting disciplines.
 
Please see Jennifer Hall, BVSc, MRCVS, Chair of the FEI Veterinary Committee’s quote and comments below, in equestrian media ‘The Horse’ concerning the rule implemented on welfare grounds
 
“An integral part of the responsible use of horses in sport is for every rule to be designed with the express purpose of raising the standard of horse welfare around the world,”  “The ban on the trimming of equine sensory hairs, which will be implemented from July 1, 2021, does just this, as this practice was purely for cosmetic purposes and overlooked the important role that these hairs play in a horse’s sensory ability.”
said Jennifer Hall.   The FEI sought to “align its regulations with those of National Federations (Germany, Switzerland, France) which had already banned this practice,” said Hall. “We were pleased with the support the rule received through the Rules Revision process in the lead up to the November vote at the FEI Online General Assembly,” she told The Horse.
 
The calls for change to allow bit-free continue unabated, only last week, FEI 5* senior Judge and Veterinarian, Hans-Christian Matthiesen, told equestrian media that he wants to see long overdue welfare changes in traditional equestrian sport, and that he believes,
 
“It should be completely voluntary what equipment the horse wears when at a competition.”
 “If you want to use a snaffle, double bridle, or ride bitless, you should be able to. Even if you want to ride a dressage class in a saddle pad, that should be fine.”
 
It feels that the WBA is being stonewalled by the FEI welfare committee, who it seems, is both reluctant to acknowledge the evidence, or engage with a legitimate horse welfare charity.  We hope that you will reconsider this request as a matter of urgency, we believe it is a welfare issue that cannot wait. 

May we ask formally today, that the FEI recommends to the National Federations and its stakeholders a change to the rules on welfare grounds, (to allow bit-free bridles in all disciplines) that Bit-induced mouth pain/injury has a significant impact on horse welfare, based on the highest levels of expert evidence submitted.
 
If you do not accept that the evidence supplied by the WBA is a welfare issue, please can you provide counter evidence to support your inaction on this matter.
 
Lastly, may I refer to the message from FEI President Ingmar De Vos concerning horse welfare
 
” Horse Welfare is at the core of everything the FEI does and stands for”

From the FEI website this quote: –

‘The FEI also recognises that ensuring the welfare of competition horses requires regular review, analysis and the ability to react quickly to any changes to the status quo.‘
 
Kind regards
 
Johanna
 
Johanna Richardson
Operations Manager
World Bitless Association