London 2012Fascinating facts... – Page 10

FEI InsightSolidarity paving the way to success – Page 42

March 2012

London Calling

OYSTER PERPETUAL DATEJUST LADY 31

THE PATH THROUGH THE JUMPING SEASON

IS LONG AND CHALLENGING. YET IT IS JUST

THE BEGINNING. AFTER PERFORMING AT THEIR

VERY BEST THROUGHOUT THE QUALIFYING

ROUNDS, THE TOP PAIRS NOW FACE THREE

DAYS OF COMPETITION. HORSE AND RIDER

MUST WORK IN PERFECT TANDEM, EMBODYING

ELEGANCE AND PRECISION, AS A FLAWLESS

PERFORMANCE IS THE ONLY PATH TO VICTORY.

rolex fei world cup™ fi nal‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH, THE NETHERLANDS

APRIL 18TH TO 22ND, 2012

FEIFocus_FEI_03_12.indd 1 08.03.12 12:01

For this first edition of the year, FEI Focus delves into the wonderful arena that the Olympic and Paralympic Games provide the athletes and

sporting fans of the world. For equestrian sport, this year is particularly special as we celebrate 100 years of Olympic participation and I can’t think of a more fitting setting than an iconic venue like Greenwich Park right in the heart of London and the Games.

Greenwich Park is the second largest venue in London 2012 and tickets for the Cross Country were one of the fastest to sell out. Demand has been so high for our sport that tickets for all the equestrian disciplines were sold out in a matter of weeks, establishing us as one of the most popular sports in the Games and an indication of just how relevant we are in today’s competitive sporting context. For the Paralmypics, the record books are already being rewritten with the largest crowds ever expected at a Para-Equestrian Dressage event.

With the world’s best Olympic and Paralympic part-nerships meeting in less than six months time, and Great Britain’s formidable equestrian record and recent dazzling Dressage & Para-Dressage perfor-mances, these Games will undoubtedly be memorable.

On this theme you will find in the follow-ing pages an in-depth look at London, host for a third time of the Olympic Games; facts and figures on the last 100 years; an interview with aspiring Paralympic ath-lete Stinna Kaastrup from Denmark; a life in a day of Amanda Bond, CEO of British Dressage and Paraympic Dressage manager for London 2012; the mind of an athlete, a focus on sports psychology; and, a Postcard

from New Zealand with an interview of Jim Ellis, Chief Executive of the Federation, on his thoughts for 2012.

This edition also explores the remit and first steps of FEI Solidarity and a funded project in Cambodia aim-ing to train a core group of local farriers and harness-makers so that they have the competencies to work with sports horses and train other service-providers in their communities.

Awareness-building activities among horse own-ers are an important part of this FEI Solidarity pro-ject, implemented by World Horse Welfare and the Cambodian Pony Welfare Organisation. Training and awareness-raising are the start of a longer-term pro-cess that will create a culture of excellence in the han-dling of and service provision for horses. And ulti-mately, the project will enable Cambodia to compete in international equestrian events on a regular basis in a successful and welfare-friendly manner.

Looking forward, the next edition of FEI Focus will be dedicated to the findings and discussions of the Sports Forum to be held in Lausanne from 30 April to 2 May.

It’s an important and unique opportunity to discuss issues related to the future of equestrian sport and will provide all stakeholders the opportunity to join the debate and have their say on key issues, before the proposals are put to the vote at the FEI General Assembly in November.

Note from theFEIPresidentHRH Princess Haya

We hope you enjoy reading this edition ofFEI FOCUS and I send my best wishes to all the National Federations, athletes and teams vyingfor Olympic and Paralympic stardom this summer.

02 03FOCUS

Editorial

Follow us onContact / Advertising FEI - Fédération Equestre Internationalerichard.johnson@fei.org HM King Hussein I Building Chemin de la Joliette 8 1006 Lausanne T. +41 21 310 47 47 F. +41 21 310 47 60 www.fei.org

Impressum - Focus N° 9 - March 2012

Circulation 2,700Frequency QuarterlyEditor in Chief Olivia RobinsonDesign / Art Equestrio SAPrinting Grafiche SIZ - ItalyCover FEI/Action Images Henry Browne

422610

42 FEI Insight Solidarity paving the way to success

46 FEI Clean Sport FEI to launch Clean Sport toolkit

49 New ID for Veterinarians at FEI events

50 FEI TV Live Broadcast Schedule 2012

30 Horse Man Team The making of..

34 Postcard from New Zealand

36 A life in a day Amanda Bond

38 FEI Insight Mind over matter

06 Globetrotter

10 London Calling Fascinating facts...

20 Sports Forum

21 Pictogram Competition Design our new discipline pictograms

24 The other side of... Stinna Kaastrup

26 Why the long face? Exclusive interview with Bo Derek

04 05FOCUS

Table of Contents

New Arrival at HQIn January, FEI HQ welcomed new resident Meara, an iron horse with a heart of gold by Christophe Dumont. The name Meara comes from the Lord of the Rings and refers to a breed of wild horses in the north of Middle-earth. Their mortality is equal to Men and their intelligence and strength are extraor-dinary. They were descended from Felaróf, who was tamed by the first King of Rohan, Eorl. Ever since, they have been the mounts of the King and Princes of Rohan alone. During the War of the Ring, how-ever, Gandalf the Grey tamed Shadowfax, lord of the Mearas at the end of the Third Age…

FEI signs Brightondeclaration on womenand sport

On 6 March 2012, the FEI President HRH Princess Haya, 1st Vice President John McEwen and 2nd Vice President Pablo Mayorga signed the agreement for the formal adoption by the FEI of the Brighton Declaration on Women and Sport, joining an impressive list of signatories that include the IOC, IPC and numerous International Federations.

Nina Ligon (THA) has been busy since receiving the HSBC Rising Star Award, winning the Best Young rider of the Year in the USA for the second consec-utive year. With her sights set firmly on the Olympic Games, Nina has qualified Butts Leon for London 2012.

UPDATE

Bill the Super horSe

Boyd Exell (AUS) may have entered the history books by win-

ning the FEI World Cup™ Driving Final for the fourth consecu-

tive time in Bordeaux but his victory comes a few short of Bill,

his super lead horse, that now has seven World Cup titles to his

name. How this is possible, is a little of an equine fairytale for

the 23-year old gelding, previously owned by German four-in-

hand drivers Christoph Sandmann and Michael Freund, Bill won

the FEI World Cup™ Driving title three times with Freund and

now a fourth with Exell. If horse’s could talk…

SportAccord 2012

20-25 May,Quebec (CAN)In May this year the FEI will have a trade

stand at the SportAccord Convention in Canada, the world’s premier annual sports

congress. Sportaccord gives an opportunity for International Federations, rights hold-ers, organising committees, businesses and other organisations to discuss the positive change and future development of sport.

globetrotte

r

webinfo@feiFEI web wizard Nicole has been flip-

ping content over the holidays, with the

lots of new flipbooks available such as

the FEI Annual Report (also on Ipad),

the 2012 FEI Directory, Bid Guides

and more… just visit www.fei.org

globetrotter

06 07

FEI World Cup™ Vaulting 2012The gentle giant Bentley was in fine form yet again in Bordeaux, taking the Eccles family to more victory, with gold for Joanne Eccles and silver for younger sis-ter Hannah. For Switzerland’s Patric Looser, it was an emotional retirement but perfect exit from the sport when taking the Male title in style, which he can add to the one he earned at the Final in Leipzig, Germany last April and to his career-defining gold medals at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Kentucky in 2010 and last year’s FEI European Championships.

2014… just around the corner

A delegation from

the upcoming FEI

World Equestrian

Games™ Organising

Committee spent a

couple of days at FEI

HQ in Lausanne in

February meeting and

and preparing for the

next 24 months in the

lead up to the greatest

festival of equestrian

sport in Normandy

from 24 August to

7 September 2014.

FEI Nations Cup™ 2012

8 nations: Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain,Ireland, France, Belgium, Switzerland and Sweden.at eight events:

1 La Baule (FRA) Friday 11 May

2 Rome (ITA) Friday 25 May

3 St. Gallen (SUI) Friday 1 June

4 Rotterdam (NED) Friday 22 June

5 Aachen (GER) Thursday 05 July

6 Falsterbo (SWE) Friday 13 July

7 Hickstead (GBR) Friday 20 July

8 Dublin (IRL) Friday 17 August

HSBC FEI Classics™ 2012 Events3/6 Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event (USA) 25-29 April4/6 Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials (GBR) 04-07 May5/6 Luhmuhlen CCI**** (GER)

14-17 June6/6 Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials (GBR) 30 Aug-02 Sept.

Watch LIVE on

Together Stronger: the Future of Sport

Youth Olympic Games bronze medallist Dalma Rushdi Malhas, featured in the December 2010 FEI FOCUS, spoke twice at the Fifth IOC Conference on Women and Sport held in Los Angeles. Dalma Rushdi Malhas became the first Saudi female to compete in an Olympics of any sort at Singapore 2010 where she competed in the Jumping events. The three-day conference, whose theme was “Together Stronger: the Future of Sport,” ended with over 800 delegates from 135 coun-tries unanimously approving “The Los Angeles Declaration”, a series of recom-mendations aimed at promoting gender equality in sport and using sport as a tool to improve the lives of women around the world.

09FOCUS

Updated and additional content will be available for download from the Clean Sport website.

Follow us on

London CallingFascinating facts about the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games

At the Greenwich Park Eventing Invitational CIC 2*- Olympic Test Event in 2011 ©Kit Houghton 11FOCUS10

London 2012

100 Years of Equestrian Sportat the Olympic Game

Since 1912 Dressage, Jumping and Eventing have been a part of the Olympic programme. For men only until: • 1952 where four of the 27 Dressage riders were

women. Lis Hartel was chosen to represent Denmark at the Helsinki Olympic Games. Even though she had to be helped on and off her horse as she had suffered from polio eight years earlier and was par-alysed below the knee, she responded by winning the silver medal. Four years later, she won another silver in Stockholm. Lis Hartel died on 12 February 2009, aged 87.

• 1956 when Pat Smythe (Patricia Rosemary Smythe) of Great Britain was on the British Jumping team in Stockholm (SWE) and won team bronze.

• 1964 in Tokyo where Lana du Pont of the USA com-peted in Eventing. Twenty-seven years later, as Mrs Wright, she won a team gold medal at the FEI World Driving Championships for Pairs.

In 1976 in Montreal (CAN), Barbara Kemp became the first woman to design an Olympic cross-country course. The first woman to design an Olympic Jumping course was Linda Allen at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta (USA).

Since 1912… • Therehavebeen22equestrianparticipationsat

Olympic Games with 2,062 riders from 65 coun-tries competing approximately 4,000 times.

• Mostlyone-timeOlympicparticipations,althoughthere are 43 riders that have competed in five or more Olympics - Ian Millar (CAN) has 9 participa-tions to his name, the D’Inzeo brothers (ITA) eight and Michael Plumb (USA) a healthy seven!

• Germanyleadsthemedalcountwith81medals,fol-lowed by USA (49), Sweden (40), France (29) and Great Britain (27).

• Individually,theDressageridersReinerKlimke(GER),Isabel Werth (GER) and Anky van Grunsven lead the medal count with 8 Olympic medals each, fol-lowed by Hans Günter Winkler (GER) with 7 Olympic Jumping medals and the USA’s Michael Plumb for Eventing with 6 Olympic medals.

• NohorsehascompetedinmorethanthreeOlympiceditions, there are however, 21 horses with three Olympic starts.

• Gigololeadsthehorsemedalcountwith6Dressagemedals followed by Bonfire on five. For Jumping, Meteor, Halla, Posilippo and ratina all have three medals and in the world of Eventing, Marcroix is in the lead position with 4 medals.

• ArthurvonPongraczremainstothisdaytheold-est equestrian competitor at an Olympic event, he competed in Dressage aged 72 at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. Ian Millar takes the honours for Jumping, aged 61 at the 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong, on par with Bill Roycroft for Eventing, also aged 61 at the 1976 Games in Montreal.

• It’safamilyaffair,since1912over100familycombi-nations (brother/brother, father/son, mother/daugh-ter, etc) have competed at equestrian events of the Olympic Games.

16 Years of Equestrian Sport at the Paralympic Games

2012 will be the fifth edition that includes Equestrian on the Paralympic programme in the form of Para-Equestrian Dressage.

In 1996, when Para-Equestrian Dressage made its debut on the Paralympic programme, the competition was run on borrowed horses with 68 athletes from 16 nations qualified to compete. In 2008, the number of

countries competing at the Equestrian events of the Paralympic Games had swelled to 28 with 78 part-nerships and no borrowed horses. Just three remain-ing individual qualifying slots remain for 2012 (to be announced on 9 April), with 23 nations already qual-ified. Integrating Para-Equestrian into the competi-tive equestrian world is nowhere better demonstrated than in Great Britain, where the coordination, man-agement and systems in place work in complete uni-son. In the arena they are the all-time record and title holder for Para-Equestrian Dressage and outside the arena, lottery funding and integrated administration mean that the sport is constantly evolving and new talent is appearing at every Championship working its way through the structures in place.

Since 1996… • GreatBritainhavepickedup33medals,followed

by Germany on 14, and Denmark on 11. • LeePearsonleadsthemedalcountwith9goldmed-

als (6 individual and 3 team).• Forthefirstthreeeditions,competitorswereclas-

sified into 4 Grades (I, II, III and IV) and in 2008 this was increased to 5 (Ia, Ib, II, III, IV).

• Womenhavetheindividualmedaledge,82versus20 for the men.

• AnneDunham(GBR)istheonlyPara-Equestriancompetitor to have competed at every edition of the Paralympic Games since 1996 - in 2008 she won her first individual gold medal.

▲ Ian Millar in 2008, his 9th Olympic participation!▶ Lee Pearson (GBR) leads the Paralmypic medal count with 9 gold medals

Horses on their way to the 1912 Olympic Games 13FOCUS

London, London, London

Other than being a song by Caetano Veloso “London, London, London” refers here to the third edition of the Olympic Games to be held in London…

The 1908 Olympic Games were originally awarded to Rome, but the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1906 meant another Host City was needed. London stepped in and, despite the time constraints, the city’s offer to host the Games was accepted by the International Olympic Committee.

The London 1908 Games were officially opened on 27 April 1908 by HRH King Edward VII and stretched out over a three-month period. A total of 22 nations sent 2,008 athletes – 1,971 men and 37 women – who com-peted across 110 events. The majority of the sports at London 1908 remain central to the Games today and will feature at London 2012. However, there were also those – including motor boating and tug of war – which have long since ceased to feature on the Olympic pro-gramme. And then there are those, such as equestrian, that became a part of the programme at the following edition in Stockholm. The Olympic Stadium, White City, was built especially for the Olympic Games. Taking less than a year to build, it was widely regarded as a technological marvel. It held 68,000 people and contained a running track that was enclosed by a cycle track. When the Games closed on 31 October 1908, Great Britain topped the medal table with a total of 145 medals. The United States were second with 47, while third-placed Sweden claimed 25. Despite the short notice, the Games were widely declared a suc-cess and lay the foundations for London’s Olympic legacy as a Host City.

New in 1908…• Athletesparadedundertheirnationalflagsata

Ceremony at the start of the Games.• Everycompetitorhadtoberegisteredwiththeir

Olympic Association and entered as a member of a national team.

• Qualifyingstandardswerelaiddownandasetofrules for each of the sports was agreed by the major-ity of the competing nations.

• ThedistanceoftheMarathonwasfixedat26.2miles, which was the distance from Windsor Castle to the Royal Box in the Olympic Stadium.

In 1948, London again stepped in at the last minute to host the first Games after World War II. Despite a shortage of time and resources, the city rose to the challenge to host another fine, morale-boost-ing Games. The Opening Ceremony took place at Wembley Stadium on 29 July 1948, with HRH King George VI officially opening the Games. The Olympic Flame was lit by athlete John Mark, and the Olympic Oath taken on behalf of all competitors by Donald Finlay. 136 events were contested by 4,104 athletes from 59 nations. At the end of the Games, the USA topped the medal table, taking away a total of 84 medals. They were followed by Sweden with 44, and France with 29. For the equestrian events, seventeen nations sent riders and horses to London with com-petition spread over six days. Mexico took Jumping team gold, France the Dressage team gold and USA the Eventing team honours.

Germany celebrate another Dressage gold at the 2008 Olympic Games © Jan Gyllensten 15FOCUS

Wembley 1948

New in 1948…• Startingblocksweredeployedforsprintraces.• Avolunteerprogrammewascreatedtohelprunthe

Games. • TheEmpirePoolwasthefirstcoveredOlympicpool

in history, although its length exceeded the reg-ulatory 50 metres so had to be shortened with a wooden platform.

• Thecompetitionwasalsoshownonhometelevi-sion for the first time, although few people actually owned television sets at the time.

The London 2012 Olympic Games will feature 26 sports, which break down into 39 disciplines. There are 20 sports in the Paralympic programme for the London 2012 Games with paralympic cycling broken down into two disciplines: Road and Track. The Olympic Games start on 27 July and run until 12 August, fol-lowed by the Paralympic Games from 29 August to 9 September. The Opening Ceremony of the Games of the XXX Olympiad on 27 July will be followed by 12 days of equestrian competition and, for the first time in Olympic history, the final equestrian event will be

the Dressage Grand Prix Freestyle to Music held on 9 August. Two hundred riders and horses will compete for individual and team gold, silver and bronze med-als in Eventing, Dressage and Jumping. There will be 11 sets of medals up for grabs in the Para-Equestrian Dressage events of the Paralympic Games.

At London 2012, Greenwich Park will host the Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian competitions, plus the combined running and shooting event of the Modern

Pentathlon. Greenwich Park is on the south bank of the River Thames in south east London and is a great place to see views of central London and the Docklands. Greenwich Park is London’s oldest Royal Park, dating back to 1433. Greenwich Park includes the Old Royal Naval College and National Maritime Museum, which, together with Greenwich Park, are part of a World Heritage Site since 1997. Within the Park is The Royal Observatory and the home of Greenwich Mean Time. A temporary Cross Country course is being designed

for the Park, while a temporary main arena will also be built within the grounds of the National Maritime Museum..

For Para-Equestrian Dressage, 2012 will mark the largest crowds ever assembled at a Para-Equestrian event. More than 40,000 tickets were sold before Christmas last year, dramatically overtaking the previous record of 33,000 for the 2008 Paralympic Equestrian events held in Hong Kong.

New in 2012… • WenlockandMandeville–theofficialmascotsfor

the 2012 Games. • Therestremainstobeseen.

There is little doubt in anyone’s mind that London (GBR) and the iconic Greenwich Park will be a most fitting venue for spectacular sport and new records.

Thanks to the official website of the 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games, www.london2012.com, the com-prehensive and fact finding book “Equestrian Sport at the Olympic Games 1912-2008” by Max E. Amman and the FEI Archives.

“We are really proud to be celebrating 100 years of Olympic equestrian sport at the London 2012 Games and it’s wonderful that we will be doing that at an iconic venue like Greenwich Park right in the heart of the Games,” said FEI President HRH Princess Haya. “Greenwich Park is the second larg-est venue in London 2012 and tickets for the Cross Country were one of the fastest to sell out. Demand has been so high for our sport that tickets for all the equestrian disciplines were sold out in a matter of weeks, establishing us as one of the most popular sports in the Games.

“This is a real milestone for our sport and is worthy of celebration as it con-firms that we are really competing with the other top sports on the number of spectators we can pull in. We’re aspiring to provide one of the top quality products of the Games and we can really say to the big international feder-ations, watch out, we’re here now!”

HRH Princess Haya

At the Olympic Test Event in 2011 © Kit Houghton 19FOCUS

Reem Acra Boutique 14 East 60th St New York, New York 10022 212.308.8760 www.reemacra.com

356935B2_RA_brochure2_souvenir_programme.indd 1 8/27/10 10:12 AM

Take this unique opportunity to discuss issues related to the future of equestrian sport, including proposals for rule changes. In 2012, topics to be addressed are Jumping, Endurance, Eventing and Veterinary matters.

Open to all FEI NFs and stakeholders

30 April - 2 May 2012 Lausanne, Switzerland

ONLINE REGISTRATION AND FURTHER DETAILS AVAILABLE ON WWW.FEI.ORG/SPORTSFORUM

COMING SOON

FEI_SportsForum Mailer_165x226.indd 1 17/02/2012 14:15

COMPETITION!!!

Fancy yourself as a budding artist?

Want to make your mark on the FEI?

to find out more visit www.fei.org or

www.facebook.com/the.fei

Enter our competition to design a set

of pictograms for our disciplines...

Dressage

Eventing

Driving Endurance

Vaulting

Reining

Jumping

You can also send your entries by post to: FEI Pictogram Competition,

HM King Hussein I Building, Ch. de la Joliette 8, CH - 1006 Lausanne

GLOBAL PICTOGRAM COMPETITION

With the need to rejuvenate and develop new Pictograms for the FEI, it has

been decided to launch a global competition for individuals of all ages to sub-

mit concepts for the FEI to be used as an inspiration for the new official picto-

grams. The competition will be profiled online via FEI Facebook alongside sub-

missions via traditional post and email.

The FEI’s discipline pictograms feature at our events around the world and in

a wide range of publications and communication tools. The current designs

were developed by the organisers of the FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2002.

A decade later, the FEI has decided to call on members of the public, National

Federations, Riders and students to pitch their ideas for new pictograms rep-

resenting all our disciplines. “This competition is a great opportunity for peo-

ple with a flair for creativity,” said FEI Director of Corporate Communications

Richard Johnson.

It’s a wonderful opportunity for the budding artist in you to come up with a

simple sketch, doodle or drawing that represents at least two of the FEI dis-

ciplines. A panel of judges from the sport and the field of graphic design will

select the winning concepts, which will be used as inspiration to develop all

other discipline pictograms with professional designers. This really is a unique

way of reaching out to the equestrian community and asking them how they

would like the discipline pictograms to be shown for years to come. By visiting

the FEI Facebook page or the FEI website, we talk you through the simple steps

required to making your submission.

Further information at www.fei.org

She took the world by storm in Kentucky, aged just 16, where she picked up a bronze medal at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in 2010, and then just 12 months later, wining the European Freestyle title at the FEI European Para-Equestrian Dressage Championships. Born without legs, Stinna rides in a soft, treeless saddle for a closer feel and carries two whips ascompensatory aids, displaying amazing balance, composure and becoming one with her horse.

Stinna Kaastrup

Home is… Odense, Denmark

The first time I rode a horse... I was 6 years old. I fell totally in love with horses and the feeling of freedom it gave me sitting on horseback. My contact with horses has taught me... to be patient! But most importantly, it has taught me responsibility. I can’t just go party all week-end, it wouldn’t be fair for my horse if I am all hun-gover when I go ride him the next day, or to take off for a 3-week holiday, because my horse depends on me and needs me and needs my love.

When I’m not riding I like to... go shopping and go to the movies! And I have the most amazing friends that I love to hang out with, so when I’m not spending all my time with the horse, I take time to be with them. Family is... a safe base and my biggest support! I couldn’t ride at this level if my family (and especially my mum!) didn’t support m e as much as they do! The person who makes me laugh the most is... oh that must be one of my good friends Simon! Or my little brother… I dream of... learning how to ride my new horse in the best possible way, and just getting to know him properly so that I can use his MASSIVE talent fully.

My biggest challenge in life has been… accepting that just because I fail once, doesn’t mean I am going to fail at everything I do. I am prone to take a bad ride really hard, and mentally “punishing” myself for it – even at daily training ses-sions! So that can really be a big problem, because of course you can’t ride like a world champion every sin-gle day! I just have to accept that.

Winning feels… amazing! It reminds you why you struggle so hard with the training and why you fight so hard. But I think that the small victories in the daily training sessions can mean just as much! Really I believe winning is just a way to show the world what you already knew: that you and your horse are the best team!

I don’t really get angry… that much. I get hysterical - yes! but not angry. It happens mostly when things don’t go as I intend them to. If my horse gets fed hours too late, or if he doesn’t have a blan-ket when he’s cold and so on.. I really hate it! But it’s just hysteria, I realise horses are tough creatures, I just fuss too much. The best advice I have ever been given... was from my trainer. She has given me a lot of good advice, but the one that really stuck with me was a couple of years ago, right before I rode into the arena to do my test, and I was SO nervous that I felt sick. She just took my hand and looked me in the eyes and said “Relax, this is fun. That is why we do it”. SO true!

The rider I admire the most... is my trainer Lotte Straarup, she is just a fantastic rider and trainer. I also really like Hans Peter Minderhoud’s way to be on a horse. He is so beautifully straight and uses very small and almost invisible helpers to correct the horse! Last but not least I couldn’t live without Kyra Kyrklund’s book about riding! The happiest day of my life... was when I won the freestyle at the FEI European Championships.

If I could change one thing in the world it would be… world hunger. It doesn’t seem fair that innocent children should have to suf-fer that way.

In 2012, I would like… to ride in London

A delighted Stinna discovers she has won freestyle gold at the Europeans in Moorsele © Liz Gregg 25FOCUS

The other side of...

Raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles with beaches on her doorstep, Bo Derek was mesmerised with the few horses she encountered as a child, an attraction she claims to have been born with. Her autobiography “Riding Lessons: Everything That Matters in Life I Learned from Horses” published in 2002 is testament to this life-changing passion. Known for her role in the critically acclaimed film, 10, as well as numerous other film and television personas, Bo Derek is the ultimate beauty icon of the 70s & 80s and was responsible for making hair fashion history with the revival of cornrows, also known as braids. Owner of Andalusian & Lusitano horses and ambassador for Equine Advocates, a non-profit equine protectionorganisation, Bo Derek has a lot to say on the subject of horses…

BoDerek

ExclusiveInterview with

Bo Derek in critically acclaimed film 10 © John Derek 27FOCUS26

Why the long face ?

that children will get up early and groom them and clean out their stalls and have this desire to care for this animal is something unique and very beneficial and helps keep them out of trouble.

Did all your friends ride?No. Where I grew up there were no horses. I was basi-cally a surfer girl on the beaches of southern California. I was an ok surfer but a much better sailor.

How much do you follow horse sport?As a fan I follow and I’ll definitely be watching the equestrian elements of the London 2012 Olympics. I had the pleasure of riding recently with one of my heroes and a tip I think for 2012, the fantastic Team USA Dressage rider Tina Konyot. We share a passion of Lusitano horses and I learnt so much from her just in that ride it was a real treat for me.

If you could spend one afternoon riding with a famous person (past or present) who would it be and why?I have been able to ride once with a great horseman called Angel Peralta. It has been a long time and I would love to have the chance to ride with him again.

Can you tell us about your horses?Yes I have Andalusian and Lusitano horses. I have a beautiful Lusitano mare that fought bulls in Portugal. She is so athletic and talented and makes me work for everything she does for me. She is not as generous as some of the horses I have had in the past but that makes it all the more special. I have had the Andalusian breed for thirty years. Years ago, when I was a guest at the Spanish riding school in Jerez de la Frontera, Alvaro Domecq, the head of the school, asked me which horse I would like to ride and I almost fainted! I pointed to one and within 15 minutes I was riding him. He was so magnificent and generous to someone who didn’t know what she was doing. I was hooked on the breed from that moment on.

Two horses go out for dinner, what kind of restau-rant do they choose?I guess mine would go for sherry and tapas! I do believe that horses share the same national characteristics and idiosyncrasies as humans. What would you miss most if you could no longer

go riding?I would miss those moments when my horse does something that I ask because they want to do it with me.

What’s your usual riding outfit?Always the same. A pair of stretch jeans and a long sleeve shirt. The days of going out in a short sleeve t-shirt and exposure to sun are over for me – I am so buttoned up now I look like Katherine Hepburn when I go riding!

What’s your favourite part of a horse?I like that three quarter profile where you’re seeing their neck and just the suggestion of their eye and their cheekbone.

When did you first develop the bond with the horse?My mother always said I was born with an attraction and I agree. I was one of those children that any time there was a horse I had to stare, I would go for hours on my rocking horse. I think some of us are born with it.

Do you think that riding can add to the character and development of a young person?I do absolutely and I see it in my nieces. I find the idea

What is it about the horse that makes you a horse lover?The sheer beauty of the creature. In almost every-thing they do they are beautiful and that for me is the key attraction.

Your first riding experience – was it bliss or terror?It was bliss! I grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles and there was a man with a pony and a western cos-tume for children to have their picture taken with. It was a very personal experience and I was convinced that the pony was in love with me – more than all the other children!

Do you think anyone can ride?I think there are certain horses that will allow any-body to stay on and will also help you out on certain occasions, but I don’t believe anyone can ride. Fear is a tremendous handicap and horses can sense that. I’ve seen horses that I have just gotten off with no prob-lem sensing another riders’ fear as they approach and you just know there is going to be trouble.

Would you encourage young people to get involved in riding both at an amateur and professional level?Most definitely. I think there is something unique in the relationship between a young person and a horse. They are incredible creatures and are so different from us. They also aren’t predators like most of our pets and our companion animals so it takes an extra effort to communicate and develop a relationship with them and I think those instincts are so basic and so primi-tive it is good for young people to be exposed to them.

Is there a unique trait you find in a horse that you can’t find in people?Yes. I find a very primitive honesty in horses. I com-pare them to my dogs that know how to cajole and to seduce you to get what they want from you. You don’t get that from a horse. You have to interact with them in a much more direct almost intellectual way. Humans are so complicated and cover everything up. Horses are so raw and natural. We complicate our instincts and what drives us so much with excuses about our past and our current situation and I think sometimes if we just look at that animal within us I think we could understand ourselves a lot better.

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But before there was the team, there was just the man – Mateo the Horse Man – the man behind this unique act. Raised in France, Mateo (Mathieu Nassif) began riding at a young age and competed for several years. He and his friends would often try to see how high they could jump (without horses) and he quickly set him-self apart, clearing obstacles of 1m35 by just 13 years of age. It would only be a matter of years before he would enter the arena alone to jump obstacles that only the world’s best horses attempt.

“I was lucky enough to meet a pony before a girl… I learnt so much about myself, staying hours and hours in my equestrian centre, sleeping in my stable, and thinking as my best 4 legged friend. The Horse Man show was not supposed to become something real… it was only a state of mind, a way to remain closer to my pony, a magnetic attraction which obliged my Mum to drive 600 Km every weekend (during 12 years) in order to give me the opportunity to ride.”

One day in 1997, propelled by his Horse Man pas-sion, he ran into the arena (uninvited) of a national Championships and began jumping the obstacles, cre-ating quite the stir and the beginning of a whirlwind career and bookings at shows all over Europe. In 1999 his brothers Julien and Guillaume joined the act and Horse Man became Horse Man Team, a family affair, with global aspirations and gigs.

In 2001, Mateo secured the first Guinness World Record in this new equestrian discipline at 1m73, and by 2005, the first “Horse Men World Championships” were being held. To take part in the Championships only one requirement, to be an equestrian at heart. This was also the year he launched Horse Man School – a way of keeping the Horse Man tradition alive for gen-erations to come…

From 2005 to 2010, Horse Man Team (which now includes 18 jumpers from 9 countries) delivered ath-letic and entertaining performances at over 350 events in 46 countries with over 80 international tv shows. By 2011, the Guinness Record had stretched to 1m79. Eighteen students in 9 countries, annual World Championships, seven world records, regular partici-pations at the world’s best shows, Horse Man is now a brand – and the originator of this concept continues to work at his family business – a restaurant in the heart of Paris, le Loubnane – whilst travelling the world and spreading the word…

With Horse Man School up and running, Mateo is pre-paring the future and waiting for the time when he can put his jumping legs to rest and let the next genera-tion take over. “I didn’t become a Horse Man, I think I was born this way. It’s been a dream, travelling the world, meeting the best horses on the planet, sharing experiences and ideas with talented & different horse lovers… I wouldn’t be who I am today if it had not of been for Horse Man Team!”

Within the grand scheme of all things equestrian,FOCUS delves into the world of Horse Man Team, a group of dedicated individuals that travel the world performing a rather unique act – Jumping without horses – as man and horse all in one.

The making of...

Horse Man Team - the originator of this concept, Mateo, is standing on the left and jumping on the right © Dominika Frej30

Horse Man Team

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s President: Christopher Hodson, QCSecretary General/CEO: Jim Ellis

There are 20 permanent members of staff employed at Equestrian Sports New Zealand (ESNZ)

98 regional discipline groups

6,000 athletes

350 national events held in 2011

72 international events held in 2011

All the FEI disciplines are practiced in New Zealand, although only Dressage, Endurance, Eventing, Para-Equestrian Dressage & Jumping are under ESNZ auspices.

40 breeding organisations in New Zealand (excluding racing studs)

120,000 horses and ponies in New Zealand (9,500 registered to ESNZ)

Interview withthe Chief Executive, Jim Ellis

ESNZ has been a member Federation of the FEI for over 60 years, how has the sport developed? From fairly humble beginnings as the New Zealand Horse Society in 1950, ESNZ has matured into one of NZ’s major sports organisations with the three Olympic disciplines the primary driver of the organisa-tion for its first half-century. More recently, Endurance and Para-Equestrian have been added to the fold with Reining and Vaulting starting to gain traction within NZ. NZ’s rural nature, with plentiful cheap green land, encouraged horse ownership with tales of chil-dren riding their ponies to school commonplace until relatively recently. Times have changed with a new urban-based population adding an extra dimension from their lifestyle blocks around the major cities, especially Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch; but the sport is still rooted in the rural community where horse ownership has few elitist connotations. I believe Equestrian’s inherent values have driven the growth at a time of great societal change in NZ – the closeness of the relationship between equine and rider, the week-ends with family and friends at shows, camping in the truck park, the ageless quality of the sport and the abil-ity to compete in spectacular locations in a famously beautiful country – many of our horses achieved fame in the Lord of the Rings trilogy!

Has there been a golden era – or is that now?Mark Todd and Blyth Tait’s Olympic gold medals between 1984 and 1996 are the most widely her-alded examples of NZ international success as well as the NZ Endurance team winning the team gold at

the 1998 world champs in Dubai. From a participation perspective though, the last decade has been the most significant as Equestrian re-establishes its popularity, especially with younger riders.

In terms of developing the sport, what are the most successful projects undertaken in recent years?The reinvigoration of our coach development scheme is a long-term investment in the future riding talent of NZ. The benefits of high-quality coaching are often intangible, especially in the short term, but our com-mitment to athlete-centred coaching, rather than the more traditional instructor/pupil relationship, is abso-lute and will bring long term benefit. ESNZ introduced a new high performance programme after disappoint-ing results at the Hong Kong Olympics. The benefits of a tougher, yet more supportive, programme have produced early rewards especially in Eventing at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ in Kentucky.

How popular is equestrian sport with young peo-ple in New Zealand?Rugby is the dominant sport in NZ with football gain-ing increasing traction, while netball leads female sport. For a country of just over 4 million people, New Zealand has a proud Olympic medal winning history. The local joke is that NZ always win medals ‘sitting down’ in sports like Equestrian, Cycling, Sailing, Rowing and Canoe/Kayak; however Athletics and Triathlon are starting to break that mould. Equestrian’s Olympic sta-tus is vital and maintains ESNZ’s importance within the sporting community in NZ.

Can you tell us about equestrian sport for disabled athletes in NZ?In 2009, ESNZ adopted Para-Equestrian as its fifth dis-cipline. ESNZ has been recognised as one of the four leading national sports organisations in NZ for pro-moting disability sport, with our Para-Dressage pro-gramme now fully mature and offering a blend of high quality national events, a significant number of Para classes at regional level and much stronger integration with able-bodied Dressage at local level. ESNZ intends to run its first CPEDI in early 2014 and is looking to develop Para-Jumping in the next 2-3 years.

The Games are fast approaching – what are your 2012 dreams, hopes and predictions?At this stage, there is great excitement as well as other mixed feelings as London approaches. New Zealand retains a close relationship with the UK and there is a sense of these being a ‘home’ Games especially with so many of our Eventers based in the UK. Not having any Jumping representation is disappointing as it rep-resents over 60% of our competitive activity domes-tically; the changes to the qualifying format did not assist this process. Qualifying a Dressage team for the first time was a major achievement and our Eventers are mixing it with the best in the world again after a decade of underachievement. Much of the latter can be put down to changes to the format of Eventing, especially the removal of some endurance elements which tended to favour the characteristics of the NZ horse. I am also hopeful that we will fill the 2 posi-tions recently qualified for the Paralympics and with the Endurance world champs sandwiched in between, the UK will be the focus of attention throughout our off-season.The British resurgence in Dressage sug-gests the home nation will be tough to beat espe-cially if Carl Hester reproduces his magic from the European champs. NZ is quietly confident of getting back on the Eventing medal podium after our success at Kentucky but the Brits and a Michael Jung - inspired German team pose formidable challenges. Jumping seems wide open but there will be widespread sup-port for our Australian cousins as well as significant interest if the Saudis select Delphi for their team, the most expensive NZ horse ever sold.

32 33FOCUS

Previous Deputy Principal of Hartpury College in England, Amanda Bond (40) has been CEO of British Dressage since 2008. Using her expertise of heading up the Paralympic Games in Hong Kong and running a World and two European championships, she will also be Paralympic Dressage manager for London 2012.

Amanda Bond

I’m generally awake by 5:30 each morning. Early I know but it’s a great time of the day; quiet, peaceful and time to plan. And it gives me a head start on the email inbox. By my own choice, I have over an hour’s drive to get to the offices at Stoneleigh Park. It means I can be near to my family who keep me close to real-ity and make sure I have ‘time off’ – it’s all too easy to let Dressage rule your life! Driving all those miles is a bind but I use the time wisely. I can get phone calls done, plan my day and above all else, it’s prime think-ing time. If I know I have a difficult or tricky conversa-tion to have that day, I think through my options with different scenarios so nothing’s left to chance.

I’m in the office by 8:00am. Switching the laptop on each morning tells me just how many days are left until the Olympic opening ceremony which I have to admit makes my heart flutter and the excitement is increasingly hard to contain. My CEO role is diverse. Being involved in a sport isn’t like running a typical company. There’s the sport to consider; rules, gov-ernance, competition, discipline, calendar. But then it’s also a business with customers to satisfy, strat-egy to take us forward and ensuring commercial via-bility. Getting the balance right is key.

There’s a huge call on my time as everyone likes individual attention and when I started, I tried to satisfy that. I’m lucky enough to be involved in the International Leadership Programme through UK Sport, our Governmental high performance sport agency. I’m mentored by John Steele (formerly with England RFU and now CEO of the Youth Sport Trust) and he helped me realise that it was impossible and would bring my short CEO career to an abrupt end.

So, with our Board of Directors, I set about reorganis-ing the management structure of the office. I’ve now got a team in who I know I can delegate to but who also share my passion to make Dressage the leading equestrian sport in Britain. Our regular team meet-ings are so exciting. Day-to-day issues are discussed but the sparks really fly when we talk about the future.

Our diminutive building is also home to the other Olympic equestrian disciplines and the British Equestrian Federation. Picking up the phone to a fel-low CEO or meeting for a quick tea (I never have coffee)

to share a problem often halves the time to solve it. My day could be wall to wall meetings if I let it. My PA, Angela Green, is expert at managing my diary and together we work on a balance of necessary meetings but also time to complete the actions from those meet-ings! Prioritising is a skill fortunately I’m blessed with. I also see myself as a leader, diplomat and peacemaker! My mentor has given me self-confidence and instilled leadership as the most important trait.

I act as the link between the sport and our World Class Performance Programme which is what drives and funds our elite sport. UK Sport and the Lottery Funding have revolutionised the way we work. Our historic, and much treasured, team gold medal last year is the product of years of planning, hard work and dedication - by many individuals who come together to make one fantastic team.

Despite hard economic times, I’ll say with delight that Dressage is growing in the UK. Nearly two years ago we launched a free Associate membership and already have swelled our numbers to over 32,000. This is a new dynamic and exciting audience to introduce to the sport. I want members to be proud to be a part of British Dressage and feel we’re inclusive with some-thing for everyone whatever your ability.

It’s no secret that I’m a huge supporter of Para Dressage and it’s the side of my role which gives me the great-est satisfaction. In Britain, Para Dressage is completely integrated into the sport; structured progression, extensive opportunities and riders equals. I’m enor-mously proud of the British domination internation-ally but equally, with my FEI and LOCOG hat on, what excites me more is how the standards across the sport have risen. When I don that uniform at Greenwich I won’t be British, I’ll be part of the evolution of one of the most spectacular sporting occasions ever.

I act as the link between the sport and our World Class Performance Programme which is what drives and funds our elite sport.

35FOCUS

A life in a day

34

“The more pressure, the better – I can’t get enough,” says top Dressage rider Adelinde Cornelissen, of her mental preparation before major competitions. Nerves don’t come into the equation for the 32-year-old Dutchwoman, who in November was named Reem Acra Best Athlete at the FEI Awards Ceremony in 2011 following her clean sweep of the FEI World Cup™ series and two FEI European Dressage gold medals in 2011.

Adelinde is firmly in the camp of riders who don’t turn to a sports psychologist for help in fine-tuning her mental performance. “If it works, why change it?” says Adelinde of her routine with Jerich Parzival before any show – whether it be large or small. Wind the clock back 15 years and few had heard of a sports psychologist, let alone used one. Now, in the run-up to the 2012 Olympic Games, as sports grow ever more scientific and the margins between winning and losing grow ever so smaller, few sportsmen will step

foot on the field without having some type of mental training. But some are still reticent, including eques-trian sport, but it is not alone. For many, sports psy-chology is still a taboo subject – few athletes want to be known for using a “head doctor”, despite the fact that a psychologist is as much a part of their team as a physiotherapist, nutritionist and coach might be. The idea that physical performance is linked to men-tal performance is not new – Norman Triplett did one of the first studies on the subject in 1897, when he found that cyclists performed better among other competitors than on their own.

But it’s not until the mid 1980s that it started to catch on: in 1985 the US Olympic Committee employed its first full-time sports psychologist and now there are literally hundreds of thousands of practitioners around the world. Sports psychology today looks at how an athlete can optimise their performance by realistic goal-setting, training concentration and focus, channelling negative nerves into positive

energy, maintaining composure under pressure and coping with losses as well as the wins. Olympic gold medal-winning show jumper McLain Ward was one of the first riders in the US to employ a sports psy-chologist. He maintains that he wins 30 per cent more after consulting Dr Bob Rotella, renowned in the US for his work with PGA golfers. “It got to the point that my mental game was stopping me,” says the 36-year-old Olympian. “The pressure of riding at championships, the expectations – it started to inter-fere. I was winning quite a bit, but on the biggest days I didn’t get the results I wanted.” Mclain describes Dr Rotella’s straightforward philosophy as “very easy” to tap into, because it uses skills he already had. Mclain says: “It’s always easy when things are going well, but now when things are going wrong it’s much easier to pull myself back from the brink. “Dr Rotella taught me to stay in the present, to take what’s presented to me at that moment and not get caught up in past mistakes. And also to limit looking to the future.”

Sports psychologists believe that warming up the brain is as important as warming up the body – and that some athletes already posses a well-honed technique for doing so.

Those natural skills are evident in Adelinde. The Dressage rider employs a self-taught version of the technique known as visualisation before rid-ing every Dressage test. “I travel to every show with my mother as a groom, but I prepare Parzival on the morning of every competition myself,” says Adelinde, believing it important to keep herself occupied and her routine the same, whether she is at a World Cup or a local show near home. While grooming and plaiting, Adelinde runs through her test several times in her own mind so she is com-pletely happy with it by the time the pair enter the arena. “But I never think about what I would do if something goes wrong, if I did that it would go wrong,” she says. “I don’t try to do something bet-ter at a show than I have done already at home.”

A FOCUS ON SPOrtS PSyCHOLOGyby Abigail Butcher

36 37FOCUS

winning and coming second is so small now.” Pippa says she struggled with feeling sleepy and “not quite with it” at major events. “The psychologist explained that it was a chemical reaction to my nerves and that I wasn’t alone. That in itself made me feel better,” she explains. Pippa said riding four or five horses at a low-key event would present no problem, but when away from home for a whole week with just one horse at a big event like Badminton Horse Trials she would have time to think and over-analyse. “That’s when the ditches got bigger,” she says.

The British team psychologist helped Pippa focus her nerves positively, and work on the areas of her per-formance that she could change – her preparation – rather than those she couldn’t, such as the weather. “It was such a help to talk to someone outside the horse world, and it’s helped me in wider aspects of my life, too,” says Pippa. “I have always over-analysed things and it helped give me a system that I still use today.”

Jon Pitts, human performance coach to the Australian equestrian team also believes preparation is abso-lutely key to improving performance. “In a sport where

there’s a need to be strong and tough, riders have tra-ditionally needed to show no signs of weakness. And needing to consult a sports psychologist was viewed as weakness,” he says. “But now it’s accepted that we have to understand how the brain works under pres-sure and the processes it goes through.” Pitts says his work focuses on reducing the “grey areas” that cause riders to get anxious. “It all comes down to prepara-tion and as technology becomes available – such as GPS and video analysis – we use it more and more to help riders remove any self doubts.”

Mclain Ward agrees that the concept of sports psy-chology is becoming more accepted – but very slowly. “Riders are athletes but they are also horse dealers, instructors and businessmen – we have to be, and all that gets in the way,” he says. “I think equestrian sport lags behind around the globe, but in the US, I had enough success with it for people to take notice – young riders in particular are asking me about it.” But the changes don’t happen overnight, warns Anna Waters. “It’s a whole new mindset,” she says. “But the Olympic sports that embraced sports psychology 10 years ago are reaping the gains now.”

UK sports psychologist and former assistant race-horse trainer Anna Waters says visualisation and men-tal imagery is vital before any performance – whether you’re running the 800m at the 2012 Olympics or Jumping in the FEI Nations Cup™.

“I ask riders to imagine themselves competing, use all their senses to recreate that image, feel their muscles working, visualise the round – think about the rhythm,” says Waters. The idea being that by the time the bell rings the rider will have been through various differ-ent scenarios, and their brain will already be sending signals to the muscles – albeit on a lower level than physically performing a task – so when they’re faced with the real situation they can act without thinking. But Waters says although the body’s physical and mental reactions are interlinked, everyone is different in the way they react to the pressures of competition.

Another rider who thrives on the pressure is New Zealand Eventing rider Mark Todd. The multi-Olym-pic and World champion and FEI Three-day eventer of the 20th Century says pressure “brings out noth-ing but the best” in him. “I’m a fairly laid back per-son and over the years I’ve learnt how to control my mind and not let it run away with me,” he explains. “You have to focus and cut out all the distractions. At big events you do have to strike a balance – you need to speak to the media for example – but I’m good at saying I’m unavailable to other demands and I don’t have my phone on me when I’m about to go into the dressage arena.” Mark may have no need for a sports

psychologist but he says fellow riders use them very effectively to improve performance, and he dismisses the suggestion that riders are their own psychologists for every horse they ride. “You do have to focus on the horse, but a sports psychologist will help with your attitude towards competition,” he reasons. “I’m lucky that I thrive on the pressure, that I have confidence in my own ability and the horse that I’m sitting on.”

Anna Waters agrees, saying riders are little different from other athletes. “When you’re competing the pressures are the same,” she says. “The mental skills needed to perform at your best are the same if you are a rider, sailor, dancer, actor or musician.”

For Cathy Cain, US Paralympic gold medallist in wheel-chair basketball, it’s a fine line between excitement and fear and converting the adrenaline of competi-tion to focus or anxiety. Also trained in somatic psy-chotherapy, Cathy has worked with individuals such as musicians to help find their centre, “the essence of who you are and your confidence. It’s all about gath-ering the resources that help cue you,” she explained. Having relied on her own techniques and mental train-ing as an athlete with few structures or funding in place at the time (gold at the 1988 Paralympic Games in Seoul and part of the US hand cycling team in 1998), she is an advocate of building the tools that help keep anxiety at bay and coordinating excitement with phys-ical movement, whether you achieve this on your own or with the help of professionals. For some perform-ers, the pressure and nerves have a cripplingly nega-tive effect – particularly for Eventing riders for whom danger lies in the very kernel of the appeal.

British Eventing athlete Pippa Funnell sought help from a sports psychologist in the late 1990s when she said her natural tendency to over-analyse meant “the ditches started to grow bigger”. One of the first British riders to consider sports psychology, Pippa was offered the service as part of a new raft of support for the British team when the UK’s National Lottery ploughed new funding into equestrianism to increase professionalism within the sport. “At the time, too much was made of my decision to see a psychologist,” she maintains. “I was just interested in finding out how I could get that bit extra – the difference between

“When you’re competingthe pressures are the same... the mental skillsneeded to perform atyour best are the sameif you are a rider, sailor,dancer, actor or musician”

© FEI/Action Images, John Sibley

38 39FOCUS

Solidarity pavingthe way to successby Adam Szreter, Managing Editor of SportsWrites Internationalwww.sportswrites.com

GROUP IVMr John RalstonPresident JAM NF

GROUP VIGloria de CuestaPresident ECU NF

GROUP IXMr Ibrahima WadePresident SEN NF

GROUP VIIHRH Princess Haya (Chair)FEI President

GROUP IDr Armagan OzgorkeyPresident TUR NF

GROUP VIIIDr Melanie ChewPresident SIN NF

GROUP IIIMr Sergey MaslovPresident RUS NF

GROUP IIMr Jukka-Pekka LeskinenPresident FIN NF

GROUP VDr Jorge BerganzaPresident MEX NF

Presided by HRH Princess Haya (representing Group VII), the FEI Solidarity Committee is made up of one member from each Regional Group as shown above.

The launch of the FEI Solidarity development plan in the spring of last year, modelled on the IOC’s Olympic Solidarity programme, has aroused admiration and curiosity in almost equal measure.

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I would like to congratulate the FEI on this exceptional initiative” said IOC President Jacques Rogge at the time of the launch. “This shows how committed the FEI is to the global future of equestrian sport”. But what is FEI Solidarity? Who is it for? And how will it work?

It was stated at the 2011 FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro that the aim of FEI Solidarity is “to pro-vide the national federations with the tools to develop equestrian sport in their own country in a sustaina-ble, structured, progressive and professional manner”. Its general objectives include the global promotion of the fundamental principles of equestrian sport, as well as the development of all of its technical and compe-tition aspects. It will focus on four target groups or “pillars”, namely ATHLETES, COACHES, NATIONAL FEDERATIONS and EQUESTRIAN VALUES, each of which will benefit from assistance provided via tech-nical programmes established by the FEI or in the form of grants for specific one-time projects or con-sultancy services.

The technical programmes will include the existing programmes such as coach education and discipline specific initiatives and as FEI Solidarity develops so will the range of programmes including online educa-tion, anti-doping educa-tion for athletes, national structure development for NFs, horsemanship, far-riery instruction and any tailor-made programmes to respond to the needs of NFs, regions and disci-plines. Financial support might entail scholarships for athletes and coaches, IT solutions for NFs and welfare or environmental projects in line with the sport’s val-ues. And consultancy services will range from any tech-nical advice to transport and quarantine issues for NFs via communication advice based on equestrian values.

Applications for support can be made by NFs as long as they fit into the four-pillar structure of the plan, and as long as their proposal has achievable objectives, measurable results and a lasting legacy. The deadline

for application for 2012 was end of February and appli-cants will be notified by the end of May.

FEI Solidarity may be a relatively new initiative, but it is the culmination of more than a decade of devel-opment work at the FEI. Jacqueline Braissant, the FEI Solidarity Director who has been at the heart of this work throughout that time, takes up the story. ”In 2000, the FEI created a Development Fund and allo-cated resources for the specific task of helping devel-oping NFs. At that time each FEI discipline had been allocated finances for development purposes. The first task was to look at the smaller federations and see how we could help them.

“We soon decided that the priority was to give lessons to riders by sending trainers from Europe to grass-roots level NFs. We also financed some FEI Jumping & Dressage World Cup shows and basic seminars to educate Officials at national level. In 2003 the FEI appointed a Development Advisory Group which quickly saw the necessity to create a Coach Education System with the aim to educate local coaches to ensure the sustainability and self-sufficiency of these emerg-ing NFs and regions. This tool was the real start of

FEI development. We thought that by targeting one of the core elements of the sport, the coach, we would lead to development and this is exactly what happened.

“We developed other activities around the Coach Education System and in 2009 the Education and Standards department

was formed to, among others, stand-ardise the edu- cation of FEI Officials. Then, when HRH Princess Haya was re-elected in 2010, she appointed a Development Task Force who iden- tified five areas of concern and asked the FEI to create and implement the neces-sary structures around those five areas. HRH Princess Haya then decided that the best way forward would be to base the structure on the Olympic Solidarity Model because this model works and has huge experience”.

Maybe one of the major differences between Olympic Solidarity and FEI Solidarity is that the assistance is not entirely financial. A large part of the assistance will be practical educative work on the ground with an FEI Solidarity Officer. Also, Olympic Solidarity has 30 years of experience, while the FEI is still learning at every move. It is therefore worth pointing out to National Federations that FEI Solidarity programmes do not replace Olympic Solidarity programmes, and NFs applying for Olympic Solidarity fund-ing should still apply via their National Olympic Committees.

“FEI Solidarity is about teaching NFs how to fish, as opposed to give them the fish”, Jacqueline Braissant continued. “We want the Federations

to become self-sufficient. At the moment many of them are composed of volunteers and they develop their sport without the necessary structures.” Prior to now, the FEI developed the sport focusing only

on the education of techni-cians - Officials, Coaches and Athletes. What is new and different about FEI Solidarity is the scope and the scale now includ-ing direct funding of one-time specific projects, the introduction of corporate social responsibility and the promotion of our val-ues through campaigns.

“Equestrianism goes handin hand with horse welfareand national teams needthe support of qualified andexperienced veterinarians,farriers and chiropractors”HRH Princess Haya

“This is the beginning ofan exciting journey towards creating a more egalitarianequestrian community”

HRH Princess Haya

In Cambodia at the first “pilot” FEI Solidarity project for farriers and saddlers © World Horse Welfare

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A fundraising arm will also operate conjointly in order to provide more and more resources for FEI Solidarity as time goes on. The FEI Solidarity Committee, com-prising nine regional groups each headed by a local NF President, is chaired by the FEI President, HRH Princess Haya, who said: “Thanks to our member Federations, the FEI’s development efforts have now been given the prominent place in our statutes that they so richly deserve.”

Although 2012 is the first full year of operation, a “pilot” FEI Solidarity project is already under way in Cambodia where, with the help of the World Horse Welfare organisation, the FEI will be working to improve horse-care skills among the local popula-tion by training 10 farriers and 10 saddlers per year over the next five years. “The Cambodia project is a very good example of the kind of one-time project that has a social impact on the life of the local farriers and saddlers and at the end of the chain, on the welfare of the horse” said Jacqueline Braissant.

“We could also organise similar projects cover-ing therapeutic riding, rehabilitation through rid-ing, grooms training or horse nutrition or even help federations to promote the sport through school programmes”.

But FEI Solidarity is not a charity. It is about helping people to help themselves with the appropriate tools. National Federations should not feel indebted to the FEI. Each project will be monitored and evaluated to ensure that NFs applying for assistance are making the best use of it and showing sustainable results.

For the last word we can go back to the IOC President. “FEI Solidarity, following the example of Olympic Solidarity, will be providing assistance to the national equestrian federations, particularly to those with the greatest needs, so that they can develop their own potential and expand the sport in their country” said Jacques Rogge”. I am confident that the newly cre-ated FEI Solidarity will be very successful”.

FOR MORE INFORMATION www.fei.org

OR CONTACTJacqueline Braissant, Director FEI Solidarityjacqueline.braissant@fei.org•T.+41213104721

Richard Johnson, Director of Corporate Communicationsrichard.johnson@fei.org•T.+41787506122for communications and fundraising queries

Workshop for coaches, parents and ridersat the FEI World Jumping Challenge Finalin Guatemala City

44

Message from the FEI President Basic

Facts

Quiz

ResourceCentre

Human Equine

T ips for presenters

Glossary

The new FEI Clean Sport “toolkit” will offer present-ers of anti-doping workshops a structured set-up of all the materials they need on a USB stick. Its con-tents will also be available online to the entire eques-trian community.

The kit contains five “tools” to break down the com-plexities of Clean Sport: a presentation that guides participants through the various anti-doping con-cepts ,“Tips for Presenters” to help workshop pre-senters use the toolkit to best effect, “Basic Facts” - a brief overview of Clean Sport-related information - a quiz, a glossary, which provides definitions of the many terms associated with the FEI’s ongoing cam-paign, and a resource centre.

FEI Executive Director of Education and Standards Harald Müller, who initiated the project, said: “Education in the anti-doping fight is critical. There

FEI to launchClean Sport toolkitThe FEI is creating a Clean Sport “toolkit” aimed athelping National Federations and equestrian stakeholders to familiarise athletes and their support teams with equine and human anti-doping regulations and procedures.

should be no cases of doping because of ignorance or lack of education.”

Subjects covered in the presentation, which is the central part of the toolkit, include the principle of strict liability, the FEI Prohibited Substances List, laboratory terminology, legal procedures, sanctions and prevention.

The quiz section consists of sets of questions on anti-doping topics to enable workshop attendees to test their knowledge at the beginning and end of the presentation.

Important documents and videos are grouped in the toolkit’s resource centre, which is divided into two sections devoted to human and equine athletes. The documents include the Equine Anti-Doping and Controlled Medication Regulations (EADCMR)

46 47FOCUS

Veterinarians wishing to work at FEI Events from 1 June 2012 will need to sit an online examination on FEI Veterinary and Equine Anti-Doping and Controlled Medication Regulations.

Candidates who successfully complete the exam can then download the new “FEI Permitted Treating Veterinarian” identification document, which will be necessary for entering restricted areas – including stables – or administering any supportive treatments at events.

The new exam system affects competitors’ Private Veterinarians, Team Veterinarians, Treating Veterinarians appointed for events by Organising Committees, and Veterinary Service Managers.

Current FEI Official Veterinarians (Veterinary Delegates, Testing Veterinarians and Emergency Veterinary Officers) can download their ID doc-ument from their FEI website accounts before 1

June. Any FEI Official Veterinarian who fails to do so by 31 December 2012 will need to sit the exam.

The introduction of a mandatory exam aims to maintain a clean sport by reinforcing the need for all veterinarians officiating or practicing at events to understand relevant FEI regulations.

Resource material may be used during the exam-ination, which can be taken more than once.

National Federations are already providing FEI login details for the online examination to veter-inarians wishing to work at FEI events.

Any veterinarians requiring the FEI Veterinarian ID should consult the FEI website for notification of the launch date and an explanation of the system.

www.fei.org/veterinary

Commenting on the toolkit, Frédéric Donzé, Director of European Regional Office and International Federations Relations at WADA said: “Informing and educating athletes and their entourage about their rights and responsibilities and increasing aware-ness among stakeholders is an important part of the fight against doping in sport. The FEI should be com-mended for its initiative to develop a Clean Sport toolkit. WADA places great emphasis on raising anti-doping awareness globally and we are pleased that the FEI has taken a positive and proactive approach in this area, helping to protect the integrity of its sport.”

The Clean Sport toolkit will be available on request and free of charge to National Federations, athletes and stakeholders. It will also be distributed at Clean Sport workshops, major events and championships and FEI meetings, such as the General Assembly and sports forums.

In 2009, the FEI introduced a new system of rules and regulations, the Equine Anti-Doping and Controlled Medication Regu-lations (EADCMRs).

This system, which brought together the viewpoints and expertise of the entire FEI Family and the pro-fessional recommendations of the Ljungqvist and Stevens Commissions, aimed to ensure that all eques-trian athletes were judged on a fair and level play-ing field.

“FEI athletes have an additional burden, as they have to be familiar, not only with the human but also with the equine anti-doping system,” said Harald Müller. “By presenting both systems in a simple way, this toolkit should help all those involved in equestrian sport to understand how they work.”

and the FEI Prohibited Substances List, as well as information published by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Seperate videos show dope test-ing and boot checking procedures and an overview of FEI Clean Sport. More videos will be made avail-able later this year.

The toolkit is designed to allow workshop present-ers to navigate quickly and easily between the pres-entation, resources and glossary.

“This is important for the presenter to be able to pro-vide clear answers instantly,” said Müller. “When a presenter gives a Clean Sport Workshop the types of questions the audience asks can vary tremendously. The easy navigation system means the presenter can switch between the various sections and refer to the official documents on all relevant Clean Sport aspects for both human and equine Anti-Doping.”

An English toolkit will be launched first, followed shortly afterwards by versions in Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Spanish and French. These will incorporate translations of the main presentation, tips for pre-senters, the “Basic Facts” document and glossary. National Federations wishing to insert translations in other languages into the layout of the toolkit will have the possibility of doing so by contacting the FEI.

New IDfor Veterinariansat FEI events

48 49FOCUS

Updated and additional content will be available for download from the Clean Sport website.

TV

The offi cial video website of the Fédération Equestre Internationale

www.feitv.org

WATCH LIVE !WATCH ONLINE !

FEI TV is the FEI’s new offi cial video website and your ticket to the world’s most prestigious competitions. Sign-up to FEI TV (www.feitv.org) and get instant access to all the live broadcasts, the extensive video-on-demand library, all the highlights, the behind the scenes reports, the interviews and so much more. Be at the heart of horsesport. Join us !

2823_1FEI_TV_Focus_165x226.indd 1 17.05.10 11:24

Live BroadcastSchedule 2012 *

APRIL - AUGUST 2012

50

19/20/22 April Rolex FEI World Cup™ Final ‘s-Hertogenbosch (NED)

20/21 April Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Final ‘s-Hertogenbosch (NED)

28-29 April HSBC FEI Classics™ Lexington (USA)

04-07 May HSBC FEI Classics™ Badminton (GBR)

11 May FEI Nations Cup™ La Baule (FRA)

25 May FEI Nations Cup™ Rome (ITA)

01 June FEI Nations Cup™ St Gallen (SUI)

16-17 June HSBC FEI Classics™ Luhmuhlen (GER) tbc

22 June FEI Nations Cup™ Rotterdam (NED)

05 July FEI Nations Cup™ Aachen (GER)

13 July FEI Nations Cup™ Falsterbo (SWE)

20 July FEI Nations Cup™ Hickstead (GBR)

17 August FEI Nations Cup™ Dublin (IRL)

* Additional live broadcasts to be announced in due time

FURTHER HIGHLIGHTS AND PLANS 2012/2013

Extended highlights of all the above mentioned competitions will be available asvideo on demand. The FEI TV team is also planning for the following events in 2012/2013:

•Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping 2012/13

•Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2012/13

•FEI World Cup™ Finals for Dressage, Driving, Jumping and Vaulting 2012/13

•FEI Nations Cup™ 2013

•HSBC FEI Classics™ 2012/2013

and much more, such as interviews, features, behind the scenes reports, etc...

HSBC is a proud sponsor of The Pony Club

In November 2011, HSBC gave the winners & runners up of The Pony Club Eventing Championships an opportunity of a lifetime… …a bespoke training day with the World Number 1 and Number 2 riders, Mary King and William Fox-Pitt.

To view the Elite Training Day video, please visit: www.fei.org/hsbc/grass-roots

HSBC_217 FEI Classic Resize 226x165.indd 1 24/02/2012 16:04:29