- 1. Please find below the latest news from FEIF, the
International Federation of IcelandicHorse Associations. FEIF is
bringing people together in their passion for the Icelandichorse.
More information can be found on our website: www.feif.org . For
mobile users:m.feif.org .A roadtrip to new sport judges
guidelinesThe making and the maintenance of the sport judges
guidelines is one of thedesignated tasks of the FEIF Sport Judges
Committee. As our sport is constantlydeveloping the guidelines
needs to be adjusted regularly. Once in a while, when themany
adjustments have unsharpened the guidelines, a major overhaul is
necessary.The last time such an overhaul took place was in 2000.
Now the time has come again.Stud presentations at the World
Championships 2013During the World Championships 2013, a
presentation of studs is planned for Friday,August 9th, 2013.
Details on registration and the selection process can be found in
theinvitation.New Instructor & Trainer MatrixThe revised FEIF
Instructor & Trainer Matrix, launched by theFEIF Education
Committee, now also includes the list of skillsit takes to become a
young-horse trainer. Every instructor ortrainer at level 1-3 who
has gained a qualification in one ofthe FEIF member states is
entered into the list of instructorson the FEIF website, and this
list can be searched by countryand by the level of qualification,
so it provides a goodoverview of the instructors working in your
area. The matrixdocument summarises the minimum skills, experience
andknowledge that than can be expected from a qualifiedinstructor
or trainer at any given level. Also the document canhelp those
organisations, which are currently in the process ofdesigning their
own training programme, or plan to do so inthe future.Delegates
Assembly 2013Delegates and guests from 11 FEIF member countries
participated in the DelegatesAssembly 2013, February 8th 2013 in
Strasbourg. All FEIF Board members who werefor re-election as well
as Doug Smith, US, as a new Board member were (re-)elected fora
period of two years. The delegates agreed to follow the same line
in finals in tlt aswell as gaited classes and so the sequence of
gaits in finals of 4- and 5-gait will nolonger be open for
discussion among riders. Furthermore, it was decided that the
riderin the fastest position in a starting group of Pace Race may
decide which box he or shewill take. The proposal regarding a
change in the selection of judges for WorldChampionships was
withdrawn and will again be discussed in the Sport Meeting
in2014.
2. Annual Chairperson Meeting 2013In the annual meeting for
national Chairpersons the proposal for the acceptance ofEthical
standards was discussed further after the presentation in the DA.
Participantswere generally in favour of the proposal, but many good
comments were raised and theneed to emphasize on ethical behaviour
was stressed. Some participants wanted toimplement the rules in the
new FEIF rulebook so they would be binding for everybodywithin the
organisation. The Board will review the proposal together with
comments fromparticipants at the conference. Participants discussed
the current situation regardinganti doping rules and the
enforcement thereof. A presentation was made on the currentstatus
of the matter, the outcome of the survey made by the FEIF board and
thepossible ways to move forward. The Chairpersons were of the
opinion that FEIF shouldfollow the FEI general principles of the
matter, but the rules and enforcement shouldcover all activities.
FEIF needs to step in when there are no actions from the
membercountries. Some were of the opinion that FEIF should make
sure that all memberassociations were linked to their national
authority on doping, and FEIF would then onlyhave to control the
matter at World Championships. A proposal from the Board on
aproject where national associations would do a SWOT analysis on
the current situationof the Icelandic horse activities in their
countries got a good acceptance. On basis ofthis process, we might
be able to identify focus areas for the coming years and
mutuallyagree on how FEIF best supports its member countries.Annual
Sport Meeting 2013The annual meeting for Sport discussed a long
list of items. One of the main items is anexperiment that will take
place in 2013 in Tlt T3, where the judges will only judge oneside
of the oval track in the second section and the riders will be
asked by the speakerto show the transitions from slow tlt into
distinct lengthened strides (and back) one byone. Dependent of the
outcome of this experiment a proposal may be prepared tochange the
rules permanently. The meeting re-discussed a previous decision
about therequired gradient in the oval track and decided to prepare
a proposal to leave thegradient open to the organiser of an event,
with a maximum of 7.5%. At the same timethe Sport Committee is
asked to find evidence that any gradient is needed in relation
tothe various speeds demanded in different sections of tests on the
oval track. Themeeting tried to redefine fast tlt as a demand in
many oval track tests. This is oftenwrongly interpreted as as fast
as possible, while the actual demand is a faster tlt thenshown
before with lengthened strides. This discussion will be continued
next year. TheSport Committee presented a change of requirements
for World Ranking events.Starting 2014 the number of FEIF
International Sport Judges will be raised from 2 to 3,and the
number of hours a judge may judge per day is limited, to ensure the
bestquality. At the same time results from oval track tests will
only be accepted from 250mtracks. In a joined meeting with the
Youth Meeting it was decided to present a proposalat next years
Delegates Assembly to allow the reigning Youth World Champions
todefend their title at the next World Championships, provided that
they are still able tocompete in the Young Riders class.Annual
Breeding Meeting 2013In a very constructive and positive atmosphere
the annual Breeding meeting went 3. through a very long agenda.
Basis line in this was to proceed step by step on the way tobetter
standardization and more professionalism in holding FEIF breeding
horseassessments. It was agreed upon the certification of tracks,
the same rules for theselection of judge panels and uniform
procedures of the health and equipment controls.To follow the
demands of horse welfare and good riding and training a check of
thehorses mouths shall be included in the standard before the show
and consequences ofinjuries have been discussed and decided.
Further actions as for example a list ofprohibited equipment will
be prepared for the next DA. The breeding departmentrecommends the
installation of an international inter-disciplinary expert group to
speedthe progress. The integration of foal and young horse
assessments into WorldFengurwas brought on its way. orvaldur
Kristjnsson was elected as a member of theBreeding judge committee,
Barbara Frische was re-elected. For the Breeding committeethe two
breeders representatives, Sussi Lund and Inge Kringeland, were also
re-elected. New projects were introduced, among them the embryo
transfer topic, newmarkets for the Icelandic horse, etc. For 2013 a
lot of activities - as several seminars,the Breeders forum and a
presentation of breeding farms at WC Berlin and the secondOpen
Breeders Meeting in autumn - are planned.Annual Education Meeting
2013The national Education leaders and participating guests had a
stimulating andproductive annual meeting in Strasbourg, and we
would warmly welcome all the newfaces! Excellent things are
happening all over the place. Again, the presence of anumber of new
representatives illustrated the importance of meeting colleges
fromdifferent countries, and the opportunity this offers for
sharing ideas, innovation and goodpractice. Later this spring, we
will hear the outcome of a Leonardo application forfunding from
Europe, which is lead by Iceland in collaboration with Norway
andSweden. The money will facilitate the translation Icelandic
teaching materials intoseveral languages, including English, and
the publication of textbooks and an Icelandicriders badge system.
Another highlight was the launch of the young-horse trainermatrix,
the last missing section of the Instructor & Trainer Matrix.
The full document willbe available for download shortly. And
finally the preparations for the next FEIFEducation Seminar are
underway. The seminar is hosted by Sweden and will take place7-9th
September, near Stockholm. Invitations will be sent out soon later
this month.Annual Leisure Riding Meeting 2013At the annual meeting
of Leisure Riding it was agreed that the mission will be
tofacilitate the creation of an open including environment within
FEIF for Leisure Riding.The preferred horse for Leisure Riding is
defined as a well trained horse, which ismentally and physically
mature and stable. It is a horse with soft gaits, good looking
andwith rich colours. A number of goals were defined and there is
plenty of work ahead.The complete minutes of the meeting will be
available for download soon.Annual Youth Meeting 2013More
participants than ever attended the annual Youth meeting where a
lot of goodideas and best practice were shared between the
countries. Norway reported about thecoming FYCamp 2013 - see a
separate news item. The important role of the leaders on 4. the
FYCup was in focus as being one of the key factors for the success
as seen by theparticipants. It was decided to prolong the next
FYCup with one day to encourage evenmore team building within the
teams as well as giving more time to try out the horses.The latter
important as the next FYCup will be hosted in Hlar, Iceland meaning
thatmost youngsters will ride on borrowed horses. It was decided to
propose a change inFIPO for flag race: removing the calculation
from time to a point and instead keep thetimes (like is done in the
pace race for example). It was also decided to replace T5 withT3
the next FYCup. A youth reunion for participants at FEIF youth
activities will takeplace on the WC and more information will
follow in due time.Changes in FIPO 2013The Delegates Assembly 2013
decided upon 2 changes in FIPO, to be valid as of April1, 2013. To
follow the same line in finals in Tlt classes and in gaited classes
it isdecided to change FIPO in such way, that the sequence of gaits
in finals in four gait andfive gait is no longer open for
discussion among riders, but has to follow the sequenceas described
in FIPO. At the last three World Championships riders couldnt
choosetheir own start box, but had to take the box marked with
their colour. This was done toensure calm and quiet handling of the
start, and the general feeling is that it helped.However some
riders considered this as being of disadvantage, as they could
changeeven if they would agree. It is decided now to adapt FIPO
8.5.5 in such way, that thefastest rider in a start group has to
decide before the start group is called into the startboxes which
box the rider prefers, with no right of change the moment the
startingprocedure has started. The new edition of FIPO will be
available for download fromMarch 15, 2013 on.Horses on Ice
2013Saturday, March 23, the fifth edition of Horses on Ice (HOI)
will take placein Haarlem (NL, near Amsterdam) on a 400 m skating
rink. Horses on Iceis also the European Championships on Ice 2013.
The first participants willenter the ice on 23 March at 9.00 am,
and that will be the kick off for HOI2013. This will be followed by
a day of fire, flowing manes, spectacle andexcitement during a
amazing event. Many international top riders canthardly wait to go
on the ice in Haarlem, and set the floor on fire. Nameslike Nils
Christian Larsen, Uli Reber, Johannes Hoyos, Styrmir rnason,Jens
Fchtenschnieder, Jolly Schrenk and Hgni Frason have conformed
theirparticipation. And of course the Dutch World Champion in Pace
Test SigururMarnusson will be there as well! Tickets can be booked
on line. Impressions from the FEIF Conference 2013 The FEIF
Conference 2013 was the largest in our Conference-history with 112
registered participants from 11 different member countries. The
annual meetings of sport, breeding, youth, education and leisure
riding took place. And apart from that participants could enjoy
different presentations, e.g. Characterisation of leisure horses
(Sylvie 5. Rizo), Definition of gaits (orvaldur Kristjnsson), or A
roadtrip to a new sport judgesguideline (orgeir Gulaugsson).FEIF
Events until 27 July 2013 European Championships - Horses onHaarlem
(nr23-MarNetherlands Ice 2013Amsterdam)05-Apr - FEIF Sport Judges
Seminar Berlin Germany06-Apr (International Sport Judges) World
Championships Sport Judges06-Apr Berlin Germany Meeting19-Apr -
Young Breeding Horse Trainer SeminarSkeidvellir Iceland21-Apr
201322-Jul - FEIF YouthCamp 2013 MoldeNorway28-JulFEIF WorldRanking
Events until 03 May 201319-Apr - 21-AprIceland Mnagrund Keflavk
Opna rttamt Mna01-May - 05-May Iceland Vidalur Reykjavk
ReykjavkurmeistaramtFEIF International Breeding Shows until 03 May
201317-Apr - 18-AprAustria Panoramahof22-Apr - 23-AprGermany FIZO
Kronshof23-Apr - 24-AprGermany FIZO Berlar27-Apr - 28-AprGermany
FIZO Stutensee29-Apr - 30-AprGermany FIZO Tltmyllan29-Apr -
03-MayIceland Skagafjrur02-May - 05-May Germany FIZO Wurz
