FEI Warning Cards

25 Oct, 2024

I was notified via Instagram about the list of riders given warning cards available online. These are official warnings and yellow cards from FEI competitions. This ranged from Dressage, to Show Jumping and Eventing, along with a few more disciplines.

Upon reading the lists, two things seemed to be apparent, the list of for eventing was very long and the list for dressage was very short. A total of four entries for dressage. The list for dressage only began this year, in May. While the eventing list is over 2023 and 2024.

Below is a chart showing the Dressage and Eventing list of cards issued, reasons and number of occurrences for that reason. Dressage

Eventing

The top three reasons cards or warnings were issued in Eventing was:

• Continuing after three clear refusals, a fall or any form of elimination
• Excessive use of the whip, bit and/or spurs
• Dangerous Riding

Hyperflexion

When looking at the list of reasons why a card was issued I saw one for Hyperflexion. Even though there is plenty of evidence of many riders across many disciplines riding their horses in hyperflexion, it is often unsanctioned. So it was interesting to see it on the eventing warning card list. The word hyperflexion doesn't appear in the FEI general regulations, the eventing rule book or the dressage rulebook. So I am amazed, a card was actually issued for it.

Olympics

During training for the dressage phase of eventing at the Olympics this summer, Brazilian rider Carlos Parro was issued a yellow warning card for "Abuse of Horse". Due to the incident being so widely publicized, it was shown that the incident was due to the rider riding the horse in a hyperflexed head and neck position. So the card was issued for horse abuse, but not specifically for hyperflexion.

The card issued to event rider Mattia Luciani for "Abuse of Horse - Hyperflexion" was given in September this year, after the Olympics. So it looks like a card for hyperflexion is now being issued. Ideally the stewards are empowered to take action against hyperflexion and issue these cards.

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