More On Equine Welfare

It is a disgrace to the horse world that once again, a governing body has let the horse down. This time, it is the FEI’s revision to its blood rule: whereas any rider-induced blood was cause for elimination in show jumping, as of January 2026, it will no longer be an automatic elimination. The FEI will instead use a warning system. The first two violations will result in written warnings. Two or more written warnings withing a 12 months period will mean a fine and a one-month suspension.

If the blood appears to be from the horse biting his tongue or lip, or if the blood is from the nose, the blood can be wiped off and horse and rider may continue, “provided that the horse is deemed fit to compete,” with no warning issued. Horses must be cleared to compete by the ground jury and a vet delegate, who must determine in that moment whether or not the horse is physically able to continue.

The only rule that the FEI left in place was for automatic suspension for blood resulting from excessive use of spurs….so they did have a wee bit of common sense left.

Meanwhile, the FEI has toughened the blood rule in dressage. Horses can now be eliminated before they even enter the test, applying to the moment the horse and rider enter the space around the arena. If blood is suspected, the horse must be stopped and inspected, with any blood found resulting in elimination. If the horse is found to have blood in or around its mouth or from spurs, after the test, the pair will be eliminated.

Why can’t the blood rule apply to all disciplines across the board? Why different rules for each discipline? They should be uniform, with the welfare of the horse coming first and foremost.

On one hand, I understand the frustration of the rider to work their arse off to get to a championship level competition, only to be eliminated for what could possibly be nothing more than a drop of blood from a fly or mosquito bite. But how can one determine in a matter of minutes or seconds what the root cause of a nose bleed or blood on the lips is actually from? At the end of the day, the welfare of the horse must come first, and this is taking a step in the wrong direction. Like so much in life anymore, it is just one more instance of dumbing down. Once again, the human want takes precedent over the safety of the animal.

Kudos to British Equestrian Federation (BEF) and British Showjumping (BS) for stating that they will not be changing their national rules to comply with the FEI. BEF chief executive Jim Eyre issued a statement that said, in part, “If horses are to have a future in sport, we must demonstrate unwaivering respect for their welfare. That means clear, ethical rules that put the horse first.”

One could hope that other federations will follow suit.

The United States Equestrian Federation apparently allows for hunter and equitation riders to school over fences while using equipment such as draw reins, chambons, de gogues and other similar tack. As of December 1, 2025, these items must be run through a yoke or neck strap to prevent legs from becoming entangles in them. My question is when did it become acceptable to jump using these types of equipment and why is the USEF allowing it? If you need these types of equipment while jumping your horse, then you need to go back to the basics and work on your flat work and not be jumping.

The USEF has also been under attack as the salaries of their board of directors were revealed. The CEO, Bill Moroney tops the list at $467,290, with the lowest salary still making six figures, beginning with a one. Meanwhile, membership fees continue to increase, show fees keep going up and yet, the board still struggles to place equine welfare first and foremost. Many agree that the USEF is out of touch with the everyday horse world and other options are being created to develop new show organizations that do not reward those who abuse their horse. One such organization is the United Dressage and Jumping club, which doesn’t focus on one particular breed, but is focusing on the individual horse competing, and correct riding, with a return to high quality horsemanship. The group is keeping entry fees lower with riders getting feedback from the judges (sounds like pony club!)

In other news, I am home from Equine Affaire, having brought the cold weather with me! No complaints here, I will take our 29 degrees this morning in north central Florida any day over the 115 heat index that we endured this summer! Although Gabe, my Florida born OTTB will disagree…poor guy, he literally just stands out in the pasture in his blanket, looking like the scene from A Christmas Story where Ralphie’s kid brother Randy can’t move due to all the layers of clothes he is wearing (growing up in West Virginia, I can easily relate to that scene…kids today with their thin, technical clothing, don’t understand the layers that were piled on us, not to mention the plastic bread bag over our socks!)

But back to Equine Affaire! It was a fantastic event and much fun sharing a booth with such a diverse group of authors! I spoke on both How To Be a Good Boarder and on Disaster Planning! My daughter took time from her booth the Pegasus App to video me, and I am running clips of both talks on my TikTalk, Instagram and FaceBook accounts, if you want to catch any of it! I started posting my clips on How To Be a Good Boarder…oh, boy! To date, the first video has generated over 10,000 views in less than 24 hours and tons of comments on TikTok. Talk about a hot topic! I only had 30 minutes to speak about being a good boarder. If you would like to learn more, you can find a chapter in my book devoted to this topic, as well as a chapter in the book on how to be a good barn manager!

I was interviewed for Horse Illustrated and the first snippet, part of an Equine Affaire recap is here: Equine Affaire Massachusetts 2025 Recap - Horse Illustrated There will be a full-length interview in the magazine at a later date, I will keep you posted!

It is hard to believe that Black Friday will be in just two weeks! Be sure to follow my website www.CommonSenseHorseKeeping.com for deals on my book and journals and I will have specials listed in my blog on that day. You can also find deals for my etsy shop www.etsy.com/shop/TwoDonkeysAndAHorse If you are in Central Florida, be sure to check out my boutique in the Vault 44, located in DeLand on the corner of New York and Amelia. Seriously, where has this year gone?

Don’t forget to hug your horse!

Lori