Palm Beach Equine vet lays down the FEI law
As the Winter Equestrian Festival [WEF] ramps up at Wellington International, so do the amount of FEI [Fédération Equestre Internationale] classes – and that means the grooms working at that level need to step up to the plate to ensure their horses comply with FEI rules, old and new.
“We don’t make the rules. We have to enforce them. That’s our obligation,” Dr Christopher Elliott of the Palm Beach Equine Clinic told a room full of eager listeners at the first HorseGrooms’ meetup of the 2025 season, providing a chance for those attending to learn about FEI procedures and how to make sure they have their ducks in a row when they present a showjumper at the FEI compound on the showground.
Much of the advice was a simple case of being prepared – such as bringing a thermometer for each horse, having a passport for each horse, ensuring horses have records of flu vaccination and being sure to log in a horse’s temperatures on the app as required prior to arrival. He also strongly recommended practicing the jog. “If you and your rider can train a horse to jump the meter 60, you can train your horse to trot in a nice straight line at a consistent speed, slow down, walk, turn a circle right and trot back,” he said. “It’s really important that you guys understand that this is serious, not just an annoying thing that they are making you do.”
He went on to explain that rules are designed to cover worldwide competitions – and not written with just Wellington in mind. As of December 26, 2024, the FEI banned the clipping of hair inside a horse’s ears. One groom raised the concern that this could make it harder to take out a horse’s ear plugs. The reality, Dr Elliott explained, is that ear plugs are not used in European countries. “There is an ‘I’ in FEI,” he said. “That stands for International.”
He also advised that grooms try to get to the FEI area early to avoid waiting in line. “We open arrivals from eight until 11,” he said. “Horses need to be in by 11. But more than 60 percent of horses arrive between 10 and 11. If you arrive at 10, you are gonna wait in the car park to be checked in.”
Florida weather can prove a factor as hot horses will not pass through the FEI inspection. “If a horse is over 38.5 degrees celsius or 101.5 technically, according to the FEI rules, we need to put the horse in isolation and test it for infectious disease,” Dr Elliott said. “So if you ride your horse in the morning and then you walk it straight from the ring over to us and your horse is hot, there’s nothing we can do. You are going to stand in the corner until your horse cools off. Rules are made for 99% of people, but unfortunately, we can’t make exceptions for the one percent here and Wellington.”
Grooms’ meetups were launched by HorseGrooms’ founder Dinette Neuteboom as a resource for the community. BiBi Diaz, who used to work with FEI level horses, attended the event at Palm Beach Equine Clinic and pointed out how invaluable these meetups are. “When I was working with horses at this level we used to work blind,” she said. “And I would have to call to ask for rules and regulations – there are so many things like shampoos that maybe can have something in them that you are not supposed to put on the horse. Having the opportunity to learn like this and ask questions is so nice.”
HorseGrooms’ meetups continue throughout WEF. Visit HorseGrooms.com for more information.
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