Sometimes equipment in sport doesn’t fit in either the description of what is allowed or what is not allowed. In such cases the description of what is allowed prevails. Equipment not described as allowed is not allowed. At the moment there are four items that might cause confusion as it is not totally clear to everybody if they are allowed or not:
– The use of rubber bands in manes: it is not allowed to change the natural shape of the horse with artefacts and specific techniques. However it is allowed to use rubber bands only to divide the manes of a horse evenly when the (heavy) manes are otherwise unbalanced and would hinder the performance of the horse.
– The same goes for clipping and shaving: this is allowed when needed for the health of a horse.
– Snow grip: in winter time the use of ‘snow grip’ (rings/soles with extra grip on the ground, to be used on slippery surfaces) is allowed for safety reasons, in addition to nails and studs as described in FIPO 2.3.4. The ring/sole itsef should fit otherwise in the description of FIPO 2.3.7.
– Filling material in the hoof (like produced by Vettec): FIPO describes filling material in combination with a sole. In such cases the filling material is only allowed between the sole and the hoof, not below the sole (between sole and ground). However the use of a sole is not always needed. In such cases the filling material may extend the imaginary line between hoof and shoe. This is accepted on a temporary basis (2011) as the FEIF Sport Committee will discuss this further in its meeting of October 2011, also in relation to our policy to reduce the weight per foot.
Equipment in sport
