Credibility, professionalism and trust! After numerous incidents that were problematic from an animal welfare point of view, there has recently been harsh criticism of equestrian sports. More and more often we read headlines in the public media such as : "Sport or...
The description of the permitted equipment is now published in its final version for 2023. Certain measurements for the Icelandic curb bit have been removed after intense discussions and measuring lots of standard bits during the last weeks. The FEIF equipment...
Animal welfare organisations, business people and tourism experts call for an end to Iceland’s blood farms. In a new documentary, following the film from 2021, the Germany’s Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF) and Tierschutzbund Zürich (TSB), business, tourism, breeding...
There are currently strange emails sent out to many FEIF contacts asking for money or for help.Please do not click on any links, do not answer or forward them but categorize them as spam emails or deleted them. The email addresses are fake addresses!
The Delegates’ Assembly 2023 unanimously decided to set a positive sign regarding FEIF’s commitment to horse welfare and the fact that horses should be ridden and presented with as little mechanical and external influence as possible and thus to switch to a list of...
At the FEIF Conference 2023, Mike Weishaupt, professor at the Equine Department of the University of Zurich, presented the topic on Social Licence to Operate and what it includes to participants from several FEIF member associations. How to explain the term SLO? The...
The keynote speech at the FEIF Conference was held by Prof. Dr. med. Vet. Michael Weishaupt and it continued to be the main topic of the FEIF Conference 2023 in all department meetings. What is Social Licence to Operate (SLO)? And which questions should we ask...
Hej - a small word can make a big difference Calle Gustavsson, head of "Friends" and Ulrika Backan, project manager of the "Safe SIF" project, provided input on their work during their presentation at the FEIF Conference 2023. The goal of the workshop was to stark...
A great event with many topics and possibilities for discussions! One of the main topics of the FEIF Conference 2023 was the ”Social license to Operate (SLO)” where Mike Weishaupt from the Veterinarian University of Zurich as keynote speaker addressed the different...
The FEIF Delegates’ Assembly 2023 took place in Stockholm, Sweden with delegates from 14 out of 21 FEIF member countries entitled to vote being present. Again, a long list of candidates and issues were up for voting during the Assembly, the results are online on this...
In February 2011, I joined the Board of FEIF at a Delegates Assembly in Vienna. At the time, Jens Iversen from Denmark, was the FEIF president. I enjoyed working under his leadership for the next 3 years, until I took over as the President 2014. Now, when my term is...
Once a year, representatives from the FEIF member countries meet somewhere in a FEIF member country. This year, it will be Stockholm, Sweden from February 3-4, 2023. Social licence to operate (SLO) and combatting sexual harassment are the two big topics that will...
Thank you for your votes for the Trainer/Instructor of the Year 2022! The following trainers/instructors were nominated by their national associations this time (in alphabetical order): Caeli Cavanagh, United States of America, Catherine Mynn, Switzerland, Liva...
It's 7 o'clock, and the snow is falling,As I look outside, the horses are calling.I throw on some clothes and rush to the yard,Everything sparkles, and the ground is hard:Icy breath in the air, a hoof stamping the ground.Then it's tik tak, tak tik, the only sound.A...
More and more horse associations all over the world started discussions about the so-called “Social license to operate” – the concern for the welfare and use of horses, the changing societal attitudes regarding animal use, the increasing public unease about the use of...
Recently, the BLUP breeding values have been re-estimated and published in the Studbook of Origin for the Icelandic horse, WorldFengur.com (WF). In total, breeding values for 479,960 Icelandic horses are available this time. This applies to all horses registered in WF...
The Icelandic Norwegian Horse Festival ended a great 2023 WorldRanking season: 12 countries registered a total of 110 WorldRanking events, more than 2,700 riders with almost 4,000 horses participated! https://www.feif.org/sport-dept/worldranking/worldranking/ At 47...
It is now one year that disturbing images from Iceland, pictures taken by the Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF) and Tierschutzbund Zürich (TSB) showed frightened Icelandic mares while a disproportionate amount of blood was drawn from them. Following the release of the...