FEIF condemns the practice of extracting blood from pregnant mares for purely commercial purposes, often resulting in the mistreatment of mares on blood farms. We support the actions taken by responsible authorities and welfare organisations in Iceland and on the...
News from General
International Society for Equine Science Conference 2024 New Zealand
Text: Jennie Boerema, Chair of the Icelandic Horses New Zealand Inc. (IceHNZ)Presentation picture on SLO from the presentation of Mike Weishaupt, FEIF Conference 2023 The topic for the yearly ISES conference, this time held in New Zealand, Don Rowland Centre, Lake...
Luxembourg Statement on Horse Welfare
At the FEIF conference 2024, all participants were invited to join the FEIF Welfare Café on “Welfare of the Horse“. The Welfare Café session delved into the complexities of horse welfare, considering all aspects, be it about the ridden horse or keeping and management....
Rules, Regulations and more… published
All Rules and Regulations valid for 2024 are now published on the FEIF website. A summary of all changes is available here. In addition, the minutes of the annual meetings (FEIF Conference 2024 in Luxembourg), the sport judges guidelines and the booklet with approved...
Mike Weishaupt and Johannes Amplatz at the FEIF Conference 2024
Mike’s and Johannes’ participation in the conference was a great honour and eagerly awaited by participants. Apart from visiting most department meetings to discuss horse welfare and possible approaches of the Icelandic horse scene concerning the social license to...
EHN Webinar: How to communicate on the equine industry
The European Horse Network (EHN) invites for a webinar on 'How to communicate on the equine industry'. There is enough data to show that the concerns around horse involvement in sport are rising. The equine world must positively engage with both perception and reality...
Trainer / Instructor of the Year 2023
The following trainers/instructors were nominated by their national associations this time (in alphabetical order): Dana Hausherr (Switzerland), Emma Möller Ljungqvist (Sweden), Fia Bergman (Finland), Jacqueline Van Den Heuvel (Belgium), Jana Meyer (United States),...
What constitutes a suitable match between horses and riders? Survey launched ….
The past year has been characterized by debates on horse welfare and the concept of Social License to Operate (SLO). The importance of the reputation of the Icelandic horse sport among the public cannot be denied and underestimated, the reputation is a prerequisite...
Some thoughts on connection
Did you know….?
In 2023, the WorldRanking event in Osterfingen, Switzerland ended the WorldRanking season 2023: 12 countries registered a total of 112 WorldRanking events, with 5037 horses and 19.923 results from preliminaries. https://www.feif.org/sport-dept/worldranking-statistics/...
New documentary of the Animal Welfare Foundation / Tierschutzbund Zürich released
A new documentary film was recently released by the Animal Welfare Foundation/Tierschutzbund Zürich, which recommends a ban on PMSG and informs on alternatives using hormone-free methods or synthetic preparations. Earlier this year, the Icelandic Ministry announced...
EHN webinar – Workforce in the Equine industry
Challenges and opportunities on how to attract a young workforce in the equine industry The entire equine industry is struggling to employ a new workforce, whatever the activities, from breeding and racing/sport to veterinary professionals. The industry offers many...
A very first but an important step!
Following complaints with the EFTA Regulatory Authority (ESA) on the topic of blood mares in Iceland, an official letter of warning was sent by ESA to the Icelandic government on May 10, 2023. Today, the Icelandic Ministry announced that the current regulation will be...
FEIF Feather Prize
In the continued push to improve riding skills to advance the welfare of our Icelandic horses, the Board of FEIF decided in 2002 to establish a new prize: the FEIF Feather Prize. The aim of this prize is to encourage good riding and good horsemanship, a tribute to...
Open Letter at the occasion of the World Championships for Icelandic Horses 2023
Dr. Prof. emer. Ewald Isenbügel, Founding and Honorary President of FEIF. Since 1968 the Icelandic horse community has celebrated European and World Championships alongside the Landsmót in Iceland. The Netherlands are hosting the World Championships this year, and we...
Social License to Operate in the Equine Industry
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...
Equipment 2023 – final information
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...
New documentary calling for an end to Iceland’s blood farms
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...