How equestrian sport is organised, from the FEI down.

This section explains how equestrian sport is organised, not how to ride. Riding, handling, tacking up and every other practical skill are learned in person from a qualified coach or riding school, and horse health questions belong with a vet. What these pages offer is the structure around that: which bodies make the rules, what each discipline asks of horse and rider, how the scores are worked out, and how levels, ages and passports are defined.

Every rule on these pages is given as a named body's rule, with the rulebook and its year. Where sources disagree, each version is given with who says it. For the gear side, the equipment section covers helmets, body protectors and tack, the safety section covers injury data, welfare rules and horse health as the bodies publish them, and the glossary explains the vocabulary.

A note on the FEI's rule text

The FEI (Federation Equestre Internationale) publishes its rulebooks on its own website, but that site refused our requests. The FEI rules quoted in this section were therefore read through copies published by other bodies, mainly Equestrian Australia's 2026 rulebooks, which reproduce the FEI Jumping Rules and Eventing Rules and mark Australia's own additions separately. Each page says so where it relies on such a copy. The FEI's own current text, and the officials at a given event, have the final word.

The shortest possible version

• The Olympic Federation of Ireland describes three Olympic equestrian disciplines: jumping, dressage and eventing. It also notes that men and women compete against each other on equal terms.
• The FEI is the international governing body for its disciplines. Wikipedia lists its current disciplines as dressage and para dressage, driving and para driving, endurance, eventing, jumping and vaulting.
• Reining was removed as an FEI discipline by the FEI General Assembly in November 2021, according to EquNews. It continues under national rules.
• National federations such as British Equestrian, US Equestrian, Equestrian Canada and Equestrian Australia are affiliated to the FEI, and those federations, or in Great Britain their member bodies, write national rules on top of the FEI's.
• Dressage is marked by judges, jumping is scored on faults and time, and eventing adds dressage, cross country and jumping into one penalty total.
• Levels, age categories and horse ages are all set in rulebooks, and they differ between the FEI and national bodies.

Who writes the rules?

One date to keep in mind

The FEI's presidential election has not been held. The Chronicle of the Horse, carrying an FEI release of 15 June 2026, reports that three candidates were confirmed and that the FEI General Assembly is due to vote on 5 December 2026 in Jiangyin, China. Eurodressage's report of 16 June 2026 says November in one passage and quotes Ingmar De Vos referring to December. The FEI page has the detail.

The pages in this section

1. What equestrian sport is: the disciplines, the Olympic programme and the scope of this site.
2. The FEI: founding, members, presidents and the 2026 election.
3. National federations: the US, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and Germany.
4. Dressage: tests, the scale of marks, collective marks and penalties.
5. Para dressage: the five grades, classification and compensating aids.
6. Show jumping: Table A and Table C, time faults and jump-offs.
7. Eventing: the three tests, long and short formats, and penalties.
8. Endurance: loops and vet gates in principle.
9. Driving and vaulting: combined driving's three phases and vaulting's compulsories and freestyles.
10. Levels and classes: event codes, star levels and national grades.
11. Rider ages and categories: Children, Juniors, Young Riders and more.
12. Horse passports and identification: FEI passports, UK law and microchips.
13. How people learn to ride: BHS stages, the Pony Club, LearnTo and school approval.
14. How many people ride: each body's own figures, with dates.