The FEI, the international federation for equestrian sport.

Founding

Most of the FEI's early history reached us through Wikipedia, a secondary source, because the FEI's own website refused our requests. Wikipedia gives these points:

• The FEI was founded in Paris on 24 November 1921, following discussions at the 1921 Olympic Congress in Lausanne.
• Its eight founding national federations were Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, Norway, Sweden and the United States. Search summaries of the FEI's own 100th-anniversary report give the same eight, but we could not open that report.
• Its first President was Baron du Teil of France, from 1921 to 1927.
• The first Olympic Games held under FEI authority were in 1924.
• It is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The sources do not quite agree on where the FEI began. British Dressage's timeline says it was formed in Lausanne in 1921, while Wikipedia places the founding in Paris, with Lausanne as the later headquarters.

Search summaries of the FEI's 100-year report say it was founded because equestrian sport, on the Olympic programme since 1912, needed internationally recognised rules overseen by a world body. We could not read that report directly, so the stated reason is unconfirmed.

Member federations

The FEI's members are national federations. The count moves from year to year, and the sources we found give different figures:

Wikipedia also describes how the members are grouped into regions: Groups I to III for Europe (working with the European Equestrian Federation), IV for North America and the Caribbean, V for Central America, VI for South America, VII for the Middle East and North Africa, VIII for Asia and Oceania, and IX for Africa.

Presidents

Under the FEI constitution, a President may serve at most three four-year terms, according to the 2018 FEI release carried by US Eventing. That release reported that Ingmar De Vos of Belgium, President since 2014, had been re-elected unopposed in Manama on 20 November 2018 for 2018 to 2022. An FEI release carried by AAP, which we saw only in a search summary, reports that he was re-elected for a third and final term at the General Assembly held in Cape Town and online on 13 November 2022, running to 2026.

Wikipedia lists earlier presidents including Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1964 to 1986), Anne, Princess Royal (1986 to 1994), the Infanta Pilar (1994 to 2006) and Princess Haya bint Hussein (2006 to 2014).

The 2026 presidential election (not yet held)

The Chronicle of the Horse, publishing an edited FEI release on 15 June 2026, reports:

• Three candidates were confirmed: Mark Samuel of Canada; Sabrina Ibanez of El Salvador, FEI Secretary General since December 2014; and Jack Huang of Chinese Taipei, an FEI Vice President since 2019.
• The FEI General Assembly is due to vote on 5 December 2026 in Jiangyin, China.
• Candidacies closed on 1 June 2026. An Independent Election Committee ran background checks, and the Nominations Committee vetted the candidacies at its meeting on 11 and 12 June, under the "Rules for Election of the FEI President 2026".

One source differs on timing. Eurodressage's report of 16 June 2026 says in one passage that the election is in November, while a quote from De Vos in the same article refers to December. The Chronicle of the Horse gives 5 December 2026.

Why reining left the FEI

Reining was an FEI discipline until 2021 and is not one now. The record runs as follows:

19 November 2018

The FEI ended its 2014 cooperation agreement with the NRHA (National Reining Horse Association) and its agreement with the AQHA (American Quarter Horse Association), citing breaches over anti-doping, stewarding and minimum horse-age rules. The AQHA disputed that any breach had happened (Chronicle of the Horse, 26 November 2018).

October 2021

The FEI Board declined to sign a proposed new agreement, which it said lacked meaningful commitment (EquNews, 18 November 2021).

November 2021

The FEI General Assembly approved statute changes removing reining, because the FEI must be the sole governing body of its disciplines and the US reining body had not agreed to that (EquNews).

Reining continues under national rules, for example in Equestrian Canada's rulebook.

Competitions the FEI runs

Wikipedia records that FEI World Cup series began in jumping in 1978, dressage in 1985 (British Dressage's timeline gives 1986), driving in 2001 and vaulting in 2010, and that an eventing World Cup ran from 2003 to 2012. It also says the FEI World Equestrian Games were held every four years from 1990. International events carry codes by discipline, such as CSI for jumping, CDI for dressage and CCI for eventing; the levels and classes page explains them.

2026 General Regulations: points that apply across disciplines

The FEI General Regulations (GRs) apply to every FEI discipline. US Equestrian's outline of the 2026 FEI rule changes and HQ Magazine's report of 5 February 2026 describe these changes:

• Art 140.1, headgear: properly fastened protective headgear is mandatory while riding anywhere on the showground, and for driving athletes and grooms in the marathon. Sport rules may allow it to be removed for prize-giving and anthems. A breach now brings a fine instead of a yellow warning card. Whether a particular helmet meets the rule is for the body's current rules, the hat tag where one is used, and the officials at the event; the helmet rules by body page covers the standards.
• Art 140.3, phones: unless the sport rules say otherwise, athletes may not hold a phone to the ear or make calls while riding in the warm-up arena, and may use one earphone or a hands-free device if it does not compromise safety.
• Art 100.8, national rules: by 1 January 2027, national federations must have abuse-of-horse provisions in their national rules that are generally consistent with GRs Art 142, and harassment and abuse rules consistent with the FEI's Appendix I.
• Stable areas: from 2026, access to FEI stable areas is limited to equines, dogs and humans, for biosecurity and safety.
• Tack: from 2026, tack and equipment requirements move out of the individual sport rules into central FEI documents, the FEI Tack, Equipment and Dress Database and the FEI TackApp (HQ Magazine).
• Eventing warnings: three Recorded Warnings to the same Person Responsible within 24 months bring an automatic two-month suspension, as US Equestrian summarises the 2026 rules.