The FEI has already decided to do away with one rider per team at the Olympic Games. Now it's the turn of the World Equestrian Games to undergo changes to make way for a new format! The famous and much-appreciated rotating final will no longer be held at the WEG.

Without even saying a word about it, the FEI has just published its new rules for 2017. The Caen Tournament, which saw Bezzie Madden, Patrice Delaveau, Jeroen Dubbeldam and Rolf-Göran Bengtsson compete, was probably the last one. This mythical event of the equestrian games had been under fire for years and has now been definitively buried. Launched in 1978, the 4-way final did not seem to have the unanimous support of all riders.

For Edwina Tops-Alexander, this formula was more attractive to the public and the media than to the riders. The 4 rounds put extra pressure on the horses and increased the risk of accidents. On the contrary, Jeroen Dubbeldam (World Champion in Caen in 2014) really liked the format and regrets that it has been abolished. It gave riders more credibility and generated a strong interest in jumping among the general public.

And that's not all, the FEI has other surprises in store for us!

The FEI has also decided to abolish the hunter event. The next WEG will therefore only be held over two rounds conducted over two days. Only 10 nations and 60 individuals will be able to enter the second team round. This means that the score will be made at the end of the first round. This means that for some couples the adventure will end after only one round...

For the individual events, only the best 25 couples from the two team rounds will be allowed to start the first round. Only 12 will be selected for the second round.

All these changes are enough to dissuade our favourite riders from making the trip to North Carolina!

Find the new rules here

Team Seaver