Support Strengthening for the Call to Action for Combined Driving WEG Tryon 2018

 

The effort which began in the grass roots of combined driving in the USA has taken on international proportions through a petition circulating on social media, and media campaign. International drivers, officials, media, enthusiasts and people representing all disciplines of horse sport have joined the ground swell of an effort began by a small group of individuals from Southern Pines.

Part of the supposition of this regarding the organizers and FEI is the expense required for stabling and accommodations for this discipline, which for each entry requires a minimum of 6 stalls as large space for carriages, vehicles, and equipment.

The Following is the Petition and Request for support being circulated.

Support your Sport – Add your voice!

Your help is needed to convince the FEI to use its discretion to continue the tradition of allowing the host country to have up to six individual competitors in addition to its three-member team.

Please use the link below to add your voice requesting Manuel Mello – FEI Driving Director to again use the FEI’s discretion to invite those drivers in the host country who have qualified to compete as they have in the past. Share with all your Facebook friends and ask them to share with their friends – let’s accept the FEI’s invitation to express our passion for our sport!

Link to Petition Deadline - August 20th!

We believe the FEI decided to limit the number of competitors from each country due to the significant growth of the World Equestrian Games – limiting each country to only the team members, or Individuals from countries only able to send one competitor in each discipline.

This growth may be true for the other disciplines but this is not the case for driving. Four-in-hand drivers have been on the decline world-wide, and there are only a few young contenders in the world in the pipeline.

Prior to the 2010 WEG in Kentucky, the FEI used its discretion so that in addition to the two to three team members representing each country, the host country was permitted to have up to six additional competitors compete as individuals as well as other countries who fielded full teams (Kentucky had seven individuals compete).

Note that if a country can only send one driver he/she is considered an individual.

This tradition provides great encouragement to keep the pipeline full of up-and-coming competitors.

Many expected this tradition to continue at this year’s WEG being held at Tryon, North Carolina, and were incredibly disappointed to hear it is not. Even if it had, as was seen at Kentucky, it only added more US competitors but no more from Europe. Partial excerpt from the FEI Website:

“The FEI World Equestrian Games™ is the pinnacle of equestrian sport and July 11th marks two months to the opening ceremony for Tryon 2018! With an anticipated 1,000 athletes, 1,500 horses and 500,000 spectators from more than 70 countries scheduled to attend, this edition will be one of the biggest sporting events on US soil this year…

The eighth edition of the Games is generating huge excitement at the prospect of the world’s best partnerships from across all the FEI disciplines uniting for a showcase of horse sport at the spectacular Tryon International Equestrian Center venue.

Equestrian fans, athletes and teams from across the globe will come together to celebrate the sport - as one. We ask equestrian fans to come together and show their love of the sport at one of the biggest events in the world. It's the chance to celebrate everything that makes equestrianism one of the most loved sports worldwide.

It’s time to be passionate.”

Article 919 Entries Championships and CAIOs 1. Championships and CAIOs are open to national teams. A national team consists of three Athletes of the same Nationality. In the event that a nation can only send two Athletes, they must be entered as a team. An entry from a nation able to send only one entry shall be classified as an individual entry.

Article 927 Additional Entries for Championships and CAIOs 1. At the discretion of the OC all NFs who have submitted a Nominated Entry for a team may be invited to enter

Additional Entries for Championships

Information about the Blog and the Qualified Drivers may be found online at horsedrivingenthusiasts.com on their Facebook Page at facebook.com/horsedrivingenthusiasts or by calling (910) 916-4938.