In response to the allegations of continued rule breaking in endurance in the United Arab Emirates, the Fédération Equestre Internationale has released a new set of sanctions for the nation’s program. But the American Endurance Ride Conference and other national federations are still concerned that the new rules won’t be followed or enforced. 

The American Endurance Ride Conference is leading calls for the Fédération Equestre Internationale to move the 2016 FEI World Endurance Championships from Dubai following an escalation in atrocities caught on camera by official live stream provider YAS during the current United Arab Emirates winter season.

AERC president Michael Campbell wrote Feb. 5 to the U.S. Equestrian Federation following the “appalling mistreatment of horses” in the closing stages of a 120-kilometer youth event at Al Wathba on Jan. 30.

Veterinarian Kathy Broaddus always dreamed of someday completing the 100-mile Western States Trail Ride, better known as the Tevis Cup. But, you know, I’ve always dreamed of competing at the Olympic Games too, and for an amateur rider with a full-time job and no magic money tree in the backyard, the odds of doing either were about as unlikely.

However, Broaddus, of Bluemont, Va., accomplished a remarkable feat this summer when she managed to not only complete the notoriously difficult endurance ride, but also to finish in the top 10 in her first attempt on Aug. 1.

The Fédération Equestre Internationale Bureau has unanimously approved the immediate reinstatement of the United Arab Emirates national federation to full membership of the FEI following signature of a legally binding agreement between the two parties in which the Emirates Equestrian Federation guarantees that horse welfare will be fully respected and that FEI rules will be stringently enforced at all endurance events, both national and international, in the country.

The FEI Bureau today, June 9, welcomed a series of proposals for reform of the endurance discipline in the United Arab Emirates but agreed unanimously that further information needs to be provided by the UAE national federation before lifting of the provisional suspension can be considered.