Cherry-picked some events with more-than-most sanctions, just for general discussion of how the FEI gives out sanctions. Intended for the general followers of UL eventing and 5*'s, I’m sure the experts already know these things. Links below to more info.
Looking over the entire FEI sanctions worksheet (scroll down to the link below to find it as a link goes to an immediate download), there is notable uneveness in the number and seriousness of sanctions given out at various events, at various times. (The worksheet takes some sorting for easy comparison.)
Badminton - May 2023 - 1 sanction
Oliver Townend - Swallow Springs - Eventing Recorded Warning - Dangeorus riding / series of dangerous jumps
Saumur - One, two & three star levels - April 2023 - 4 sanctions
All yellow cards.
Delhi - one, two star levels - Dec. 2022 - 6 sanctions overall
4 were yellow cards. 2 of the yellow cards went to one rider, who also got a warning, so he gathered up 3 total sanctions for his day, all on the same poor horse. (He was carrying another yellow card from the month before.) But apparently he wasn’t the worst actor on that day. Another rider had blood on his horse, and yet another rider was booted altogether for “Incorrect behaviour - Suspension for Minor Offences”.
Mars Maryland 5 Star (“Elkton”) - Oct. 2022 - 5 sanctions
2 Yellow Cards - Woods Baughman, Buck Davidson
3 Recorded Warnings - Woods again, Rachel Lawson, Tim Price
The same weekend as Maryland, an event in Sweden had 4 sanctions (2 were yellow cards) and one in Poland had 6 sanctions (1 was a yellow card).
At this past Badminton, given the number of very tired horses and considering the footing, it’s interesting that more sanctions weren’t given. On the other hand, perhaps some riders fell off or retired before they got to that point.
Recorded Warning seems to include a lot of compliance & admin - continuing after an E, dangerous riding, not seeing dr / vet as required, etc. Includes blood on the horse.
Yellow Card seems to focus on “abuse” criteria, including whipping, exhausted horse and pressing a tired horse.
I do not know 5* eventing worldwide well enough to know the inner truth behind FEI sanctions. But skimming the FEI worksheet of sanctions 2021 to present, one could ask some questions. Just out of curiosity, to better understand the FEI sanctions system.
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Are there consistent standards across all events and officials for sanctions? Or does it depend on who is handing out sanctions at the event that day? Do some officials give very few, while others deal them out like poker hands?
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Are officials more likely to issue a “Recorded Warning”, but possibly more conservative about giving a “Yellow Card”, because they are sensitive to the impact of 2 Yellow Cards to a rider?
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Further to the above point, several of the Recorded Warnings reasons for sanctions are objectively quantifiable - re, number of whip strikes. By comparison, are Yellow Cards considered more subjective and dependent on opinion? Is the incident reviewed by more than one official review before a Yellow Card is decided?
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Are officials more likely to give a sanction for the same riding (whip, pushing, etc.) in a lower level division than they are in a four or five star division?
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Is the riding really more terrible at some events than others? Are there other reasons that some events get lots of sanctions and other very few?
Severity of each …
Recorded Warning - Should the same Person Responsible receive three (3) or more Recorded Eventing Warning at the same or any other International Event within two (2) years (24 months) of the delivery of the first Eventing Warning Card, for any offence, the Person Responsible shall be automatically suspended for a period of two (2) months after official notification from, or on behalf of, the FEI Secretary General. The start date of the suspension shall be decided in accordance with the FEI General Regulations and confirmed in the notification.
Yellow Card - Should the same Person Responsible receive one (1) more Yellow Warning Card at the same or any other international International Event within one (1) year (12 months) of the delivery of the first Yellow Warning Card for the same any offence, the Person Responsible shall automatically be suspended for a period of four two (2) months after official notification from or on behalf of, the FEI Secretary General. The start date of the suspension shall be decided in accordance with the FEI General Regulations and confirmed in the notification.
The Yellow Card has some confusing language, but it seems that the automatic suspension occurs after 2 cards are issued. But I don’t know how long “four two (2) months” is.
Article on sanctions at the Maryland 5* (called “Elkton” on the FEI worksheet)
Article on sanctions at Badminton. Does anyone know exactly what were the “series of dangerous jumps”? Was that about the horse bellying over, maybe leaving legs at jumps?
List of sanctions as of May 10, 2023 - scroll down to find the download link.
FEI sanctions in section 527 on pg 48 -
