Equestrian: IPEC signs Cooperation Agreement with Able-Bodied Federation

The International Paralympic Equestrian Committee (IPEC) was invited to take part in the 2001 International Equestrian Federation (FEI) General Assembly to sign an Agreement of Cooperation between FEI and IPEC, and to make a presentation to FEI. Present from IPEC were: Jonquil Solt (Chairman), Inger Bryant (Dressage), Ulf Wilken (Training) and Sue Adams (Secretary).
The Assembly was held at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. Out of the 126 member National Federations, 90 were present; 80 were represented by delegates and 10 by proxy. There were also the FEI bureau and committee members and staff; altogether about 250 people were present. The organization was very good and all the meetings and the forum went to time. 
The Thursday morning timetable started with the signing of a new FEI sponsorship from Samsung, then the IPEC presentation, followed by a forum for discussing the future format of organizing events. IPEC had a full audience, conveying a genuine interest in equestrian sport for riders with disabilities.
Jonquil Solt gave a brilliant presentation; it included overhead transparencies to show the progress of IPEC, and a short video of riders with various disabilities riding at the Paralympic Games in Sydney. The delivery was very clear and informative, and the audience appeared wholly absorbed; the presentation seemed to hold their total concentration throughout. The video succeeded in showing true classical dressage, ridden by riders in harmony with their horses, and so producing soft and fluent tests.
The comments afterwards were very positive and a lot of goodwill was gained. Many of the audience were touched by what they had seen, and some commented that they preferred the dressage they had seen on the video to some of today’s more forced performances by able-bodied riders. During the lunch that followed, the Agreement of Cooperation was signed by HRH Dona Pilar De Borbon, President of the FEI, and by Jonquil Solt, Chairman of IPEC. 
Credit should be given to Michael Stone, FEI, who together with IPEC had worked hard during the two previous years to smooth the way and help to produce this agreement. Some of the members of FEI had not always been in favor of allowing riders with disabilities to ride in FEI competitions, but after the presentation and signing, several came forward and offered to help with any problems we might have with the integration.
Many new contacts were made and some new countries registered interest in IPEC. This was greatly helped by an IPEC “stall” set up and manned by Sue Adams. It was a good focal point, showing continuously running videos of our riders and offering the new pamphlet as well as rules, tests, guidelines and other literature produced by IPEC. A special guideline was written by me for the FEI judges and trainers who may now, under the Cooperation Agreement, encounter riders with disabilities and be unsure how to deal with them.
The Agreement provides for IPEC to advise the FEI on ways to integrate riders with disabilities into FEI competitions. This broadly means that IPEC classified riders with disabilities may ride in able-bodied competitions with compensating aids. These aids will not be allowed to give them an advantage over able-bodied riders, and will have to be individually described for each rider and certified on their classification cards.
The Cooperation Agreement provides also for a number of ways in which the FEI will assist in promoting competitive riding for people with disabilities. The FEI will also include a module on the topic in their new Accredited Trainers course. In her address to the FEI Assembly, Jonquil Solt made a plea for FEI judges and trainers to include people with disabilities in their courses. The presentation and signing pave the way for a successful partnership between the FEI and IPEC.

Inger Bryant 
Dressage Chairman, IPEC