Competitions under FEI & Jockey Club Rules
The two main bodies controlling competition horses are the Jockey Club and the Federation Equestre International (FEI). The Jockey Club controls horse racing and the FEI (set up to administer equestrian sports in 1921) controls the following horse sports internationally: showjumping, dressage, eventing, driving, endurance, vaulting, reining, para-Olympics and (from this year) Horse of the Year Show showing classes
These sports are controlled by the FEI Statutes, General Regulation and specifically Veterinary Regulations. There are also rules and regulations for the disciplines, full details of which are available on the FEI web site www.horsesport.org, the most important of which from a veterinary point of view include vaccinations and banned drugs.
Vaccinations
FEI influenza vaccination regulations have changed recently and an extract detailing the recent FEI rule change is provided on our Vaccinations page, which also covers equine tetanus and herpes vaccination information. Influenza vaccination can be given by itself or combined with the Tetanus or Equine Herpes Virus vaccination.
If your horse competes under Jockey Club or FEI rules your should inform us of this so records can be updated and booster-reminders sent at the appropriate time. It should be noted that whilst we endeavor to remind clients about vaccinations, it is THE OWNER’S RESPONSIBILITY to ensure their horses are vaccinated in time to comply with the Jockey Club Rules of Racing and / or FEI Sports Horse competitions.
The 6-monthly booster interval for influenza is the same as that for equine herpes virus. This is primarily a respiratory virus, which can cause obvious signs of respiratory inflection, or can more commonly be responsible for non-specific loss of performance. Due to this, we recommend that competing sports horses are vaccinated against equine herpes virus at 6-monthly intervals. If you choose to have you horse vaccinated against both influenza and herpes, this can be given in a single, combined injection.
Banned Drugs
A list of banned drugs for horses competing under Jockey Club or FEI rules, together with detection times and and drugs which cannot be given to horses whose passport states they may be used for human consumption, is provided on our Banned Drugs page. Information on horse passports is provided on our horse Passports page.
