The FEI Technical Committee, together with the FEI Endurance Department have now submitted the final wording of the World Senior Endurance Championship 2008 qualification criteria for approval by the FEI Bureau.

The original Criteria which was posted on the FEI Web site and circulated to all FEI National Federations for comment has been amended with regard to the maximum ride time allowed at the additional qualification ride - to be achieved within twelve months of the nominated entry date of the 2008 Championship.This is now the same as the other qualification ride to be achieved within twenty four months of the nominated entry date.

The original thinking behind the suggestion of a shorter maximum ride time for the additional qualifier was to ensure that horses competing in Malaysia had proven levels of increased fitness. However, some Federations felt that the differing conditions found at FEI 160 km events around the world made this increased requirement unfair on certain nations. Further, there was concern that the need for additional speed was contrary to the desire for increased levels of horsemanship that are not directly linked to the ability to increase speed.

The FEI Technical Committee will therefore address these fitness issues by applying stricter criteria on the day of competition as provided for under art 807 and 808 of the FEI Rules for Endurance Events.

The final wording of the 2008 criteria can now be found under http://www.horsesport.org/e/PDFS/2008EnduranceQualificationCriteria-fina...