Horse welfare and the FEI: the ethics commission and the hyperflexion dispute.

Welfare questions in equestrian sport are argued over in public, and the parties do not agree. This page reports what the FEI, its independent commission, scientists and critics have each said, with the date each said it. It does not describe any training or riding method. Specific rules on whips, blood and nosebands are on the whips, blood and nosebands page.

The Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Commission

Formation and surveys (2022)

The FEI formed the Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Commission in June 2022 as an independent advisory body of 10 members, with expertise in equine welfare, equitation science, ethics, education and public affairs. It was chaired by Professor Natalie Waran, an animal behaviour and welfare scientist. In August 2022 the commission ran a survey of people in equestrian sport that drew almost 28,000 responses, and the research company Savanta ran a public survey in 13 countries among people not involved with horses. The commission presented an interim report at the FEI General Assembly in Cape Town on 12 November 2022.

The final report (2023 and 2024)

Waran presented the final report to the FEI General Assembly in Mexico City in November 2023, after 18 months of work. It contains 30 recommendations. The Chronicle of the Horse reported that the report was made public at the FEI Sports Forum in Lausanne in late April 2024, running to 51 pages with 30 recommendations and 62 action points. Its six focus areas are:

• training and riding, tack and equipment;
• recognising physical and emotional stress;
• accountability, enforcement and knowledge;
• the other 23 hours, meaning the horse's life outside competition;
• competitive drive, where the horse is treated as a number or object;
• fitness to compete, including the masking of health problems.

The recommendations include a vision statement of "A Good Life for Horses", a permanent independent advisory committee on equine ethics and wellbeing, a permanent internal FEI body to advocate for horses, evidence-based assessment of how tack and equipment affect welfare, and wider health and welfare monitoring so that horses showing pain or stress do not enter the arena. Specific proposals reported by the Chronicle of the Horse include resuming scientific research on hyperflexion, broadening the review of tack and equipment, rules and a registration system for trainers, post-mortem reporting on horse deaths at national competitions, updating the FEI Code of Conduct for the Welfare of the Horse with World Horse Welfare, and out-of-competition testing.

FEI President Ingmar De Vos said at the April 2024 Sports Forum that some changes would be quick while others would need scientific research.

What the FEI has adopted

The FEI's Equine Welfare Strategy Action Plan was presented at the General Assembly in Abu Dhabi on 12 November 2024 as 37 targeted actions in seven categories, 19 of them already in progress, most due to finish in 2025 and some running into 2026 and 2027. At the same assembly the FEI Board agreed to set up a Dressage Strategic Action Plan Working Group ahead of a full revision of the FEI Dressage Rules targeted for 2027, with a partial revision in 2026. The FEI said it would roll out its own noseband measuring device in 2025, which the Chronicle of the Horse describes as one of the 37 actions. On trainer registration, the FEI said it aims to align with existing national federation systems, and gave no timeline.

The two counts are not a contradiction: the commission's report lists 62 action points, while the FEI's adopted plan has 37 actions. They are different documents. We could not confirm the current status of each of the 37 actions, or whether a proposed Equestrian Charter was formally adopted.

The hyperflexion dispute

Hyperflexion, also called rollkur, refers to riding or training a horse with its neck strongly flexed so that the nose is well behind the vertical. The positions below are each attributed and dated.

The FEI's positions, 2006 to 2010

• 31 January 2006: the FEI Dressage and Veterinary Committees held a workshop at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne with about 60 participants. It concluded there was no scientific evidence that hyperflexion used by skilled riders caused structural damage, but that use by inexperienced people could threaten welfare. It proposed the term "hyperflexion of the neck" in place of "rollkur" and recommended defining abuse more precisely and training stewards.
• 11 November 2008: FEI Executive Sports Director David Holmes said the scientific evidence had not changed since 2006 and there were no known clinical side effects specific to hyperflexion, but that incorrect use carries welfare risks, and that excessive or prolonged hyperflexion is prohibited in all disciplines and enforced by stewarding.
• 27 January 2010: after Swedish rider Patrik Kittel was filmed in October 2009 warming up a horse in a deep position in which its tongue appeared blue, the FEI said it found no reliable evidence that the warm-up was excessive, sent him a warning letter, and set up a working group to define "prolonged and excessive" for stewards.
• 9 February 2010: an FEI round table at IOC headquarters in Lausanne, with riders, trainers, World Horse Welfare and veterinarians, agreed that any head and neck position achieved through aggressive force is unacceptable. It redefined hyperflexion or rollkur as flexion achieved through aggressive force, while declaring "Low, Deep and Round" flexion without undue force acceptable. It said aggressive riding must be sanctioned, that the rider bears primary responsibility for the horse's welfare, and that no rule change was needed. A petition of 41,000 signatures against rollkur, presented by Gerd Heuschmann, was accepted at the meeting.

The scientific reviews, 2015 and 2024

• 2015: Uta Koenig von Borstel and colleagues reviewed 55 studies on head and neck position at the International Society for Equitation Science conference in Vancouver (6 to 9 August 2015). In 88 percent, a hyperflexed position was indicated to harm welfare, through airway obstruction, neck changes, impaired forward vision, stress and pain. One study (1.8 percent) suggested a benefit, which the authors said had confounding factors.
• 2 October 2024: Koenig von Borstel, Kathrin Kienapfel, Andrew McLean, Cristina Wilkins and Paul McGreevy published a systematic review and meta-analysis in Scientific Reports covering 58 studies from 54 papers. Of the 36 studies assessing welfare, 75 percent raised concerns about horses ridden with the nose behind the vertical, or 66.7 percent counting only conclusions supported by each study's own data. Performance results were inconclusive: about a quarter of studies reported benefits, about a quarter detriments and 44 percent no significant effect. The authors concluded that welfare costs outweigh potential benefits. They also report that about two-thirds of dressage horses studied were ridden behind the vertical, and note limits including varied study designs and inconsistent definitions of posture.

Where the two sides stand

The FEI's 2006 and 2008 statements found no evidence of structural damage or clinical side effects when the method is used by skilled riders, with prolonged or excessive use prohibited. The 2015 and 2024 equitation science reviews found that most studies report welfare harm. The FEI's 2010 line separates forced hyperflexion, which it bans, from Low, Deep and Round flexion without force, which it accepts. The ethics commission's final report asked for scientific research on hyperflexion to resume, which would revisit that distinction. We could not confirm the current FEI wording on Low, Deep and Round, or the outcome of that research. Reported defences of the method by its users, and a 2006 response from the German Judges' Association, appear only in search summaries and are not given here.

For the 2025 and 2026 rule changes on whips, blood and nosebands, see whips, blood and nosebands.