Tag Archives: World Horse Welfare

FEI and World Horse Welfare Formalise Long-Term Collaboration

Roly Owers (left), Chief Executive of World Horse Welfare, the international horse charity, and FEI First Vice President and Chair of the FEI Veterinary Committee John McEwen (right), signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the 22nd National Equine Forum on 6 March at which FEI Secretary General Ingmar De Vos (centre) addressed experts from across Government, welfare, veterinary science and equestrian sport. (Photo: Craig Payne/FEI).

Lausanne (SUI), 10 March 2014 – World Horse Welfare, the international horse charity, has become the fourth of the former FEI Associate Members to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the FEI.

The FEI has collaborated with World Horse Welfare for over 30 years, developing the FEI Equine Welfare Code of Conduct, funding sport horse development projects through its FEI Solidarity initiative, and working together on animal health projects including reducing journey times to competitions, cooling techniques at events and studies into training and competition surfaces.

World Horse Welfare, founded in 1927, focuses on improving the lives of horses around the world through education, campaigning and hands-on care. HRH Princess Anne, The Princess Royal, who is President of the British Olympic Association and International Olympic Committee member, has been President of World Horse Welfare since 1994.

British Eventing Olympian Pippa Funnell is a trustee of the charity, and China’s first Olympic Eventing athlete, Alex Hua Tian, is also now a World Horse Welfare ambassador as part of the charity’s recently-launched patron scheme to harness the growing support of recognised figures in and out of the equestrian world, and to help create a wider awareness of the charity’s far-reaching work and its impact.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by FEI First Vice President and Chair of the FEI Veterinary Committee, John McEwen, and World Horse Welfare Chief Executive Roly Owers at last week’s 22nd National Equine Forum in London (GBR), which brought together a panel of prestigious speakers from Government, welfare, veterinary science and equestrian sport.

FEI Secretary General Ingmar De Vos addressed the forum on the global growth of equestrian sport and how the FEI’s partnerships with key organisations, including the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA), has assisted in that expansion.

“The FEI has been collaborating with World Horse Welfare for over 30 years and in that time we have reached numerous milestones together,” Ingmar De Vos said. “World Horse Welfare is a charity that believes in taking practical approaches to finding solutions and working constructively to create change, and for these very reasons the FEI is looking forward to many more years of close collaboration as our sport grows around the world.”

“We are pleased to agree this MOU with the FEI, which recognises World Horse Welfare as the leading international independent welfare organisation, and supports our mission to work with horse owners, communities, organisations and governments to help improve horse welfare standards and stamp out suffering worldwide,” explained Roly Owers, Chief Executive of World Horse Welfare.

“Our charity has worked constructively with the FEI for more than 30 years to support the responsible use of horses in sport, thus helping regulators to meet their responsibilities to their horses. This is most aptly reflected in the joint production of the FEI Code of Conduct that underpins the welfare of horses in FEI competition.”

World Horse Welfare: www.worldhorsewelfare.org.

World Horse Welfare won two Equestrian Social Media Awards last month for the Best Use of Facebook (Judge’s choice) and Social Good (People’s choice).

Follow World Horse Welfare on Twitter with their handle @HorseCharity, on Facebook https://m.facebook.com/WorldHorseWelfare, and YouTube http://www.youtube.com/user/horsecharity.

MOUs – overview

The FEI Associate Member status was removed from the FEI Statutes at the 2012 FEI General Assembly. The Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) cover universal issues such as FEI recognition, FEI Rules and Regulations, horse welfare, code of ethics, commitment to democratic processes, consultation, FEI General Assembly, FEI Sports Forum and meetings, governing law, dispute resolution, communication, and implementation. They also address areas of specific interest between the former FEI Associate Members and the FEI. Although recognition by the FEI does not entail voting rights, the MOUs formalise the relationship with the FEI, giving a voice to organisations working with the FEI in the development of equestrian sport.

FEI media contacts:

Ruth Grundy
Manager Press Relations
ruth.grundy@fei.org
+41 78 750 61 45

Malina Gueorguiev
Manager Media Relations
Email: malina.gueorguiev@fei.org
Tel: +41 787 506 133

World Horse Welfare media contact:

Jessica Stark
Director of Communications and Public Affairs
Jessicastark@worldhorsewelfare.org
+44 7900 994 002

One Year On from the Horsemeat Scandal

Pictures: World Horse Welfare.

Horse & Country TV Broadcasts HRH The Princess Royal’s Speech Challenging Horse Lovers to Think Again

Marking the anniversary of the horsemeat scandal, Horse & Country TV will broadcast a special programme featuring HRH The Princess Royal’s speech from the recent World Horse Welfare Conference, which considered ‘Horses in the Next Generation’.

This is the first time The Princess Royal’s speech, in which she suggested that horse welfare could be improved by the commercial sale of horsemeat in UK supermarkets, will have been shown in full on national television.  The show will premiere on Horse & Country TV on Wednesday, January 15.

In her speech, Princess Anne suggested British attitudes towards eating horsemeat may have to change in the face of Britain’s ‘Horse Crisis’ where almost 7,000 horses are at risk of neglect and abandonment.

The former Olympic eventer said: “Should we be considering a real market for horsemeat and would that reduce the number of welfare cases, if there was a real value in the horsemeat sector? I chuck that out for what it’s worth because I think it needs a debate.”

She continued: “As I was reminded not so long ago by somebody who travelled in France, the most expensive piece of meat in the local butcher was a fillet of horsemeat.”

“We’ve got to understand whether that value has a part to play in how we reduce welfare cases, because… if it has real financial value then you look a bit further ahead in the way in which you look after your animals.”

The comments rekindled the debate that roiled the UK during the early part of 2013 after the discovery of horse DNA in processed food products on sale in UK and Irish supermarkets, resulting in a series of product recalls and throwing the spotlight on the food industry’s supply chain, testing procedures and food labelling.

L-R: Lord De Mauley, Ian Stark, Chair Philip Ghazala, Jenny Rudall and British endurance rider Anna Williams.
L-R: Lord De Mauley, Ian Stark, Chair Philip Ghazala, Jenny Rudall and British endurance rider Anna Williams.

The second half of the 30-minute show features a panel discussion from the same event, in which Environment Minister, Lord de Mauley, former Olympic eventer Ian Stark, British endurance rider Anna Williams and H&C TV presenter Jenny Rudall debate a range of horse welfare topics.

The 30-minute programme will be aired on Horse & Country TV (Sky Channel 280) on Wednesday 15 January 2014 at 7:30pm.

Horse & Country TV broadcasts in the UK and Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and Malta, and can be found on the web at www.horseandcountry.tv , www.horseandcountrytv.nl, and www.horseandcountrytv.se. The Channel carries exclusive sports event coverage, news, documentary and personality-led programming to the passionate audience for horse sports and country living. At the UK’s Broadcast Digital Awards H&C won “Best Specialist Channel” in 2011 and was shortlisted in two categories this year. Online H&C publishes blogs and commentary provided by a range of experts and personalities, an extensive range of equestrian video, a calendar of events, as well as programme support material for all of the Channel’s featured shows. H&C’s role as a community hub for the horse and countryside loving community is reflected in the Channel’s 500,000+ viewers each month, 110,000+ Facebook fans and 30,000+ followers on Twitter.

Horse & Country TV press enquiries:
Hannah Grissell – Revolution Sports + Entertainment
Tel: +44 (0) 207 592 1207 E: hannah@revolutionsports.co.uk