Equine Canada has issued the following further statements regarding the International Equestrian Federation’s (FEI) hypersensitivity testing protocol.
“Equine Canada agrees that the FEI’s hypersensitivity protocol is in place to protect the welfare of the horse and the fairness of our sport,” states Mr. Gallagher.
“Victor sustained a superficial cut on the front of the left front coronary band,” states Canadian Olympic Team Veterinarian for Jumping Dr. Sylvie Surprenant. “In our opinion the horse was fit to compete as he showed no signs of lameness. However the FEI hypersensitivity protocol is such that if the horse is sensitive to the touch, regardless of the cause, the horse is disqualified. While the FEI rules for the hypersensitivity protocol were followed, we believe that there should be a review of this protocol.”
“We feel that further discussion of the hypersensitivity protocol needs to take place in order to ensure a balance is reached between the philosophical intent and the real-world application. Canada looks forward to playing a role in those discussions along with other nations within the FEI family,” states Mr. Gallagher
“Equine Canada wants to make it clear that there is absolutely no accusation of any wrongdoing on the part of our athlete Tiffany Foster or any member of the Canadian Team. Equine Canada fully stands behind and supports our athlete Tiffany Foster, as well as our entire team. Everyone at Equine Canada and the Canadian Olympic Team are disheartened and extremely disappointed over the premature ending of Tiffany Foster’s Olympic dream, and remain fiercely proud of both her incredible sportsmanship and athletic achievements,” states Mr. Gallagher.
Read more on the FEI’s hypersensitivity protocol.
I’m gonna say too little, too late. This should’ve been the first issue sent out by Equine Canada. It shouldn’t have taken an uproar to convince Equine Canada they needed to back their athletes.
I was not surprised by the first statement of Equine Canada. One wonders who Mike Gallagher is trying to impress with his first comments. Sorry Mike you made the wrong call yet again. You consistently take the side against your own membership. Perhaps it is time for you to step down and let someone who understands the needs of Equine Canada’s membership from the recreational ride through to top level Olympic competitors.
The only thing surprising about the first EC statement is that it surprised people! It was simply another example of EC’s self-serving leadership team putting more emphasis on their relationships with the FEI than on the membership, and the athletes that they represent. The second statement is simply a concession forced upon them exclusively by the attention drawn from Eric’s stance, and lacks any sense of passion, compassion or genuine eagerness to make a difference. A vote of non-confidence as Karen suggests in her previous blog seems like an excellent place to start for members/riders who want to see change. The alternative is the status quo – and another all expense paid trip to Switzerland for those EC members “playing a role” in discussion with the FEI on the hypersensitivity protocol.