Eventing safety officers say scrap elimination for breaking a frangible pin

Eventing safety experts are calling on the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) to ditch an “unfair” new rule that would eliminate a rider for breaking a frangible pin in the cross-country phase.  The FEI announced the ruling on 8 January.

A frangible pin is a safety fastening which releases a pole when hit with extreme force, lessening the chances of a horse somersaulting onto its rider on named cross-country fences at international events.

But national safety officers from countries around the world, meeting for the first time at Hartpury College last weekend (24-25 January), decided to oppose the rule after learning from British Eventing (BE) and engineering consultancy Competitive Measure that pins are weakened by successive hits.

Frangible pins are used in international competition, but only by Britain, Ireland, Australia and Holland in national events.

“Automatic elimination for breakage of the pin [in FEI competitions] is unfair if, as this research has shown, they get progressively weaker as the competition goes on,” Australian delegate Bob Powles said at the conference.

His view was echoed by British team coach and member of the FEI eventing safety sub-committee Yogi Breisner and British eventing safety officer Jonathan Clissold…

Read the entire story by Charlotte White
Date: 1-22-2009
By: www.horseandhound.co.uk