International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Sir Philip Craven and International Equestrian Federation (FEI) President HRH The Infanta Doña Pilar de Borbón have signed an agreement for the transfer of governance of equestrian for persons with a physical disability from the IPC to the FEI. The transfer ceremony took place at the FEI General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 2 and will come into full effect on July 1 with the IPC Governing Board accepting the provisional membership of FEI.

The IPC currently acts as the International Federation for 13 sports, including equestrian. Over the past four years, IPC Equestrian has developed significantly with regards to the number of countries and quality of athletes competing in dressage and driving competitions worldwide. Furthermore, the evolution of the IPC Equestrian regulations and training methods has laid a strong foundation for the future.

"The FEI is the first international federation to embrace a sport of the IPC as a full part of its organization," Craven said. "The IPC is committed to creating true partnerships in sport and we believe that we have found a true partner in the FEI. We are confident that they will make riders and drivers with a disability feel at home in their organization."

In 2000, FEI and IPC began discussing and identifying potential areas for collaboration. Two years later, FEI expressed its interest to include equestrian for athletes with a disability within the FEI family and to commence initiatives to transfer governance from IPC to FEI. An IPC/FEI working group was established in 2003 to discuss the future direction of the relationship and prepare the transfer of governance. As a result of the discussions and recommendations from the IPC/FEI Working Group, the IPC Governing Board and the FEI approved the transfer in 2005.

"The horse has been a long standing partner of people with a disability helping them to strengthen their condition and improve their lives," Borbón said. "The FEI is immensely proud to integrate para-equestrian activities as an official discipline and welcome riders with a disability in the FEI family."


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