The 2008 FEI General Assembly week got underway on Monday, November 17, in Buenos Aires, Argentina and is set to run through Saturday, November 22. An impressive number of meetings are scheduled for the week, including the General Assembly on Thursday, November 21, as well as informative sessions and forums with guest speakers on the current issues facing the sport today.

A Brief Glance at the Program
Monday: Bureau Meeting I
Tuesday: Regional Group Meetings
Wednesday: Regional Group Meetings with Bureau
Thursday: Forums and Sessions
Friday: Extraordinary General Assembly & Ordinary General Assembly followed by the Prize-Giving Ceremony and Gala Dinner
Saturday: Bureau Meeting II

Live Webcast
A live webcast of the General Assembly will be available through a link on the FEI website – from 9:00 to 18:00 Thursday (Argentina time GMT-2h) – so that the all the fans and stakeholders as well as the media can follow the debates and discussions as they unravel throughout the course the day.

Simply go to the www.fei.organd a link will lead you straight to the FEI General Assembly in Buenos Aires (ARG).

Approval of the Rules for the FEI Jumping Series
In the jumping discipline, the Bureau approved the following:

—The new rules for the FEI Nations Cup series, the main elements of which are:
· The 2009 FEI Nations Cup will comprise three levels: Top, Promotional and Entry levels;
· In the 2009 Top Level Nations Cup, there will be a maximum of eight events with a total of 10 teams. If the host country is not qualified, the home team is entitled to participate at the event;
· The 2009 Top Level series will include La Baule, Rome, St. Gallen, Falsterbo, Rotterdam, Aachen, Hickstead and Dublin. The last leg will take place in Dublin, but extra points will NOT be on offer;
· The following seven teams have qualified through the Samsung Super League Series: Belgium; Germany; Great Britain; Ireland; The Netherlands; Switzerland; and USA. The remaining three teams will qualify through the Rolex Rankings as at December 31, 2008;
· The new format will operate for just one year after which it will be reviewed and possibly modified.

These rules will be presented to the General Assembly on November 21, 2008 for information. The full FEI Nations Cup are available here.

—The modifications to FEI World Cup™ Rules for the 2009/2010 season. The updated rules are available here.

—The creation of a Grand Prix Series held in Wellington, FL (USA) in 2009. The details of the series are as follows:
· Grand Prix competition at eight events, all in Wellington;
· Minimum Grand Prix prize money at all events = USD $75,000; prize money at Final event = USD $350,000; total prize money = USD $1,150,000;

—The creation of an FEI Nations Cup Series for Ponies and Juniors on a trial basis for 2009. It will be based on the format of the FEI Nations Cup Promotional League and comprise the following events: Moorsele (BEL), Fonatinebleau (FRA), Wierden (NED), Aach (GER) and the 2009 European Championships. The series could be expanded in future to events in Poland, Italy and other European countries.

The Bureau also approved in principle alterations to the Rolex Rankings pending outcome of discussions with the International Equestrian Organisers Alliance on the occasion of their General Assembly at the end of November.

Where the 2009 FEI European Jumping Championship is concerned, one horse per rider and two rest days instead of one were approved.

HSBC FEI World Cup™ Eventing and FEI World Cup™ Driving Rules Approved
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