February 8, 2024
Are you interested in registering you and your horse with the FEI and have never done so before? Then you are in the same spot I was back in the fall of 2023. Now that I have officially completed that process as of February of 2024, I wanted to provide a step-by-step breakdown of what I did to get to this point. I am sure there are other guides that exist, and the rules you can find through USEF, USEA and FEI are relatively clear, but I wanted to add my two cents in case it could be helpful to someone in the future.
First - why FEI?
For me, it was a new goal I could set that seemed achievable. Sophie and I had competed at events through the preliminary level, and while on paper our record isn't perfect, she absolutely has the skill to be there. I just have to continue to work on myself and our ability as a team in order for us to be competitive. I thought that if we were comfortable at the modified level, and had experience at prelim, then we could try our hand at a 1*. For those unfamiliar, FEI stands for Federation Equestre Internationale, and there are many events in the US that offer FEI levels, which are internationally recognized levels of competition. They have levels from 1* - 5*, with 5* being the highest level of competition on an international level. 1* is equivalent to the modified level of eventing, which is a more recently added section that acts as a stepping stone between the training and preliminary levels.
To be quite honest, I do not fancy myself and Sophie as a majorly competitive pair that can swoop down and win it all - but I do think we have the ability to have experiences like this successfully as a pair. Competing as an FEI rider will be a new experience that I want to do because I think we can, not because I think we will win. Plus, I want an excuse to don a shadbelly while trotting down the centerline ;)
The process...
Before I could even dream of Sophie and I entering an event at any FEI level, she needed to have a passport. A passport is literally a physical booklet containing detailed information about the horse, its markings, and veterinary records. I entered into this process thinking it would be quick and easy - and boy was I wrong!! It required a lot of planning, and it is EXPENSIVE. I will provide a breakdown of cost at the end of my rambling.
The first thing I had to do was make sure that I had renewed my USEF membership, and then I had to register Sophie with USEF as a lifetime horse member. I had recently renewed her for just an annual membership, but it was required for her to be a life member for a passport. I can continue to be annual for myself.
I then discovered that I needed a microchip number for her in order to proceed with getting a passport. I did not know if she was chipped, so I had to have the vet come out to check. It turned out that she was not chipped, so I had to get her one.
I then had to complete a passport services application. The directions are very clear on the document, and this part was relatively uncomplicated for me because I am listed through USEF as Sophie's owner, and all I needed was a new FEI passport. Once this application was complete, I mailed it along with the fees to USEF headquarters. I received the blank passport for Soph in the mail around a week after the application was sent. I was advised to complete this part of the process WELL in advance of my first competition to avoid having to pay additional fees for rushed shipping and services.
The blank passport required a vet to complete and sign Sophie's description page. This took some time, because the markings have to be drawn and described in finite detail - and Sophie's markings are not easy. They also had to record her up-to-date vaccination records and sign for it in the passport. I then had to sign one section in the passport as the owner. Following that, I then had to mail the passport back to USEF headquarters for them to approve it.
I then got the passport returned to me after approval by USEF, and it is currently in my hands ready to go. It is my job to provide it to the vet for signatures every time Sophie gets vaccinated.
In addition to this, I also had to register myself as an FEI athlete, and Sophie as an FEI horse. This was pretty straight forward, and I was able to complete that through USEF.
Now, after all of that, Sophie and I are eligible to enter an FEI competition, as long as we meet the MER requirements :)
I will be sure to make a post about the process of actually entering an FEI level at a competition when we get there, but this was enough for now (and for a minute!!).
For those interested in the details, here is a cost breakdown of everything I had to pay for just to get to where we are now:
It wasn't particularly easy or cheap, but I have saved up in order to make this happen. Here's to staying fit and sound so that we can make this dream a reality!
K
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