The Malta Equestrian Federation, which is affiliated to the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI), was set up in 1999 in order to promote equestrian sports and attract new talent. The disciplines governed by the FEI and represented by the Malta Equestrian Federation are jumping, dressage, eventing, driving, endurance, reining and vaulting; of these, jumping, dressage and eventing are Olympic disciplines.
Equestrian sport is, in fact, the only Olympic discipline performed by humans in union with an outstanding ambassador of nature: the horse. Jumping and dressage are arena disciplines whereas eventing includes both disciplines as well as a cross country course. There is also an increasing emphasis being placed on para-equestrian sports, the paralympic disciplines of the equestrian world. The 2004 Summer Paralympics in fact included dressage amongst the competition disciplines.
The setting up of proper facilities for the practice and competition of the above listed FEI-governed equestrian disciplines was, and remains, one of the stumbling blocks faced by the Malta Equestrian Federation.
Permits to construct suitable facilities on privately donated land were refused and since then the identification of a suitable site remains one of the federation’s top goals.
Once premises are in place, local awareness of the said equestrian disciplines can be raised. Meanwhile, the federation has set up a training centre on mainland Europe, specifically in Belgium, where Maltese athletes have top-notch facilities, coaching and horses available to them. This is also an ideal location for travelling and transporting horses to competitions across Europe.
The Malta Equestrian Federation is committed to the codes of conduct set down by FEI with regards to the welfare of the horse, the environment and fair play.
Through these codes of conduct the FEI expects all those involved in international equestrian sport to accept that all times the welfare of the horse is paramount and should never be secondary to competition or commercial influences. Within FEI, the Malta Equestrian Federation has been placed in Group I together with a number of other European countries.
On a final note, other equestrian disciplines, such as horse racing and polo, while being definitely more familiar to the local population, are separately governed and run, requiring different kinds of facilities and entirely differently trained human and equine athletes. For further information, please feel free to contact the Malta Equestrian Federation on [email protected].
Dr. Wayne Pisani
Secretary General