PAEC NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2023

Dear National Federations,

Welcome to the second of our PAEC monthly newsletters, which includes a wrap-up from our General Assembly 2022, as well as news from the FEI Endurance World Championships and the last of the Western European League qualifiers for the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final. There’s also information on a new sustainability initiative in Wellington, plus a snapshot of major events in the FEI Calendar that will be hosted in our region in the coming weeks. Please enjoy!

PAEC General Assembly 2022, 21 February 2023

The PAEC General Assembly for 2022 was successfully held in hybrid format in Wellington, Florida (USA) on 21 February 2023, with a total of 28 National Federations (NFs) represented, 19 of those in-person and a further nine online.
Those NFs who attended in-person were Bahamas (Catherine Ramsingh-Pierre); Barbados (Roberta Foster); Bermuda (McKeisha Smith and Heidi Mello); Brazil (Fernando Sperb and Tatiana Gutierrez); Bolivia (Liliana Rivera, with Diego Iturralde online); Canada (James Hood and Ian Millar); Cayman Islands (Mary Alberga); Dominican Republic (Mercedes Grasso and Aristides Fernández); Ecuador (Jaime Morillo); El Salvador (Alejandro González and Juan Manuel Bolaños); Guatemala (Juan Manuel Melgar); Honduras (Teresa Mills); Jamaica (Lesley Masterton Fong-Yee); Panama (Enrique Thompson); Puerto Rico (Mildred Colon and Frances Muñoz); United States of America (Tom O’Mara, William Moroney, Graeme Thom, Sonja Keating, Hallye Griffin, Lizzy Chesson, Amber Braun and Gemma Stobbs); Venezuela (Elena Couttenye and Maria Fernanda Faria); and Virgin Islands (Regine Fitzner). Haiti gave its proxy to Barbados, so was included as in-person representation.

Online attendees were Argentina (Adriana Portiglia); Chile (Felix Halcartegaray and Patricia Canales); Colombia (Mauricio Bermudez); Costa Rica (Rocio Echeverri); Mexico (Rafael David); Paraguay (Leticia Díaz and Andrea Zuccolillo); Peru (Ricardo Moncada); Trinidad & Tobago (Patrice Stollmeyer and Gabrielle Borde); and Uruguay (Alejandro Aberg). Antigua y Barbuda, Cuba and Nicaragua were excused.

PAEC President Cesar Hirsch (VEN), who gave a stirring opening address, led the meeting together with PAEC Secretary General Daniela Garcia Nigaglioni (MEX). PAEC Board members Esteban Abedrabbo (ECU), Luiz Roberto Giugni (BRA), Mark Samuel (CAN), Monique Archer (BAR), Carmen Barrera (ESA) and outgoing Athletes Representative Juan Andrés Rodríguez (GUA) completed the top table.
Also in attendance were FEI Jumping Athletes Representative Rodrigo Pessoa (BRA) and FEI Dressage Athletes Representative Yvonne Losos de Muñiz (DOM), together with fellow Olympian Tiffany Foster (CAN). The Canadian Jumping athlete, who is replacing Guatemala’s Juan Andres Rodriguez as the Athletes Representative on the PAEC Board, was warmly welcomed by all delegates.

Tim Dutta from the Dutta Corporation, who is in charge of transport and import/export logistics for the Pan American Games in partnership with Peden Bloodstock, gave an update on his work for Santiago 2023. This followed Cesar Hirsch’s detailed presentation, which included information that Dressage will open to athletes 16 and over, not 18 and over as originally published. The PAEC President also advised delegates of the Horse Inspection dates for each of the three disciplines: Dressage – 20 October, Eventing – 26 October and Jumping – 29 October. Jumping at the Pan Ams will now use the FEI Championships system with a running total across the competitions for athlete/horse combinations. This is a new system for Jumping at the Games.There will be an operational test event in June to ensure that all functional areas are working optimally and NFs will be invited to attend. The President reminded attendees that PAEC is not the Local Organizing Committee, the Games are owned by Pan Am Sports and run by Santiago 2023, a corporation created as the Organizing Committee of the Games. PAEC’s role is to ensure standards are met for this Olympic qualifier. Following an update on the Central American & Caribbean Games, the PAEC Secretary General presented the qualification protocols for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Board member Mark Samuel, who had earlier joined Eve Van den Bol (CAY) to co-present the success of the Caribbean Equine Relief Fund, talked about FEI Elections and Appointments, including advising that the FEI will be introducing staggered terms for the Nominations Committee. Fellow Board member Monique Archer then explained the FEI Rules Revision process. The PAEC President gave a presentation on the pivotal role of the FEI Equine Ethics & Wellbeing Commission, of which he is a member. This was followed by PAEC Communications Consultant Grania Willis, who spoke about plans to promote equestrian sport in the region but also globally, and she also emphasized the importance of working together to ensure equestrian sport maintains its social license to operate in the eyes of the general public.The general view amongst delegates was that the hybrid General Assembly had been extremely positive, and NFs were in agreement that working together at twice-yearly in-person meetings – the PAEC GA and the FEI General Assembly, which will be held in Mexico this year – were important to nurture the sense of community and empower the membership.

PAEC Eventing Advisor Pablo Plaza (ARG), who was announced as Eventing Advisor for the Americas at the FEI General Assembly 2022 in Cape Town (RSA), will be doing a venue visit for the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games in mid-March. He will be assistant Technical Delegate (TD) for Eventing at the Games, working alongside discipline TD Alec Lochore (GBR).PAEC is continuing its search for a Dressage Advisor, a role that was previously filled by Maribel Alonso (MEX), but as she is now Chair of the FEI Dressage Committee a replacement needs to be found to work directly with PAEC. FEI Endurance World Championships 2022 Butheeb International Endurance Village in the UAE hosted the FEI Endurance World Championships 2022, which took place on 25 February 2023. Bahrain claimed team honours for the first time ever at these Championships, led by HH Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Darco La Majorie, who also took gold in the individual.From PAEC, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and USA all sent teams, but failed to record team finishing scores in the 160-kilometre ride. Argentina’s Mercedes Tapia was best-placed of the PAEC athletes, finishing in 24th with Invasor Del Reparo, while her countryman Guerri Leonardo slotted into 39th with LM Troyana IP, one place ahead of the USA’s Cheryl Van Deusen with JG General. Canada’s Robert Gielen was 41st with More Bang For Your Buck.A total of 122 athlete/horse combinations representing 36 nations started on the 160-kilometre track, with 23 full teams and 13 countries fielding individuals. There was strong PAEC representation amongst the FEI Officals, with Rocio Echeverri of Costa Rica as President of the Ground Jury and Brazil’s Elizabeth J. van Schelle as Foreign Judge. The 17-strong Veterinary Commission included Gerson Acedo Vieira of Brazil and Thomas Timmons of USA, both Level 4 Official Veterinarians. Brazil’s Mansur earns place in Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final Gothenburg in Sweden staged the last of the Western European League (WEL) qualifiers for the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ on 26 February, which was won by the French combination of Marc Dilasser and Arioto Du Gevres.Brazil’s Yuri Mansur finished 14th with Vitiki after picking up seven faults in the first round, meaning he earned enough points to move into 18th in the WEL standings and confirm his place at the Final on PAEC turf in Omaha (USA) in April. Mansur, who was on the Brazilian team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, has competed at two previous FEI World Cup™ Finals, in Leipzig 2011 and Lyon 2014.Compatriot Marlon Modolo Zanotelli, winner in Bordeaux (FRA), is 20th on 38 points, but will not be eligible for the Final. Even if any of those above him in the standings opt not to travel, he is an extra athlete and would only have qualified by obtaining at least as many points as the last qualified Western European athlete, the Netherlands’ Harry Smolders, who has 40 points.There is still one more qualifier to come in the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ North American League (NAL), at Ocala (USA) on 19 March, and then the top seven athletes from the East Coast US, top three from West Coast US and the two best-placed athletes from Canada and Mexico will be guaranteed their places on the starting order for Omaha. Brazil’s Rodrigo Pessoa could have the opportunity to join his compatriot Mansur in the Final as an extra athlete from the NAL when the standings are finalised after Ocala. The current provisional standings are available here: https://data.fei.org/Ranking/Search.aspx?rankingCode=S_WC&nfGroup=4026 Sustainability at WEF Wellington International and Global Equestrian Group has announced a partnership with Carbon Hoofprint’s Megan Fellows to oversee a newly created focus on sustainability at the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). Wellington is the first North American event to launch an initiative dedicated to green solutions. Together with Carbon Hoofprint (https://www.carbonhoofprint.com/), they aim to make the facility and organization an industry leader in environmental initiatives, reinventing the sport with a dedicated company-wide commitment to green initiatives and positive change for the local community and beyond.In addition to energy production through the use of solar and renewable energy solutions, the initiatives will also prioritize water and waste, including manure utilization to produce natural gas.Read the full press release here (https://wellingtoninternational.com/venue/sustainability). Major upcoming Events in PAEC Region Wellington: This weekend sees 11 teams lining out for the 4* Jumping Nations Cup at the Florida venue on Saturday 4 March. Seven PAEC members are sending teams – Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, USA and Venezuala, and they join Australia, Belgium, Great Britain and Ireland on the start list. It’s going to be a hot competition!Wellington’s busy schedule continues with a CSI5* from 7-12 March and 28 March to 2 April, plus a CDI5* and a whole range of other Dressage competitions from 14-19 March.Ocala: The final leg in the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ North American League (NAL) takes place at Ocala (USA) on 19 March.Coapexpan: The Mexican CSI5* at Coapexpan, which runs from 22-26 March, will also attract world-class athletes – both human and equine, and there’s a CSI4* at the venue the previous week.FEI World Cup™ Finals: The Longines FEI Jumping, FEI Dressage and FEI Vaulting World Cup™ Finals all take place in Omaha (USA) from 3-8 April. If you can’t be there in person, watch it all live or on replay on FEI.TV (https://www.clipmyhorse.tv/de_CH/fei-tv).LGCT/GCL: The Longines Global Champions Tour and Global Champions League head to Miami Beach, Florida (USA) from 12-15 April and then move to Mexico City between 19 and 23 April.Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™: Other upcoming major FEI Events in the PAEC region include three North/Central America & Caribbean CSIO5* qualifiers for the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™:San Miguel de Allende (MEX), 28 April 2023;San Juan Capistrano (USA), 12 May 2023;Vancouver-Langley BC (CAN), 4 June 2023. Check out the full FEI Calendar here (https://data.fei.org/Calendar/Search.aspx) for all the other Events in the PAEC region.  Send us your NewsIf your NF has any news you’d like to share with other PAEC members please send it to news@paec.info