The FEI's recent decision in Hong Kong to relax Jumping's "blood rule" has sent a ripple through the equestrian world. The vote of 56 nations in favor, 20 against, and two abstentions changes the response to visible blood on a horse during competition. Instead of automatic elimination, a veterinary check will now determine whether the horse can continue, and if the cause is linked to rider or tack, a warning will be issued rather than immediate disqualification.

Germany and several other federations had publicly opposed the change, voicing what many professionals, veterinarians, and horse owners feel: that this rule was one of the clearest, simplest statements of horse welfare our sport had.

The Horse Comes First - or Should

Anyone who cares for horses knows how easy it is for small nicks or rubs to occur. But the key issue here isn’t only what happens in the warm-up or in the ring but how we respond when it does. I’ve spent my career around high-level sport horses - managing breeding and training facilities, appraising performance horses, and analyzing cases where barn management came under legal scrutiny. Across all those settings, one truth never changes: the horse can’t speak for itself. Our rules and our actions must do the speaking.

If our priority becomes explaining away blood, we lose sight of the very foundation of horsemanship: responsibility and respect for the animal’s welfare above all else.

The Power of Perception

To be clear: the FEI stresses “zero tolerance” for abuse. From the inside, the FEI’s new rule sounds nuanced: a veterinary check, a warning, proportional discipline. Inside the tent, supporters argue the update distinguishes accident from abuse, aims for consistency across cases, and empowers vets. Those are worthy goals. But public trust rarely lives in technicalities; it lives in optics and first impressions. And outside the tent, the headline is simpler: “Bleeding horse may continue.” That headline will travel farther than any FEI explainer and to the broader world, it can look like a community lowering a bright-line welfare promise under competitive pressure.

We already struggle with skeptical public perception and trust; easing a visible, bright-line welfare rule risks signaling that under pressure we put the sport first and the horse second.

A Call for Visible Responsibility

If this is the rule we’re living with, we owe the horse - and the public - visible, verifiable safeguards:

• Make the vet check public-facing. On broadcast/stream, show a brief explainer: what was seen, what was checked, why fit to continue. Normalize transparency.
• Publish incident logs. Every blood incident: location, cause (accidental vs. rider/tack), outcome, sanctions if any. Sunlight drives better behavior.
• Education with certification. Annual micro-course for FEI riders/grooms on skin integrity, spur mechanics, and mucosal injury—short, science-based, test at the end.
• Language discipline. Stop calling these “minor” cases in public statements. Use specific, clinical terms and lead with the horse’s status.

These steps won’t satisfy everyone, but they move us from “trust us” to “here is the record.”

Privilege and Stewardship

Competing at the international level isn’t a right but a privilege. With privilege comes responsibility: to the horses that make our success possible, to the public who grants us our social license, and to the generations who will decide whether horse sport still belongs in the future.

Rules can change, but values shouldn’t. The moment we start normalizing visible blood as “context dependent,” we risk forgetting what the horse’s silence asks of us: to listen, and to act in its best interest - always.

Tanja Schnuderl is a Senior Equine Appraiser and serves as the Director of International Services with The Equine Expert LLC, a multi-discipline equine expert witness and consulting firm. With extensive experience managing boarding, training, breeding and show facilities, she brings a practical understanding of how day-to-day operations impact both horse welfare and legal outcomes. Through her work with clients and attorneys nationwide, she helps bridge the gap between the barn aisle and the courtroom. Learn more at www.theequineexpert.com or reach out via email to [email protected].