Sport Affiliations
The Multiple Layers of Equestrian Sport Governance
Federation Equestre Internationale
Situated in Switzerland, The FEI is the non-profit organisation and a governing body of global Equestrian Sport.
More than 100 years have passed since the FEI was created to oversee the Olympic disciplines of Jumping, Dressage and Eventing. Today, alongside the Olympic disciplines, the FEI also governs the non-Olympic disciplines of Driving, Endurance and Vaulting as well as the Para Equestrian disciplines of Dressage and Driving and has 136 member National Federations.
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The Vision is grow the unique and mutually beneficial bond between horse and human in sport globally.
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The Mission is to drive and develop equestrian sport globally in a modern, sustainable and structured manner with guaranteed integrity, athlete welfare, equal opportunity and a fair and ethical partnership with the horse.
FEI Continental Groups - Africa
National Federations are split into groups based on their regions. Their role is to promote and coordinate the development and the activities of equestrian sport within the Group area.
In Africa we have two groups:
FEI Group 7: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Irag, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen
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FEI Group 9: Angola, Botswana, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Senegal, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe
Continental Associations
There are four Continental Associations that are affiliated to the FEI:
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ACES - African Confederation of Equestrian Sport
AEF - Asian Equestrian Federation
EEF - European Equestrian Federation
PAEC - Pan American Equestrian Confederation
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The primary goal and focus of the continental associations is to execute their Continental Championship Title events as well as create Olympic Qualifying Events for their athletes.
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ACES Board
The ACES Board is composed of the 4 Office Bearers: the President, two Vice-Presidents, who must be respectively one each from the Northern Region (FEI Group VII) and the Southern Region (FEI Group IX), 1 Secretary General, 1 Treasurer and not more than 5 Board Members. They are responsible for the governance and therepresentation of the ACES.
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The President, the Vice Presidents and Treasurer must not be from the same NF. NFs are not permitted to have more than one of their members serve on the Board, either as Office Bearers or as Board Members. The membership of the Board must not have more than
60% of members from either the Northern (members of Group VII) or Southern (members of Group IX) Regions.
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ACES Technical Committees
ACES has appointed discipline committees in Showjumping, Dressage, Endurance and Vaulting.​
These committee positions are voted in at the GA and serve a term. They are responsible for rolling out various projects and promoting international events such as Youth Olympic Games Talent Identification and the ACES Dressage Challenge.
National Equestrian Federations
National Equestrian Federations who are affiliated with the FEI may apply to become members of ACES. National Federations are responsible for governing Equestrian sport within their country in line with FEI Rules and Regulations. National Federations see membership in the form of Equestrian Clubs, Athletes, Coaches, Officials and other stakeholders. Ultimately NFs are responsible for growing the sport on a National level and from the grass routes up. NFs are also responsible for educating and qualifying officials.