Talks on British Showjumping’s rankings system continue

British Showjumping (BS) has moved to reassure members alarmed at reports that its combined rankings list was to be scrapped, saying discussions are “ongoing”.

The combined rankings list — which amalgamates national and international results — is used to select riders for Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) and Olympia.

But the system is imperfect — BS relies on foreign shows sending their results in, meaning mistakes are sometimes made. Earlier this year the FEI said it wanted shows of CSI3* level and above to use the FEI Longines rider rankings, which would have made the BS combined rankings redundant.

The FEI has since abandoned this position, but Olympia (a CSI5* show) has switched to the FEI rankings for 2013.

In his H&H column (31 October), Graham Fletcher said getting rid of the BS rankings would damage the “thriving county show circuit”, as riders hoping to qualify for the 12 HOYS places for British riders would be “travelling the world in search of FEI rankings points”. Three other HOYS places are allocated via wild cards.

BS chief executive Iain Graham told H&H: “We have now started discussions with HOYS about how they select the 12 British riders.

“We will be running the combined list until the end of March 2014. It may carry on, depending on what we discuss with HOYS,” he added.

Helena Pettitt of HOYS said her team was “working on a solution”.

She added: “We are conscious that we need the top Brits on the FEI list, but although we’re a three-star show we are also a national final — so want to see the top national riders, too.”

At last Friday’s BS AGM (15 November), Mr Graham also outlined proposals for a new national “gold, silver and bronze” rankings system, to start in April 2014.

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