Information and knowledge are indispensable tools for the future and are an important concern at the FEI which is why a large IT project named FEI21 (for FEI in the 21st century) was launched following the 2007 General Assembly in Estoril (POR). Included in this wide ranging endeavour, the UELN (Universal Equine Life Number) is a project for a common language and hence greater cooperation and consistency between all the organisations active in the registration of horses. Indeed, as it stands, there are a number of independent systems currently in place for the identification of horses, thereby making the exchange of data difficult as well as increasing the spectrum for error.

In order to address this administrative clutter and unnecessary confusion, the UELN aims to ensure that each horse, wherever it may be in the world, is identified by the one, unique registration number, that is, the UELN. Taking this one step further, a unique life number would also be associated with one unique passport. This is particularly relevant when one considers the travel, change of hands, names, National Federations that some horses see in one lifetime. Having the one number ensures that all this information is kept together and easily accessible. This would imply that NFs would not emit new passports for horses that already have one and furthermore, when a horse needs to be registered in another country, the UELN would automatically provide access to the original breeding information of this horse.

As the FEI President recently stated at the General Assembly for the World Breeding Federation for Sport Horses (WBFSH) held in Apeldoorn (NED) from 6-7 November 2007: “To reach a unified global platform for breeding we must remove the clutter of bureaucracy from the landscape of horsesport from foaling, we must adopt the motto one horse one life one passport.”

The UELN in concrete terms means adding the field "UELN" and its number on every official horse document and in all horse databases. When implemented, this UELN will then permit the next step in the UELN project which is the exchange of data between organisations through the internet.

A consistency of approach across nations and across disciplines, which includes supporting and encouraging the developing nations to place great emphasis on the need to track horses through registration and through the issuing of passports will ensure that the UELN becomes an empowering resource for a global platform for information flow and greater consistency while keeping our minds at ease that nothing has been lost in the process.

For any further information on the UELN, please contact FEI Information Systems Coordinator, Catherine de Coulon at c.decoulon@horsesport.org