Safety in the sport of three-day eventing was top of the agenda at an international forum in Holland yesterday following the deaths of five riders at British fixtures since mid-May. But it was the new scoring system that came in for the most heated debate at the two-hour meeting, held in conjunction with the Dutch international event at Boekelo.

Although it has been widely agreed that speed was a contributory factor in two of the five deaths, many of the top riders feel that the new scoring system introduced in January this year has put too much emphasis on speed now that exceeding the optimum time is penalised by one penalty point per second. As a result, riders have to try and cut corners to avoid time faults, so increasing the risk factor.

The riders are now battling to get the old scoring system reinstated so that time penalties will once again be allotted at 0.4 of a second per second over the optimum time. But the move is meeting with a wall of resistance from certain elements with in the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) three-day event committee.

"We are asked by the ground jury at every three-day event briefing to ride with our brains and to look after our horses", Australian rider Clayton Fredericks said at yesterday's forum. "But when that moment comes on the cross-country to slow down because the horse is tired, it's a decision that's very hard to make when you are penalised so heavily for making that right choice."

Fredericks's opinions met with widespread support from the riders present at the meeting and particularly from riders representative Robert Lemieux, chief executive of the Professional Event Riders Association (PERA).

"Should we not be saying categorically that the new scoring system is going to be changed. The system is no good for a number of reasons. It's got to be chucked out," he said, to enthusiastic applause from amongst the riders.

"The riders feel it puts excess emphasis on speed, but the emphasis should be put back on horsemanship. If these rules don't lay down the right parameters and put the emphasis back on horsemanship we are the ones that have to take the consequences. There's no quick fix for this scoring system. It needs a thorough review. It needs time and there has to be serious consultation."

But Boekelo director Frans van Meggelen, who took over as acting chairman of the FEI three-day event committee this summer following the early retirement of

Hugh Thomas on health grounds, stated emphatically that there would be no further time given to discussion about the scoring system.

"I don't think we should try to sort out another new system before January 1st, 2000," he said. "It's an either/or situation. Either we stick with the new system or we go back to the old system. We won't be going for a quick fix."

However, the subject will certainly get a substantial airing at the two-day FEI meeting that starts in Boekelo this morning.

Chaired by van Meggelen, the meeting will be working through a 30-point agenda, of which scoring is undoubtedly the most contentious.

Boekelo is also the official international launch pad for a revolutionary new collapsible fence design, which is being used in two of the fences on Wolfgang Feld's cross-country course.

The findings of a two-year research project, pioneered by Dutch photographer Jacob Melissen and spearheaded by Johan Knaap, were announced at yesterday's forum, but the collapsible polyurethane coated papiermache construction was given a guarded welcome by some riders, who feel that less experienced competitors may be encouraged to go even faster if the fences break on contact.

All five of the deaths in Britain were caused by horses crushing their riders after falling at fixed fences and it is hoped that the new collapsible fences will prevent horses from falling. The research project was launched after two horse fatalities at Boekelo two years ago and the new material has been used at seven national one-day events in Holland over the past year. Over 3,000 jumps were recorded on video. Only two fences were broken and no serious falls occurred.