May 21: ADS Rule Changes: Deadline June 1 The period for American Driving Society members to submit suggestions for changes to the ADS Rulebook is approaching. Rule change suggestions must be submitted by June 1st  using the form provided here: http://www.americandrivingsociety.org/Forms/RuleChangeProposal.pdf and sent to the ADS Rules Committee at this email address: rules@americandrivingsociety.org The suggestions will be distributed to the appropriate technical committees for review. On July 31, proposed language for rule changes will be posted on the ADS website for a 30 day comment period (until August 31). After a final review by the technical committees,  the Rules Committee will submit rule chage proposals for approval by the ADS Board of Directors at their annual fall meeting. Changes approved by the Board will be incorporated into the 2014 rulebook, published on or about December 1, 2013 and will become effective January 1, 2014. Among the rule suggestions we consider for the ADS are those that come from the "mother sport" organizations.  For Combined Driving, that means coordination with the USEF and the FEI.  Here's a glimpse into what is being considered in the in the world of Combined Driving. From the FEI Sports Forum in Switzerland, we have received the following briefs: With the important goal of growing the sport of Combined Driving, consideration of changes to the rules included the following: · National events that can be used for championship qualification · Drivers competing more than once at an event · Order of go in the competitions · Classification within the results · Redefining of the marathon sections and their criteria · Changes to marathon obstacle rules - Rules for younger athletes In overview, the FEI gave consideration to changes to the competition format aimed at making the discipline easier and more open to new athletes who may wish to start competing in the discipline at international level. There was also discussion of how the scoring system can be modified to be more understandable for the public and the media.