Bermuda Olympic show jumper, Jill Terceira, will not lose all of her ranking points when she takes time off to have a baby this summer after the governing body FEI changed their rules recently.

Terceira, in one of her final shows before she takes maternity leave, enjoyed some of her best results of the season last weekend in Belgium.

Competing at the CSI three star show on the Spring Tour in Lummen, Terceira rode Navantus to second place in Class 10A and then to seventh place in Class 19B.

She placed fourth on her mount Sundance in Class 18 and 10th in Class 8 while on Chaka III she was 12th in the 1.50 metre Grand Prix (Class 33) where she gained five ranking points.

"I had some excellent results in one of my last shows before I take my maternity leave from the sport," she said this week.

And like all women riders in the sport she was happy to see the FEI change their rules on women losing ranking points while out having a baby.

"It is very exciting as (equestrian) is one of the only sports where men and women compete as equals. But (before) women lost precious world ranking points when they took a necessary maternity leave to have a baby," she said.

The change in rules came about after top German rider Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum gave birth in February. She was the first rider to benefit from the new system that allows Rolex ranking points to be frozen for jumping riders while they are on maternity leave.

The FEI will now freeze the Rolex ranking points for jumping riders on maternity leave, starting with the April rankings issued recently.

Under the new system, female riders will now lose only 50 percent of their ranking points during their absence from competition.

The new ruling means that former world number one Michaels-Beerbaum moves up from 31st on the March rankings to 20th following the reinstatement of 50 percent of her points. The German rider, who gave birth to her first child, Brianne Victoria, on February 27, announced that she will not be defending her Rolex FEI World Cup title in Geneva.

"This is great news for all female jumping riders," the top show jumper said.

"It means that we can take time out from competition to have a baby and not lose all our Rolex ranking points while we're off the circuit. It's a really proactive move by the FEI and as far as I know they are the first international governing body to do something like this."

Michaels-Beerbaum had her last international outing at the CSIO Spruce Meadows Masters in September, 2009, and is planning a return to international competition at Hagen in Germany at the end of this month.