Break A Pin and leave the competition

Who came up with that bright idea? From today the FEI has introduced a rule that states those who break a frangible pin on the Cross Country will be eliminated. As many others have already commented this really isn't going to work from a practical prospective and has no real benefit or positive affect on the competition. 

Thankfully, I understand, this is going to be reviewed this month with the possibility of this being changed to a 25 point penalty for breaking a fence pin.

Now I can see some point in doing this, but it still seems crazy to penalise riders for triggering a safety feature, especially when someone on course before you could easily weaken the pin putting you at great dis-advantage. 

For me the big question is "Do we really need this rule?" It's not like the one fall rule which could arguably be introduced on safety grounds (albeit without solid evidence). After all, if you fall off, you haven't got any chance of winning have you?

For more info on frangible pins see: Frangible Pins