Factors Contributing to Cross-Country Falls Evaluated

the Horse – The only variable researchers could link with the likelihood of falling was the horse and rider’s competitive rank going into cross-country.

When you’re in the lead going into the cross-country phase of a horse trial or three-day event, your goal is to ride hard and bring home the blue, right? If so, you might want to think about taking it just a tad easier: Recent study results—presented at the 2014 International Society for Equitation Science conference, held Aug. 6-9 in Bredsten, Denmark—suggest that heading into cross-country in a top-ranking position puts those horses and riders at a significantly higher risk of falling on course than lower-ranking riders. Which, in all senses of the term, can be a real downer.

Heather Cameron-Whytock, BSc (Hons), and Charlotte Brigden, MSc, BSc (Hons), both of Myerscough College in Preston, United Kingdom, reviewed 2,002 horse-and-rider teams participating in randomly selected one-day events (novice, intermediate, and advanced levels) in the U.K. The group investigated a long list of factors that might be related to an increased risk of horse falls in cross-country, including competition level, horse age, horse gender, rider gender, month, year, and event, trying to find associations with falls. But in the end, there was only one variable that seemed to have a connection with the likelihood of falling: the competitive rank of the horse and rider as they entered the cross-country phase.