Study identifies ways to make equestrian sport safer for horses and riders

Horse and Rider – A study funded by the FEI has found the most effective ways to prevent falls during the cross-country phase of eventing

Researchers have identified characteristics that are commonly associated with an increased risk of falls in eventing. Findings included higher-level events, longer courses, more starters at cross-country phase and less experienced horses and riders.

Determining these risk factors allows riders and event organisers to assess the level of risk involved for each individual horse, rider and event combinations. The study, published in the Equine Veterinary Journal, recommends simple mitigations such as adjusting minimum eligibility requirements to ensure combinations always compete at a level appropriate to their ability.

Led by Bristol Veterinary School’s Dr Euan Bennet and Professor Tim Parkin with Dr Heather Cameron-Whytock of Nottingham Trent University, and funded by the FEI, it’s the first large scale study using a global data set of every FEI eventing competition over an 11-year period. This data included every horse start worldwide in all international, championship, Olympic and World Equestrian Games competitions between January 2008 and December 2018. This amounted to over 200,000 starts, allowing researchers to specifically analyse the cross-country phase and identify any common factors.