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The competitive history of endurance horses is important in predicting their likelihood of elimination from a competition, especially in relation to lameness, researchers have found.

Endurance is an internationally recognised equestrian sport in which horse-and-rider combinations compete over distances of up to 160km in a day.

The discipline is governed globally by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), and by Endurance GB in Britain.

Protecting the welfare of the horse is a key strategic priority within the discipline. However, horse injuries and fatalities in high-profile races have led to a negative public perception of the sport.

This has resulted in calls for increased safeguards around the welfare of endurance horses in order to reduce the risk not only to the horse, but also to the discipline and its social licence to operate.

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The riskiest cross-country fence types in top-level eventing have been identified by researchers, who suggest the most challenging obstacles should be placed near the start of courses.

Cross-country falls in eventing can be particularly hazardous, resulting in serious or fatal injuries for the horse and rider. The nature of cross-country courses, including fence design, are crucial in the safety equation for the discipline.

Euan Bennet and his fellow researchers, in a study to be published in the Equine Veterinary Journal, said rotational falls are of particular concern.

“Despite the sport’s long history, it was not until 1999 that safety in eventing achieved global attention, when five athlete fatalities in the United Kingdom that year prompted major reviews of safety,” they said.

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Researchers in Britain who undertook the first study of horse falls in Eventing in more than 20 years hope the FEI will use the findings to introduce evidence-based rules for the discipline, which they say will improve safety without compromising competitiveness.

The University of Bristol academics say they have identified simple interventions to reduce the risk of injury for both horses and riders.

Their study, reported in the Equine Veterinary Journal, pinpoints characteristics associated with an increased risk of Eventing falls, such as higher-level competitions, longer courses, more starters at cross-country phase, and less experienced horses and riders.

Identifying these risk factors allows riders and event organisers to assess the level of risk for individual horse, rider and event combinations.

The FEI-funded study recommends simple mitigations such as adjusting minimum eligibility requirements to ensure horses and riders always compete at a level appropriate to their ability.

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Researchers behind a major study exploring Eventing falls suggest that a potential risk profile can be constructed for each horse-rider combination ahead of any given FEI-level competition.

The findings could pave the wave to evidence-driven decisions on whether horses, riders, or particular combinations are allowed to rise or fall in competition level based on their calculated risk of a mishap.

These risk profiles, based on the individual histories of the horse and rider, and course-related factors, could also warn of an increased risk for a horse or rider should they turn out for their next event.

The study by University of Bristol researchers Euan Bennet and Tim Parkin, together with Heather Cameron-Whytock from Nottingham Trent University, is believed to be the first major investigation of risk factors for horse falls during the cross-country of Eventing since studies published in 2005/06, all of which used data from the 2000/01 season.

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Science could ultimately deliver an automated risk calculator to identify Endurance horses on a path to elimination much earlier, according to researchers.

The calculator would be driven by algorithms developed through data collected from the FEI database and veterinary cards, on which veterinarians record the condition of horses before each race, and as they progress through each loop.

However, at present, the majority of such cards are filled out by hand, which makes processing the valuable data they contain more laborious.

“It is therefore important that the FEI Veterinary Department consider ways in which these data can be collected in digital format and immediately uploaded to an FEI database,” Euan Bennet and his colleagues at the University of Glasgow report in the Equine Veterinary Journal.