the HORSE – Knowing elimination risk factors can help veterinarians, riders, and trainers make informed decisions to safeguard endurance horse welfare, researchers say.

If your endurance horse is a stallion, older than 9, and competing in a ride against more than 60 other horses, he’s at increased risk of being eliminated from the race due to lameness at an obligatory veterinary check. And if you, the rider, are male, the risk is even higher.

That’s one of the main findings from a recent study in which researchers in the U.K. investigated risk factors for vet check failures in endurance horses. Their recent study focused on data from all Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) endurance events held worldwide from 2010 and 2015—nearly 83,000 starts.

horsetalk.co.nz

The FEI’s two-year extension of research into horse injuries in Endurance will also explore the potential of developing a similar approach for other disciplines.

The world governing body for horse sport yesterday announced that it had extended its injuries research agreement with Glasgow University for two more years.

This would allow further development of the Global Endurance Injuries Study. It will maximise the impact of the study across Endurance, with further agreement reached to explore the potential development of similar methodologies for other horse sports in the FEI’s stable.

horsetalk.co.nz

The sport of endurance and its issues were in the spotlight at the FEI Sports Forum in Lausanne, Switzerland, earlier this week, with panelists agreeing that speed and the non-compliance with mandatory rest periods were the key risk factors.

Panelists Dr Tim Parkin and Dr Euan Bennet from the University of Glasgow, who are conducting the FEI’s Global Endurance Injuries Study, and Professor Chris Whitton from the University of Melbourne, spoke on the sports risk factors and bone fatigue in the horse. John McEwan, Chair of the FEI Veterinary Committee, was also a panelist.