Sixteen factors, including a better score in the dressage phase, improve the likelihood of safely completing the cross-country in Eventing, a fresh study shows.

Researchers Euan Bennet, Heather Cameron-Whytock and Tim Parkin, well known for their work on Eventing safety, set out to identify factors associated with running clear in the cross-country phase in FEI Eventing competitions.

The study team, writing in the Equine Veterinary Journal, noted that risk factors for cross-country falls reported in research and industry reports include higher Eventing levels, poorer dressage scores earlier in the competition, less experienced athletes and horses, the number of recent competition starts, the age and sex of the horse and rider, and whether the horse or rider had any prior falls.

Course-related factors for falls include the fence type, composition and setting.

An anomaly identified in the injury rate among young Thoroughbreds, seemingly linked to Covid-related disruptions, highlights the importance of racehorses following suitable training schedules, especially early in their careers, say researchers.

Racehorse training and racing schedules in many parts of the United States and Canada were interrupted or otherwise reduced during the first three to six months of 2020, Euan Bennet and Tim Parkin noted in the journal Animals.

This was an indirect consequence of measures taken to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus.

“The outcome of this situation was that a natural experiment occurred,” the pair wrote.

In early 2020, two-year-old Thoroughbreds preparing to begin their racing careers had both their intensive training and the start of their careers delayed.

Older groups of horses aged three and above also experienced an interruption to their usual training programs.

Bennet and Parkin examined potential associations between the disruption to training and fatal musculoskeletal injuries using data from the Equine Injury Database — a census-level report of Thoroughbred flat racing in the United States and Canada collected by The Jockey Club.

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Four evidence-based recommendations have the potential to reduce the risk of injuries and fatalities in Eventing’s cross-country phase, according to researchers.

Their recommendations centre around a re-evaluation of qualification criteria, the use of risk profiling, a disqualification limit on dressage scores, and a complete review of course and fence design.

The proposals are put forward by Euan Bennet, Tim Parkin and Heather Cameron-Whytock, who have had three high-profile scientific papers published in recent years in the Equine Veterinary Journal on Eventing safety in the cross-country phase.

The researchers identified risk factors consistent with those reported previously, and also discovered new ones that are modifiable by sport governing bodies.

“It is now more important than ever that equestrian sport engages seriously with the ethics of risk management, as discussions about equestrian sports’ social licence to operate have become more frequent and prominent in recent years,” they noted.

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Sixteen risk factors for horse falls during the cross-country phase of eventing have been identified in a British study, which reveals several opportunities for interventions to reduce the chances of a mishap.

One possibility is a cap on dressage penalties, as worse dressage scores were linked to a heightened risk of a fall in the later cross-country phase.

The highest risk of injury or death for eventing riders is associated with horse falls during the cross-country. Horse falls are classed as rotational or non-rotational. The risk to the rider is greatest when the fall results in the horse landing on top of them.

Internationally, 38 eventing rider fatalities were reported between 2000 and 2015, with at least 30 of them resulting from a horse fall at a cross-country fence. Additionally, 65 horse fatalities occurred during or after eventing competitions between 2007 and 2015, with limited equine fatality statistics available before this date.

Of these 65 equine fatalities, 28 were a result of a horse fall at a cross-country fence. News outlets report a further 17 event rider and 39 event horse fatalities in the six years since.

Heather Cameron-Whytock and her fellow researchers, in a study reported in the Equine Veterinary Journal, said research that aims to identify risk factors for horse falls is imperative to highlight potential areas for prevention and set priorities for future research.

horsetalk.co.nz – Study explored risk factors for sudden death among racehorses in North America.

American Thoroughbred racehorses given furosemide on race day were at 62% increased odds of sudden death compared to those not racing on the medication, researchers report.

The study, led by the University of Glasgow and published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medicine Association, also found multiple other risk factors associated with sudden death, related to the circumstances of the race and the individual histories of the horses.

Researchers Euan Bennet and Tim Parkin based their findings on data extracted from the Equine Injury Database, which holds detailed records of 92.2% of all official race starts made in the United States and Canada during the study period, from 2009 to 2021.

Their analysis involved 4,198,073 race starts made by 284,387 Thoroughbred horses at 144 North American racetracks.