The Horse – The cross-country phase of eventing comes with risk, but new research aims to keep horses and riders safer.

Researchers now know that eventing riders are more likely to fall off during cross-country if they lack experience or they’ve had a poor dressage score at the same event. Risk also increases at higher levels or when riding longer courses. And a horse that’s fallen before is more likely to fall again.

In a recent study, researchers examined more than 200,000 eventing starts in Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) competitions over 10 years. Their data could lead to the development of “risk profiles” for each horse/rider combination prior to entering an event, which could ultimately improve safety and welfare for participants, said Euan Bennet, MSci, PhD, of the University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine, in Scotland.

“We’re not talking about massive changes,” Bennet said. “We’re just saying that the evidence that we’ve got here could inform the Minimum Eligibility Requirements (MERs, a series of checks that permit athletes to move up to higher star levels) to make sure people are competing at levels appropriate for them, to minimize the risks.”

the HORSE – Riding at fast speeds at the start of endurance rides often leads to elimination during veterinary checks, researchers have learned. And while that might seem like common sense, many riders continue to ride too fast in rides’ early stages, one scientists said.

The age-old adage says “slow and steady wins the race,” and researchers have found that it rings true for endurance riding—at least at the beginning of the ride.

While that might seem obvious or “common sense,” the fact is many riders continue to ride fast in the early stages of endurance events, said Euan David Bennet, PhD, a research associate at the University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine’s Weipers Centre for Equine Welfare, in Scotland. And as his new study shows, a too-quick start frequently leads to failure to qualify (FTQ) to continue the ride during veterinary checks.

“This should certainly help develop a speed strategy to help avoid FTQ outcomes,” Bennet said. “That’s not quite the same as developing a strategy for a win, but for riders that want to win, safely finishing the ride would be a good start.”

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.

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.