horsetalk.co.nz

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.

The Jockey Club

The initial data analysis from the 14^th year of reporting to the Equine Injury Database (EID) shows a decrease in the rate of fatal injury in 2022 (1.25 fatalities per 1,000 starts) compared to 2021 (1.39 fatalities per 1,000 starts). This is the fourth consecutive year that the rate has decreased, and it is the third consecutive year in which the rate has been below 1.5 fatalities per 1,000 starts. It is the first time ever that the rate has been below 1.3 fatalities per 1,000 starts.
 
Analysis provided by Professor Tim Parkin (University of Bristol), who has consulted on the EID since its inception, and by Dr. Euan Bennet (University of Glasgow), also shows historic low rates of fatality on each surface type, for 3-year-old horses, and for race distances longer than 8 furlongs.
 
“The data shows that since 2009, the risk of fatal injury during racing has declined by 37.5%, which is statistically significant,” Parkin said. “The overall downward trends are testament to the benefits of an evidence-based approach to safety, which is only possible thanks to the EID.”  

Thoroughbred Racing – The 2022 figure of 1.25 fatalities per 1,000 starts is record low since tracks began reporting to the EID en masse in 2009.

USA: Initial data analysis from the 14th year of reporting to the Equine Injury Database (EID) shows a decrease in the rate of fatal injury in 2022 (1.25 fatalities per 1,000 starts) compared to 2021 (1.39 fatalities per 1,000 starts).

This is the fourth consecutive year that the rate has decreased, and it is the third consecutive year in which the rate has been below 1.5 fatalities per 1,000 starts. It is the first time ever that the rate has been below 1.3 fatalities per 1,000 starts.

Analysis provided by Professor Tim Parkin (University of Bristol), who has consulted on the EID since its inception, and Dr. Euan Bennet (University of Glasgow), also shows historic low rates of fatality on each surface type, for three-year-old horses, and for race distances longer than eight furlongs.

“The data shows that since 2009, the risk of fatal injury during racing has declined by 37.5%, which is statistically significant,” Parkin said. “The overall downward trends are testament to the benefits of an evidence-based approach to safety, which is only possible thanks to the EID.”

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.

Paulick Report

A new study of data from the Equine Injury Database has revealed that horses medicated with furosemide (Lasix) on race day were at 62 percent increased odds of sudden death compared to horses that were not racing on furosemide.

Funded by the Grayson Jockey Club Foundation, the study was published by Dr. Euan Bennet and Dr. Tim Parkin on Oct. 20, 2022, in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. It examined the 4,198,073 race starts made by 284,387 Thoroughbred horses at 144 racetracks in the United States and Canada between 2009 and 2021; those numbers represent 92.2 percent of all official race starts during that period.

Of those nearly 4.2 million starts, 536 resulted in a horse’s sudden death, an incidence rate of 0.13/1,000 starts. Sudden death was defined as any horse that was recorded as a fatality within three days of racing, along with one or more of the following fatal injury descriptions or (presumptive) diagnosis, as provided by each participating track to the EID: (1) sudden death (recorded as “SUD” in the EID), (2) pulmonary hemorrhage, (3) exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH), (4) postexertional distress/heatstroke (PED), and (5) cardiac arrhythmia.