Professor Leo Jeffcott was a plenary speaker at the ISES Conference in Sydney. having worked as an FEI event veterinarian (including 6 Olympic Games, 4 World Equestrian Games and 4 World Cups).
Professor Jeffcott was well-placed to speak on the importance of research to welfare and athletic performance. He presented a sad expose of welfare-breaches that have occurred during top-level competition – from Stockholm to The Hague and Rome – horses dying from heat stress, Aspirin use as an illegal anti-inflammatory/painkiller, anti-psychotic use on a horse and the 5 charges of illegal Capsaicin (drug) at last year’s Beijing Olympics, as well as Rollkür use (over-bending of the horse’s neck, bringing the horse’s head towards it’s chest) in dressage training.
Extreme measures show jumpers have used to inflict pain to teach horses to avoid hitting the fences include: chemical pain-induction, rapping (knocking the legs, including in some cases with nailed poles) and using mechanical bandaging techniques. Professor Jeffcott says forensic tests including thermography to identify areas of heat, has brought welfare benefits to competition horses, but that these methods can only be used at a competition. He said that some cases were the result of ‘inappropriate medication rather than deliberate doping’.
The main issues historically facing eventing have been: heat stress, acclimatisation problems and falls, deaths of and injuries to horses and riders. The introduction of misting fans and changes to cross-country/endurance day have produced welfare improvements for competitors in equestrian events.
Rollkür (also known as low-deep and round, LDR or hyper-flexion) has been the most publicised taint on dressage; it was noted ‘that the horse cannot self-maintain the position for a prolonged time with-out welfare implications’.
One of the conference presenters noted that the pain and discomfort of Rollkür makes it unacceptable under the Danish animal protection law. A recent paper by ISES scientists undertaken for the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality to provide an update on hyperflexion research (since the 2006 FEI workshop), shows that the few interim studies are not conclusive in one direction, however.
A delegate said that “having the FEI in charge of competition welfare rules was like having a fox guard the henhouse”, there was then a short discussion on the possible value of independent veterinary regulation at competitions.
The conference’s organisers said that the eyes of the world are firmly focussed on the welfare implications of horse sports and that ‘animal welfare groups have a strong influence on public perceptions – the speed and scope of media delivery means that images fly around the world in seconds after an incident. Therefore we need to be proactive in discussing and promoting ethical and sustainable training and management systems before someone else dictates our practices to us’.
It is vital therefore, that riders at all levels consider the welfare implications of their actions in the training, competition and care of their horses.
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