Horse inspections held prior to the start of a 3-day event and again prior to the competition’s show jumping phase are designed to ensure horses are sound to compete. Veterinary delegates and an inspection panel perform them. However, the final decision of a horse being accepted to compete lies with the ground jury. This can cause a variety of challenges, said Elin Hernlund, DVM, PhD, associate senior lecturer at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, in Uppsala, during her presentation at the at the 2025 IGNITE Sports Science for the Olympic Disciplines Seminar, held Jan. 12-13, in Ocala, Florida.

Challenges During Horse Inspections

Horse inspections at events are brief, and varying standards even within disciplines make it particularly challenging for experts to agree on visual assessments of soundness. In cross-sectional studies of the inspections, researchers have found asymmetries in horses’ movements are prevalent, said Hernlund. Practitioners typically consider symmetric movers sound and severely asymmetric ones not sound. However, some asymmetries can make it difficult for veterinarians to determine if the horse is truly sound or lame, she said.

Although veterinarians have worked to establish threshold values for lameness, opinions vary widely on what qualifies as lame. “There are no threshold values we can use at the moment,” said Hernlund.

Study on Gait Analysis and Horse Inspections

Researchers have gathered data at seven FEI-level long-format eventing competitions from five countries, recording a total of 323 horse inspections. In preliminary results the investigators showed that measurements taken using a smartphone-based AI program largely support human decisions about soundness made at the inspections. Horses sent to the holding box (the area where horses go when the ground jury wants to reevaluate them for soundness) are more asymmetrical than those that do not go to the holding box, but there are exceptions, Hernlund said. Further results from the study will be forthcoming.

Take-Home Message

The goal of the horse inspection at every event is to ensure horses entered are sound and fit to compete. This is for the safety of horses and humans alike. Using data gathered by AI can help quantify what the veterinarians and ground jury see. While the idea is still in the early stages, Hernlund said it shows promise for the future.