An upper level eventing horse galloping around a cross-country course exudes power, strength, and fitness. Unfortunately, like other high-performance horses, event horses have some risk of injury, despite owners’ and riders’ careful management and conditioning. But Dutch researchers are working to better understand exactly why event horses are withdrawn from training, conditioning, and competition and to determine if fitness tests could help predict which horses have a higher injury risk.

"Eventing is generally recognized as a challenging equestrian discipline, and wastage figures for this discipline seem relatively high," explained study author Carolien Munsters, PhD. "There is a need for information that provides insight into the causes of wastage and withdrawal from competition, for animal welfare and economic reasons."

Munsters and colleagues at the Utrecht University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine recently published a study in which they followed 20 horses and nine ponies selected by the Dutch national federation as they prepared to represent the nation at the European Eventing Championship in 2010 (for the ponies) and 2011 (for the horses). The research team monitored the animals’ fitness levels using standardized exercise tests (SETs, one at the beginning of the season termed SET-I and another performed six weeks before the championships termed SET-II) and noted any reasons for withdrawal from the competition or preparations leading up to the event. The researchers also monitored 10 horses in each of their training sessions between the two SETs.

The researchers found that, of the equids that participated in the first SET, 45% (16/20 horses and 6/9 ponies) stopped preparing for the competition and were ultimately withdrawn before the championship due to locomotor injury. This represented a higher percentage than reported in several other studies evaluating injuries in event horses, the researchers said