French proposals re. horse welfare at 2024 Olympics

[planete]

Just came across this:

FRENCH GOVERNMENT ASK FOR AN OVERHAUL OF EQUINE WELFARE FOR OLYMPICS 2024
I'm a bit late with this news but wanted to share it in case you'd missed it. The French Parliament have produced a lengthy report asking the organising committee of the Olympic Games for a complete overhaul of the rules regarding equestrian sport (completely bypassing the FEI!). Their aim is to make Paris 2024 the Olympic Games of equine welfare.
The report has 46 recommendations to improve welfare across all disciplines. There is a section on the use of equipment, including banning the use of draw reins, the use of gag bits in the cross country and elevator bits being used together with martingales. They are asking for a review of nosebands (including cranks and grackles) and for noseband tightness to be checked using the ISES taper gauge. They would like a ban on riders using hyperflexion anywhere on the showground, referring to hyperflexion as 'any head and neck position where the nose is behind the vertical'.
The report also recommends a ban on use of the whip more than once per event and more than twice during the warm-up. They want to prohibit an overly constrained posture and authorise riding without spurs in dressage.
Are the recommended changes really enough to improve horse welfare in sport? Will this report change anything? If the recommendations are put in place, will the rules actually be enforced? This is a remarkable step for a country's government to take, but there were so many concerns about horse welfare at the Tokyo Olympics, I think this move was absolutely necessary if the public is to continue supporting equestrian sport.
The report has been translated by the brilliant team at Horses and People (thank you!) and is well worth reading. You can read the report here: https://horsesandpeople.com.au/french-parliament-calls...

 

[Wizpop]

Thank you for sharing this!?

 

[eahotson]

Thank you for this.I think my first question would be will any of this be enforced? Some competitors can be very creative in evading rules and some think they apply to everyone bar them.

 

[SilverLinings]

I think it is good that this will hopefully start a wider conversation about welfare and the future of horse sport, but I'm not sure that there will be much (if any) change before the next Olympics.

 

[abbijay]

While I think it is laudable that equine welfare is such a huge priority for them I do have concerns about the application of these exact restrictions.
What happens with the showjumper who has a naturally tense/short frame who is encouraged to lengthen but defaults to tucking his head behind the contact? Will they be ejected from the show ground for showing a few moments of this during their first practice session?
What about the event horse from an emerging nation for whom this will be the first test of an XC course of this level but is usually ridden in a gag - I wouldn't want to be sat on that when it's too onwards into a tricky combination. Or out on the course it needed to be encouraged for a long stride early in the course and the whip is not available later on to use in another situation. For me this creates safety concerns - the olympic XC does tend to create an element of risk not seen at most 5 stars with the varied experience level of competitors. So in fact would it improve or worsen potential welfare issues?

 

[tristar]

any step in the right direction is welcome, highlighting some concerns will hopefully be the start of fairer treatment of of equine athletes in the years to come

 

[milliepops]

there have been a few threads about this already. accordingt the full document this is largely in response to the public perception of tokyo in particular to the death of Jetset on the XC, treatment of Saint Boy in the pentathlon and Killkenny's nosebleed in the SJ.

the pentathlon bit is a bit of a side track i think. Had it been brought under the FEI i think there could have been improvements made more easily but it seems like that's essentially gone by the wayside now they've dumped the riding after Paris. it's clearly informed a fair bit of this, e.g. the whip proposals specifically reference the pentathlon in Tokyo. That said, the specific pentathlon proposals make perfect sense i think.

it seems from the full document that there has been a fair bit of lobbying going on after all that, in france which has led to these proposals being put together. i can't help but think it will end up with problems where the proposals don't align with FEI rules and it would make more sense to lobby the FEI for stuff like tack/ equipment changes, these things are changed piecemeal every year after all.

the recommendations about equine environment make sense (size of stables, horse chill out areas etc) to apply to one event as opposed to mandating them for all.

the antidoping bits are pretty sensible too i think, as are requirements for EHV vaccination particularly after the outbreak at the sunshine tour. the bit about horses with previous injuries is going way over the top though, no one would risk a horse that wasn't in tip top condition, surely.

it's an interesting one. I wonder how much will actually make it into the games.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

What about the event horse from an emerging nation for whom this will be the first test of an XC course of this level but is usually ridden in a gag - I wouldn't want to be sat on that when it's too onwards into a tricky combination. Or out on the course it needed to be encouraged for a long stride early in the course and the whip is not available later on to use in another situation. For me this creates safety concerns - the olympic XC does tend to create an element of risk not seen at most 5 stars with the varied experience level of competitors. So in fact would it improve or worsen potential welfare issues?

I would imagine they meant per refusal or run out etc as per event, rather than once on the XC course overall

Being lazy about typing out a whole response, I agree with everything MP says basically.

I also wonder whether they will disqualify or penalise 90% of the dressage competitors, as BTV (but not rollkur) is more often seen than not during a top level test IMO.

 

[milliepops]

the hyperflexion section specifically mentions a particular russian rider (not by name but anyone who watched will remember it) who rode pretty badly. it feels like a sledgehammer to crack a nut... that should have been cracked at the time not wait 4 years... I agree that it would be be unworkable to eliminate any dressage competitor whose horse ducks btv at any point in the whole show. there will be no one left (as the wording mentions unintentional as well as intentional overbending). i don't think that is a helpful approach as applied like that it's fairly meaningless. i thought the inspections at the danish champs recently would make a more sensible approach to identify horses that have a history of being ridden roughly.

 

[coblets]

https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/report-on-horse-welfare-for-paris-2024.818064/
https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/olympics-2024-welfare-discussion.818406/

I also wonder whether they will disqualify or penalise 90% of the dressage competitors, as BTV (but not rollkur) is more often seen than not during a top level test IMO.

isn't that the point. any proper changes will initially face a lot of criticism and exclude many riders. if the changes are too subtle, they end up being ineffective and do very little to improve horse welfare.

at the highest level of the sport, btv shouldn't be the norm. it deserves much heavier penalties than it currently gets or else it'll never improve.

 

[milliepops]

https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/report-on-horse-welfare-for-paris-2024.818064/
https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/olympics-2024-welfare-discussion.818406/


isn't that the point. any proper changes will initially face a lot of criticism and exclude many riders. if the changes are too subtle, they end up being ineffective and do very little to improve horse welfare.

at the highest level of the sport, btv shouldn't be the norm. it deserves much heavier penalties than it currently gets or else it'll never improve.

OK going out on a limb here, *controversy klaxon*
no i don't agree that what they are proposing is going to result in improvements. Being btv is not the same as practicing rollkur.
The dressage bit feels like there is an agenda, one of the consultants teaches in the school of legrete (not a bad thing in itself of course but not exactly aligned with competition dressage) and there's a ramble about how newfangled dressage saddles with knee blocks are "an invention of the rollkur generation"
okaaaay, starting to sound slightly odd and unbalanced here.

in the document they conflate LDR with a horse that is overbent and one in actual rollkur as all being in hyperflexion, and then go on to propose "prohibition of intentional or unintentional " hyperflexion across all disciplines throughout the event. Unintentional?! god forbid your horse goes behind the contact in the warm up for the XC, you're out??

to me, that is not a constructive approach. I want to see better riding and training but this is a bit like the bits/spurs thing and in itself not going to deliver improvements in welfare, it would just become an unworkable rule if implemented in this way.

 

[Palindrome]

I thought the BTV thing was a bit harsh, but then I thought those people are at the Oympics, is it really too harsh to ask them to have the horse on the bit or nose forward? Is it really beyond their capabilities? or is it just a tool they use to get the horse more submissive or whatever they want to achieve?

 

[milliepops]

I just think its impossible to apply sensibly. Properly daft. And as its for the duration of the event, people hacking to a training arena would be covered by it too. Applied the way its written you could be eliminated when riding on a loose rein in your own time!

 

[eahotson]

OK going out on a limb here, *controversy klaxon*
no i don't agree that what they are proposing is going to result in improvements. Being btv is not the same as practicing rollkur.
The dressage bit feels like there is an agenda, one of the consultants teaches in the school of legrete (not a bad thing in itself of course but not exactly aligned with competition dressage) and there's a ramble about how newfangled dressage saddles with knee blocks are "an invention of the rollkur generation"
okaaaay, starting to sound slightly odd and unbalanced here.

in the document they conflate LDR with a horse that is overbent and one in actual rollkur as all being in hyperflexion, and then go on to propose "prohibition of intentional or unintentional " hyperflexion across all disciplines throughout the event. Unintentional?! god forbid your horse goes behind the contact in the warm up for the XC, you're out??

to me, that is not a constructive approach. I want to see better riding and training but this is a bit like the bits/spurs thing and in itself not going to deliver improvements in welfare, it would just become an unworkable rule if implemented in this way.

We all agree don't we that things like bits.spurs,whips,nosebands martingales etc. are fine in themselves.Its only when they are abused that they are wrong.The trouble is that they are abused so much and so often that the abuse has become normalized.What to do about it? I don't honestly know because short of removing all those things at competition there will always be some people who manage to perpetuate the abuse.
The three times maximum use of the whip in the ring in show jumping is a case in point.Now they can't thrash the horse as they wish they make sure that every blow counts.The whip is not used as an aid it is used as a weapon and no one even comments.
The behind the vertical thing. I agree that it would be harsh to punish a rider whose horse has been, perhaps,a little tense and has gone behind the vertical volunterily. However there will be people who will ride their horse like that and claim that it is not them but the horse.
I like the idea of constant videoing and a ground team made up of vets and stewards.

 

[tristar]

changes have to start somewhere, those who ride well and treat their horses considerately have not much to fear

the french have started this, they are normally reasonable and sensible in their approach

the return of `sportsmanship` in some part at least i would love to see

and the flippin fei abiding by their own own rules for once

 

[Fieldlife]

The video footage / video stills of ? Patrick Kittle? warming up trying to be out of sight, in Rolkur in 2012 Olympics was pretty horrible.

 

[milliepops]

but rollkur is already explicitly banned.

 

[eahotson]

but rollkur is already explicitly banned.

Is long round and deep?To be honest rollout was banned because of public protest.

 

[milliepops]

there are degrees of longness, roundness and deepness, some is useful and beneficial as a training method and some is at the other end of the continuum up there with rollkur. I just don't think that it is helpful to anyone to say you can never tolerate a horse going 1 degree btv. who is going to be walking around with a protractor 24/7? it's hyperbole.
It also doesn't tell you very much about the quality of the horse's work at any one time. it just happens to be something that people can see easily. not everyone can assess the quality of a horse's movement, or whether they are a back mover, or whether they are through or straight or whatever but anyone can see it's btv and make a pronouncement about that. for me it's just not that black and white. there are some big offenders but they could be dealt with in a more nuanced and useful way.

btw dressage has one point in this whole 72 page document but btv is such an easy target, look where the thread goes or maybe other people didn't read the rest of it. it's actually quite interesting to read and fairly engaging FWIW.

 

[Wishfilly]

I just think its impossible to apply sensibly. Properly daft. And as its for the duration of the event, people hacking to a training arena would be covered by it too. Applied the way its written you could be eliminated when riding on a loose rein in your own time!

Agreed- there are plenty of horses/ponies when left to their own devices who naturally go BTV if tense etc- I do think it is a big ask to say a rider should be able to prevent that happening in all circumstances. No rider is so amazing they can entirely prevent tense behaviour.

I also agree that lots of the proposals are pretty sensible, but some more extreme ideas have snuck in there too. It would be a shame if a lot of good proposals ended up being chucked out because of one or two which are unworkable.

 

[reynold]

One proposal that is particularly good is the proposal of a return to 4 in a team instead of the 3 in a team fudge at Tokyo where the SJ became very uncomfortable to watch and eliminated horses could continue to compete.

As above, it would be a shame if good proposals were thrown out along with the extreme ones.

Although overall I am naturally suspicious of what is likely to happen when a political government gets involved in sport, when many of them will have no real knowledge of the sport they are discussing.