Report on horse welfare for Paris 2024

[stangs]

https://horsesandpeople.com.au/french-parliament-calls-for-horse-welfare-overhaul-at-paris-2024/

46 recommendations pre the Olympics, covering all the equestrian sports and the pentathlon. A few recommendations are nothing special, a few look promising if they end up being applied (e.g. noseband tightness checks, revising which nosebands/bits are allowed, providing relaxation areas for horses, applying immediate sanctions for hyperflexion in dressage), one or two seemed a little too vague to be effective. They're also advocating for banning belly bands which makes no sense to me; surely spur usage is the issue not the belly bands?

 

[teapot]

Some of those could actually cause issues ?

No martingales, fences that collapse…

 

[stangs]

No martingales, fences that collapse…

They’re not aiming to prohibit martingales; they're aiming to prohibit their use with gag bits. Perfectly reasonable imo given that the two tools completely contradict.

 

[teapot]

They’re not aiming to prohibit martingales; they're aiming to prohibit their use with gag bits. Perfectly reasonable imo given that the two tools completely contradict.

That depends on why you use the martingale in the first place. Some riders keep them loose but like the extra neck strap, reins not going over head…

Also there’s a gap between using a bit to raise the head, and a piece of tack to prevent the head going too high (regardless of what’s in the mouth). You can use both at the same time.

 

[MuddyMonster]

Just had a quick skim through & I think most of these sound really positive for horse's welfare. It would be great to see some or most of these implemented, especially testing the tightness of noseband.

Actually, here's a question, is it possible to compete without a noseband at all?

 

[humblepie]

Slightly concerning that the following has to be a recommendation - you would have hoped it was enforced anyway.
Dressage
Enforce the prohibition of intentional or unintentional infliction of unnecessary suffering or discomfort, and of an overly constrained posture or frame.
Interesting reading and thank you for sharing.

 

[Wishfilly]

I'm slightly surprised to see grackles on the list of banned nosebands given that research suggests that correctly used they may be more comfortable for the horse than cavessons. I fully accept they can be overtightened, but the answer to that is surely to test the tightness of any grackle rather than ban them entirely?

I think any tack changes (especially for eventing) need to be announced well in advance so that riders can change their tack to meet requirements, rather than e.g. going XC in a new set up which could pose a risk to horse and rider.

I think the whip rules are interesting- I'm curious as to whether lots of riders would choose to ride without rather than be accused of using it more than once.

I'm not convinced by 100% collapsable fences- personally I think greater safety benefit would be gained from ensuring all combinations were truly competent for the test- but I know the olympics obviously wants to be accessible to all nations. I think it would change the sport of eventing in a lot of ways and the ramifications of that would need to be considered.

I think it's important to continue to improve welfare across horse sports, and I think the recommendations for welfare of stabled horses are good. I also think it's important that the perception of horse sports is improved- personally I'm not sure I can see the justification for keeping modern pentathlon in with its current format.

 

[shortstuff99]

This is the one I find odd, is this a horse with an injury ever?

Remove from competition any horses with a medical history that is not compatible with an optimal state of health (e.g. a history of bone, ligament or muscle injury resulting in long periods of inactivity), which is necessary for participation in the Olympic Games.
This optimal state of health will have to be verified in advance by the FEI Veterinarians.

 

[stangs]

I'm slightly surprised to see grackles on the list of banned nosebands given that research suggests that correctly used they may be more comfortable for the horse than cavessons. I fully accept they can be overtightened, but the answer to that is surely to test the tightness of any grackle rather than ban them entirely?

See, I'm very sceptical about this. Presuming you're referring to the Fairfax study, on their website, they do say that grackles performed better - but, having read through the study (here), at no point do they actually mention grackles. In their first experiment, they test the following for pressure points - none of which sounds like a grackle to me.

Headpiece types assessed were standard flat leather headpiece with separate noseband strap positioned underneath the headpiece (n = 1); noseband strap full width of headpiece with the headpiece positioned on top as one unit (n = 2); wide padded headpiece with noseband strap positioned on top of the headpiece (n = 2); rolled leather headpiece and noseband with buckles located to one side of midline (n = 2); and padded headpiece with noseband threaded through crew holes and over the top (n = 1)."

In their second experiment, they compare their bridle (bridle F) to a standard bridle with a crank noseband, and find that horses moved better with bridle F, and that,

"Measured under the noseband, peak pressure with bridle S was 47.8% greater than that with bridle F, and maximum force was 41.2% greater with bridle S than that with bridle F. When the newly designed crank noseband was used alone without the designed headpiece, there was a significant reduction in peak pressure compared with the standard crank noseband, but this was less than when this was combined with the newly designed headpiece."

Again, nothing to do with grackles. Nor does it bode well for crank nosebands in general, just Fairfax's specific crank noseband.

On top of this, in experiment one, nosebands were "adjusted to the tightness usually used by the rider". I appreciate why they've done this, but, call me a cynic, all the participants were professional riders (SJ and Grand Prix Dressage) and professional riders don't have the greatest track record for loose nosebands. So, when their website says "the pressure was so high with a cavesson, we thought the mat must be faulty!", I think they've deliberately phrased this to make it sound like the cavesson is dodgy, not the riders' tightening of it.

My suspicion is that they did test drops and grackles and the like, but the peer-review recommended they leave this out because the data wasn't reliable. Yet they've kept all these claims on their website, possibly because, for most people, the paper is behind a paywall so they're hoping Fairfax customers will just see that it was approved by a journal, and not actually look at what was approved by the paper. It's a solid paper. It just has very little to do with what Fairfax claim.

 

[HashRouge]

They're also advocating for banning belly bands which makes no sense to me; surely spur usage is the issue not the belly bands?

I assume the idea is that using a belly band enables more careless use of the spurs, because it reduces the likelihood of drawing blood/ breaking the skin. Whereas correct use of spurs is not, in itself a problem. Ergo, if you're using a belly band, are you using it to disguise harsh/ improper use of spurs?

 

[SantaVera]

Sounds like a step in the right direction.

 

[RHM]

I find the proposed bit rules interesting. I believe it is due to advances in equipment that women are able to compete against men. My horse would breeze round a XC in a snaffle with my male instructor as he is considerably stronger than me. Where as I would be fighting for control.
Stronger bits have allowed women to ride bigger stronger horses more competitively. What happened to the argument that it’s the hands that hold the bit which make it harsh?

 

[sbloom]

I find the proposed bit rules interesting. I believe it is due to advances in equipment that women are able to compete against men. My horse would breeze round a XC in a snaffle with my male instructor as he is considerably stronger than me. Where as I would be fighting for control.
Stronger bits have allowed women to ride bigger stronger horses more competitively. What happened to the argument that it’s the hands that hold the bit which make it harsh?

Women have competed against men, very successfully, since they were allowed out of the kitchen . We need to move away from strength, and gadgets to give riders leverage, ie strength imo. I would love to see more work done on what truly makes a "man's horse" and whether we can train those horses better to not need to be ridden by a man, now we understand more about equine behaviour and biomechanics.

 

[MagicMelon]

Great points in my opinion. Belly bands IMO just cover the issue, ban spurs completely Absolutely heading in the right direction though, changes need to happen as our disiplines are being more scrutinised yet what happens in them seems to be getting worse (nastier bits / more crazy tack / nasty riding etc.).

 

[stangs]

Great points in my opinion. Belly bands IMO just cover the issue, ban spurs completely Absolutely heading in the right direction though, changes need to happen as our disiplines are being more scrutinised yet what happens in them seems to be getting worse (nastier bits / more crazy tack / nasty riding etc.).

I don't think everything's getting worse, but I do think we've reached a point where band-aid solutions (to put it lightly) to improve ridden behaviour are the norm, e.g. flashes, rather than being treated like temporary solutions. And professional riders doing this certainly doesn't set a good example for amateurs.
.

 

[LegOn]

I think changing rules, especially for dressage, is all well and good but it doesnt really change anything unless the scoring and judging is reviewed aswell with these new guidelines are the premise, because horses in tight overworked frames are still scoring extremely high and winning massive international classes.

 

[tristar]

i`d love to see dressage without spurs, to see if it improves the hand to bit contact, and overall frame improvement

 

[RHM]

Women have competed against men, very successfully, since they were allowed out of the kitchen . We need to move away from strength, and gadgets to give riders leverage, ie strength imo. I would love to see more work done on what truly makes a "man's horse" and whether we can train those horses better to not need to be ridden by a man, now we understand more about equine behaviour and biomechanics.

Absolutely they have but we shouldn’t forget what makes that possible.
Completely agree with the sentiment around improved training and maybe that will be the future of the sport. It would be naive of us to ignore what makes current very successful combinations possible.

 

[sbloom]

Absolutely they have but we shouldn’t forget what makes that possible.
Completely agree with the sentiment around improved training and maybe that will be the future of the sport. It would be naive of us to ignore what makes current very successful combinations possible.

There's a lot of knowledge out there already that is broadly ignored (somewhat understandably) by the more competitive riders, we could make these changes now if we wanted to.