Background: The equestrian discipline of eventing tests athletes' and horses' skill over three phases: dressage, jumping and cross‐country. Falls during cross‐country can be particularly serious and result in serious or fatal injury for both horse and athlete. Cross‐country course and fence design are crucial contributory factors to safety.Objectives: To provide descriptive statistics and identify fence‐level risk factors for horses competing in Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) events worldwide.Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.Methods: Data were collected for every horse start worldwide in all international (CI), championship (CH), Olympics (OG) and World Equestrian Games (WEG) eventing competitions between January 2008 and December 2018 and univariable logistic regression, followed by multivariable logistic regression were applied. The final model was built in a stepwise bi‐directional process, with each step assessed by the Akaike information criterion.Results: Risk factors were identified at the fence level covering aspects of fence design and course design. Ten fence types were at increased odds of a fall occurring compared with square spread fences, and seven types were at reduced odds. Fences with an approach downhill (odds ratio [OR] 1.35, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.19–1.52), with landing into water (OR 1.82, CI 1.62–2.01), frangible devices (OR 1.28, CI 1.15–1.41) and later elements of combined obstacles (OR 1.33 CI 1.25–1.42 for the second element, OR 1.21 CI 1.10–1.32 for later elements) were associated with increased risk of falls occurring.Main Limitations: Although the dataset covers every international competition worldwide, it does not include national‐level competitions.Conclusions: It is recommended that the most challenging fences are placed near the beginning of the course, and not in downhill or water settings. The complexity of individual elements in combined fences should be reduced. Adopting evidence‐based course design is a crucial intervention for reducing the incidence of horse falls and associated serious and fatal injuries to horse and human athletes.

Background: To date, industry and research outputs that have aimed to improve safety in equestrian eventing have tended to focus on identifying risk factors for horse falls during cross‐country, which have been identified as the greatest risk of injury and fatality for riders. There is an absence of research that investigates fatalities of horses within the sport of eventing. Objectives: To use a combination of media reports and eventing federation databases to describe and document equine fatalities in equestrian eventing, including their context, location and a basic pathology. Study Design: Descriptive study. Methods: A study describing equine fatalities that occurred between 1998 and 2023. Study data were taken from a combination of media reports (to identify occurrences of equine fatalities) and federation databases (to confirm a fatality did indeed occur and validate data). Results: One hundred and ten equine fatality records were included. Median horse age was 12 years. 62.7% of equine fatalities were not associated with a report of a horse fall during the cross‐country phase. Of all fatalities, 36.4% involved a musculoskeletal (MSK) injury, 36.4% were considered sudden death and 27.3% did not report the pathology (unknown). A total of 47.5% of MSK‐related fatalities and 90% of sudden death fatalities occurred during cross‐country but were unrelated to horse falls at cross‐country fences. Main Limitations: The data presented within this study do not provide a complete picture of global equine eventing fatalities during the study period. Details around the context/pathology of fatalities are also limited because of the sources they are derived from. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that equine fatalities in eventing occur in contexts other than horse falls, including as a result of MSK injury and sudden death. Future research and risk management work in eventing should include work that investigates sudden death and MSK injury in eventing horses and their causative/associative factors.

Background: Equestrian eventing is a dangerous Olympic sport, with 16 rider and 69 horse fatalities at competition in the last 10 years. Despite this, there is limited research that aims to improve safety within the sport. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors for horse falls, which are the leading cause of rider fatality within the sport. Study design: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: Competition data between January 2005 and December 2015 were analysed. Descriptive statistics followed by univariable logistic regression to identify risk factors for inclusion in a multivariable logistic regression model were conducted. Models were constructed stepwise using a bidirectional process and assessed using the Akaike information criterion. A total of 749 534 cross‐country starts were analysed for association with the risk of horse falls. Results: Sixteen risk factors were identified including: higher event levels, higher dressage penalties and higher number of days since horses' last start. For example, horse and rider combinations competing at BE100 (OR 1.64, confidence interval (CI) 1.37–1.96, p < 0.001), novice (OR 3.58, CI 3.03–4.24, p < 0.001), intermediate (OR 8.00, CI 6.54–9.78, p < 0.001), advanced (OR 12.49, CI 9.42–16.57, p < 0.001) and international (OR 4.63, CI 3.50–6.12, p < 0.001) all had a higher risk of having a horse fall in comparison to combinations competing at BE90 level. Furthermore, for every additional 10 dressage penalties awarded to a horse and rider combination, there was a higher risk of a horse fall (OR 1.20, CI 1.12–1.28, p < 0.001). Main limitations: The study is not geographically comprehensive (UK only) and does not include any information on training activity of horses and riders. Conclusions: This is the largest‐scale study ever conducted on horse falls during eventing competition. Study results can be used by sport governing bodies to inform policy which has the potential to reduce the risk of injury and fatality to sport participants.

The study hypothesised that a markerless motion capture system can provide kinematic data comparable to a traditional marker-based system for riders mounted on a horse. The objective was to assess the markerless system's accuracy by directly comparing joint and segment angle measurements taken during walking and trotting with those obtained from a marker-based system. Ten healthy adult participants performed five dynamic trials during walking and trotting. A twelve-camera marker-based system and eight-camera 2D video-based system were synchronised. Three-dimensional hip, knee, shoulder and elbow joint angles, and the global trunk and pelvis angle were computed for comparison between the two systems. To assess the error between systems, the root mean square difference (RMSD) was averaged across each gait cycle and statistical parametric mapping (SPM) paired t-tests were applied. The sagittal trunk angle had the lowest RMSD of 2.0° and elbow rotation had the highest RMSD of 19°, with the same values for walking and trotting. SPM indicated increased hip flexion (0-100 %, p < 0.001) and elbow flexion (24-47 %, p = 0.03; 63-100 %, p < 0.001) in the walking gait cycle for the markerless system. A lack of joint range of motion and obscured medial limbs during walking whilst mounted on horses may cause increased offsets for markerless data in equestrian riders. No significant differences were found for the transverse plane, yet there tended to be increased RMSD. This lack of consistency suggests results from the transverse plane in equestrian riders should be interpreted with caution. Study findings indicate that markerless technology has the potential to be a suitable alternative to marker-based systems for assessment of equestrian riders, dependent on the segment/joint angle of interest and the level of acceptable error. These results indicate that markerless systems can effectively be utilised for rider biofeedback, though their application may be limited for specific joint analyses.

Background: Equestrian eventing involves competing in three phases: dressage, jumping, and cross‐country. Competitors are ranked by number of penalties accrued—with those who have fewer penalties ranked higher. Completing the cross‐country phase with zero obstacle penalties is commonly referred to as ‘running clear’. Understanding factors associated with running clear can help athletes plan strategically for success, while also helping governing bodies to refine qualification criteria for elite levels.Objectives: This study was carried out to identify factors associated with running clear in the cross‐country phase of Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) eventing.Study design: Retrospective cohort study of 107 348 horse starts worldwide in all FEI competitions between January 2008 and December 2018.Methods: Multivariable logistic regression models constructed stepwise using a bi‐directional process. Two study cohorts were assessed: a complete cohort that met all inclusion requirements and separately, a cohort that included only horses starting at the level above their previous start.Results: Sixteen factors were associated with running clear. Factors associated with increased likelihood of doing so included lower event level, lower dressage score earlier in the event, fewer recent FEI event starts, and more clear runs in their previous three FEI events. For horses that had stepped up an event level, 14 of these factors were still associated with running clear.Main limitations: Data available covered only FEI events, no national federation competitions were available for inclusion in horse histories. No prior veterinary information or data on training were available.Conclusions: This study provides a framework that allows stakeholders to potentially better understand the appropriate level of competition for any particular horse/rider combination, given the combination's recent history. This could provide an additional direct benefit in terms of safety by reducing the likelihood of a combination falling during cross‐country.

Background: Thoroughbred racing is a major industry, and in recent years public concerns about equine safety have become more prominent, particularly in relation to on‐track injuries and fatalities. This has challenged the industry's social licence to operate (SLO). Objectives: To investigate and elucidate how United Kingdom and Irish racing stakeholders perceive risks to racehorses on race day and how those risks should be managed. Study Design: Qualitative analysis of stakeholder perspectives using a constructionist approach. Methods: Twelve stakeholders from veterinary, communication, and regulatory sectors within racing in the United Kingdom and Ireland were interviewed. Semi‐structured interviews were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Three key themes were developed ‘Managing Risk, or Managing the Message?’, ‘The Balance between Tradition and Progress on Reducing Risks’, and ‘Attributing Responsibility and the Public Disconnect’. Participants framed risk according to public misunderstanding and effective communication, while others placed increased emphasis on welfare risks and proactive mitigation measures. Some participants viewed ‘accidents’ as unavoidable, others believed that more could be done to minimise avoidable risk. Attribution of responsibility was directed towards various industry stakeholders including trainers, jockeys, regulators and the public. Interviewees noted the industry to be rooted in tradition and slow to adapt to changing expectations. Main Limitations: Familiarity between the interviewing researcher and some participants may have encouraged open discussion but could have influenced how responses were framed. Conclusions: Stakeholders framed risk in ways shaped by public expectations, culture, tradition, and lived experience. There is shared concern for equine welfare and a desire for improved safety measures in conjunction with the management of public perceptions. For a sustainable future, internal divisions must be resolved, shared goals established, and proactive engagement with science pursued to safeguard equine welfare and sustain public support.