Es is a warning shot, unmistakable. In the run-up to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, a working group of members of the French National Assembly has been examining equestrian sport. The focus is on animal welfare aspects in top-class sport. A 72-page report makes 46 recommendations for making the Paris 2024 Games the most horse-friendly yet.
The occasion was three incidents in Tokyo 2021 that outraged the public: the euthanasia of the Swiss cross-country horse Jet Set after an irreparable broken leg sustained during an unfortunate off-road landing; the images of the Irish gray Kilkenny, covered in blood, who developed a severe nosebleed during the course and was not stopped by either his rider or the jury. And, extensively reported and commented on, the pictures of the German pentathlete Annika Schleu trying in vain to drive her distraught horse over the obstacles with the help of the whip.
Due to the worldwide discussion, the riding pentathlon discipline will be held in Paris for the last time and is to be replaced by a kind of obstacle course without horses. While riding in pentathlon was not part of the equestrian sport represented by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), for most people a person on a horse is a rider. And public criticism did not stop at top-class equestrian sport.
The 46 recommendations are very specific. Much is not new and, as FEI President Ingmar de Vos emphasizes, can also be found in the regulations of the FEI for a long time, but not always. And not all rules are followed and controlled as stringently as is required for the well-being of the horse. The report also states that stewards often do not dare to take action, especially with sports celebrities, for fear of reprisals.
The list of torments is long: lashed nosebands, curb chains, hidden spurs
It starts with the equipment. You can still see horses with the most adventurous bridles, bits and several reins and auxiliary reins in the course. There is no list of permitted bits and bridles in the FEI show jumping regulations. Tightened nosebands and curb chains that impede breathing are the order of the day. The report also requires checks of bridles and bits during training.
Desperate rider and horse: Pentathlete Annika Schleu at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
(Photo: Marijan Murat/dpa)
The whip should not be used more than twice during warm-up, once during the test, but preferably not at all. It is also not clear why a rider should be forced to put on spurs if his horse does not need them. The current dressage regulations require it. According to the French report, the leather belly flaps, which are supposed to hide spur stitches, are also banned.
He deals particularly extensively with “hyperflexion”. The harmful effects on the horse’s entire musculoskeletal system when the horse’s head is pulled towards the chest with the reins, a training method that is also prohibited by FEI regulations, are described precisely and scientifically based. The horse’s forehead line should be in front of or at the vertical. Even in dressage tests at the highest level, you often see other pictures that are rarely punished by the jury.
Particular attention is paid to “mechanical doping”. This refers to pieces of equipment that are intended to increase performance, such as hind leg gaiters that are tightened particularly tightly or in which small marble-sized pressure points are incorporated to increase caution against touching the pole. It’s like sticking a dry pea in a runner’s shoe. Of course, these manipulations are forbidden, but there seems to be no limit to the inventiveness of some riders.
The return to a four-man team is recommended – this reduces the pressure of the competition
The report also calls for a return to the four-team rule at the Olympics and should have the riders on its side. As is well known, since Tokyo there have only been three riders per team, so no more discarded results. This could tempt a rider to keep going, even if the well-being of his horse is against it, in order to save the team result.
The FEI decided last year to convene an external group of experts to deal with all aspects of animal welfare in equestrian sport. The result should be presented in 2023. Now the French Parliament has anticipated the FEI, the report is in the room as a guideline for the 2024 Olympics.
It is noteworthy that it comes from a high-level working group that has consulted numerous professionals from all sectors of the French and international equestrian scene: veterinarians, scientists, riders, representatives of the FN, the FEI, racing, but also the British animal welfare organization “Welfare of the horses”. The idea of competitive sport with horses is never questioned as long as they are properly treated and trained. A matter of course, one would think. “We have to take the report very seriously,” says Stephan Ellenbruch, Chairman of the FEI Show Jumping Commission. The warning shot was loud enough. Equestrian sport is under observation.
