Endurance Horses Are 'not Machines', Vet Warns

Longer rest periods can help prevent injury, while higher speeds in competition contribute to equine eliminations.

- Eleanor Jones

THE endurance community needs an urgent change in mindset – and horses are not machines, a leading figure in equine orthopaedics has warned.

Speaking on risk factors and bone injury in endurance horses, at the FEI Sports Forum, Chris Whitton explained the importance of appropriate training and rest in preventing cumulative damage.

Professor Whitton, who is based at the University of Melbourne, has conducted extensive research into the effect of work on horses’ bones.

“It was mainly on thoroughbred racehorses, but applies to any horse, particularly in catastrophic injuries [fractures] in endurance horses,” he said.

“If you understand the key principles in catastrophic injury; accumulation of damage and bone response, and work with them, you can help prevent injury.”

Prof Whitton said force is applied to a horse's bones when it is worked. This "loading", which increases with speed, causes damage to accumulate, which is invisible under X-ray.