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by Denzil O’Brien and Dr Raymond Cripps
March 2008
RIRDC Publication No 08/027 RIRDC Project No UF-11A
In 2002, a national surveillance monitoring program was established, in collaboration with the Equestrian Federation of Australia (EFA), based on the success of a trial conducted in 2001 in New South Wales and South Australia (Cripps & Pagano 2002). Funded by the Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation and the EFA, this monitoring program was conducted until the end of the eventing season of 2006, providing a full five years of data.
Who is the report targeted
at
The report is directed at
the policy-makers in equestrian sport. Until this project began, the EFA
collected no information on the sport of eventing. There was no central
database of competitions, starters, results, falls or injuries. Our findings
should provide a useful source of information when policy-makers look at
future rule changes, as they will provide comprehensive data about risks
of horse and rider falls, as well as correlations between jump types and
the risk of falls.
In addition, the report is targeted at other National Federations in the hope that SHARE might prove useful to them in setting up or refining their own data collection systems, in order to fulfil their reporting requirements to the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI).
Aims/Objectives
Methods used
This report analyses data
collected over this five year period on falls of riders and horses in the
crosscountry phase of the sport of eventing, and injuries incurred as a
result of these falls. Data was collected from all EFA and FEI affiliated
events throughout Australia utilising a Fall Report Form (FRF). Officials’
reports from events were sent to us and, together with official results
from the internet, were used to crosscheck falls data, to confirm rider
and horse identification, and to identify the number of starters at each
level of competition at each event. Event and fall information were processed,
and entered into a secure database (SHARE). To complete the data collection
process, a follow-up questionnaire was sent to each rider who fell. Data
contained in the data collection and analysis system, SHARE, was analysed
quantitatively to produce tabulations and figures used in this report.
It demonstrates that it is possible to estimate the rate of rider and horse falls within the context of a sport which attracts nearly 12,000 individual starters each year, and it outlines a method for estimating risk of falls and injuries. It is the first time for this sport that such data has been collected in Australia, and it is the first study to estimate risk against a more complex set of parameters than simply the number of starters in an event. These parameters include the level of the competition, the type of jump involved, whether the horse also fell, and whether this was a rotational fall, whether the fall occurred at a jump or between jumps, whether the rider or the horse was injured, and the effect of the riders’ injuries on their daily lives.
Key findings
The report demonstrates
that the system is capable of translation to other National Federations
(NFs) for use in collecting and analysing falls and injury data, offering
the possibility of a consistent body of data for international comparisons,
as well as a sturdy platform for national analysis.
The research which led to the development of this specific data collection and analysis system, SHARE, is important for a number of reasons; not least being that it provides a method for analysing the rates and risk of injury to riders and horses in the sport of eventing alone. The range of horse-related activities which can result in injury is legion, and analysis of injuries resulting from such a range of activities, through hospital or mortality data for example, cannot provide an accurate assessment of the risks associated with eventing alone.
Implications for relevant
stakeholders for:
While there have been many
studies on the nature and incidence of horse-related injury, many of them
focussing on injuries in children (Barone & Rodgers 1989; Bixby- Hammett
1992; Giebel et al 1993), few previous studies have concentrated on eventing
alone (Paix 1999; Whitlock 1999; Murray et al 2006). While the risks of
catastrophic and even fatal outcomes for riders and horses in eventing
cannot be denied, we have been able to demonstrate that in general the
injury rate to riders and horses is substantially lower than previously
claimed (Paix 1999), and this is important for those who make policy decisions
for the sport.
In 2006, RIRDC provided further funding for a one-year trial of the data collection and analysis system, known as SHARE (Safety for Horses And Riders in Eventing) in two other NFs, New Zealand and India.
The former is a well-credentialled country in the sport, with success at World Championships and Olympic Games. The latter on the other hand has barely begun to conduct the sport, and has no current capacity to collect information on falls and injuries. Unfortunately neither NF was able to participate in the trial-New Zealand because the NF lacked the resources to implement and manage the system, and India because they had too few events to justify their participation. Nonetheless this report demonstrates that SHARE is capable of generating comparisons of Australian data with data sourced from other NFs and from the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), the peak international body for equestrian sport.
Recommendations
We do not believe that we
are in a position to make formal recommendations to the governing bodies
for equestrian sport, but nonetheless we urge the EFA to consider doing
the following:
British Eventing has
recently introduced a rule requiring elimination for all horse falls, including
those ‘on the flat’.
