Sustainability and the Thoroughbred Breeding and Racing Industries: An Enhanced One Welfare Perspective

Comparison of Reported Fatalities, Falls and Injuries in Thoroughbred Horse Jumps and Flat Races in the 2022 and 2023 Jumps Race Seasons in Victoria, Australia

Jumps racing is a form of Thoroughbred horse racing that involves hurdles and steeples and typically longer distances, and heavier weights compared with flat racing, which does not incorporate obstacles. In Australia, jumps racing is carried out only in Victoria, one of eight states and territories. The continuation of jumps racing is contentious due to the higher risk of fatalities, falls and injuries for horses, compared with flat racing. While measures have been introduced by the industry to improve the safety of riders and horses, the rates of fatalities, falls and injuries in horses participating in jumps races have not been collectively reported in Australia since the 2012 to 2014 race seasons. Although information on individual horse fatalities, falls and injuries is published by Racing Victoria in Stewards' Reports, the data are not aggregated, and so cannot readily be used to assess trends or evaluate the efficacy of safety measures introduced by the industry. The aim of this study was to determine the fatality, fall and injury rates for horses participating in hurdle and steeplechase races in Victoria in the 2022 and 2023 Thoroughbred horse jumps racing seasons compared with horses participating in flat races at the same race meets. Data on horse fatalities, falls and injuries were extracted from the published Racing Victoria race results and Stewards' Reports for the jumps races (n = 150) and corresponding flat races (n = 157) held at the 38 jumps race meets in Victoria in 2022 and 2023. Overall, horse fatalities, falls and injuries occurred at higher rates in jumps races compared with flat races during the study period. The rate of horse fatalities in jumps races was 3.3 per 1000 starts, with no fatalities in flat races. The rate of horse falls in hurdle races was 24 per 1000 starts and 41.6 per 1000 starts in steeplechase races, comparable with rates previously reported in the 2012 to 2014 seasons. There were no falls in flat races. Horse injuries occurred at a rate of 68.9 per 1000 starts in jumps races compared with 18.8 per 1000 starts in flat races. In hurdle and steeplechase races, veterinary clearance being required following horse injury was 5.4 times (OR 5.4, 95% CI 2.8-10.2) and 7.2 times (OR 7.2, 95% CI 3.3-15.6) more likely, respectively, compared with flat races. The risk of trauma was 4 times more likely in hurdle and steeplechase races (OR 4.8, 95% CI 1.7-13.3 and OR 4.1, 95% CI 1.2-13.4, respectively) and the risk of lameness was increased by 2.5 times in hurdles (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.2-5.2) and 5.1 times in steeplechase races (OR 5.1, 95% CI 2.3-11.5), compared with flat races. These findings support concerns about the welfare of horses involved in jumps racing and of the need for further safety measures to reduce these risks.

The Welfare of Horses Competing in Three-Barrel Race Events Is Shown to Be Not Inhibited by Short Intervals between Starts

Equestrian sports require precise animal welfare and health evaluations. To test the hypothesis that horses maintain their welfare when subjected to two three-barrel (3TB) races with 2 min intervals, an experiment was designed to evaluate their surface temperature using infrared thermography (IRT) in regions of interest (barrel, flank, neck, jaw, corner of the mouth, and ocular caruncle) and also measure blood biomarkers (hemogram, total plasma protein, fibrinogen, urea, creatinine, GGT, CK, cortisol, IL-6, and IL-1β). Ten Quarter Horses were monitored through thermography (pre-race, +1, +4, and +24 h post-race) and blood sampling (pre-race, +1, +4, and +24 h post-race). ANOVA and Tukey test at 5% were used. IRT in six regions of interest (Left/Right-barrel, flank, neck muscles) increased at +, with no differences between values recorded at +1 and +4 when compared to those measured pre-race (p > 0.05). Plasma protein, RBC count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, WBC count, neutrophils, and lymphocytes (p < 0.05) increased immediately after the races, with recovery at +1 h. Other biomarkers did not change, including cortisol, IL-6, and IL-1β (p > 0.05). Results indicate that well-conditioned 3TB horses subjected to two races at short intervals do not show changes that could be related to impaired health or welfare.

The Triple-E Model: Advancing Equestrian Research with Perspectives from One Health

Equestrian sport has various welfare issues and educational needs. To address these complex interactions, we propose an integrated approach called the Triple-E Model, which focuses on the equine, equestrian, and environmental triad. A literature review of existing models suggests that complexities of these interactions are overlooked, despite the significant impact of equine industries on economics, healthcare, and animal welfare. This paper discusses current models and theories used to evaluate equine-equestrian-environmental interactions and introduces the Triple-E Model to foster multidisciplinary collaboration. Unlike the One Health triad, which focuses on disease emergence, transmission, and zoonosis, the Triple-E Model extends to non-infectious research, such as musculoskeletal injury. It promotes collaborative care and rehabilitation within the equestrian community by engaging multidisciplinary, multi-setting, and multi-sectoral teams. Given the nature of human-animal interaction and welfare considerations, this model fills the gap in understanding human-horse interactions. The paper highlights the limitations of existing models and explains how the Triple-E Model guides and encourages holistic team collaboration in the equestrian community.

Human Injuries Associated with the Transport of Horses by Road

There is an increased understanding of shared human-animal risk in terms of "one welfare", whereby when animals are at risk, so are people, so preventing injury to one species may also prevent injury to the other. Because transport-related injuries to horses are common, the authors considered this paradigm to study road equine transport-related injuries to humans in New Zealand. The aim was to determine their frequency and associated factors by distributing a survey to horse industry participants through industry organisations asking about their horse activities, road transport experiences, and any related self-injury. There were 112/1067 (10.5%) handlers injured while preparing (13/112), loading (39/112), traveling (6/112), or unloading (33/112). Of these, 40% had multiple injury types, and 33% had several body regions affected. Hand injuries were most common (46%), followed by the foot (25%), arm (17%), and head or face (15%). Median recovery time was 7 days. Injuries were associated with the responder's industry educational background, years of driving experience, and reporting a horse injured during road transport in the past two years. Wearing helmets and gloves, and adopting strategies designed to eliminate equine injuries associated with the road transport of horses to reduce the risk of injury to their handlers are recommended.

Investigating the Market Value of Brumbies (Equus caballus) in the Australian Riding Horse Market

Feral horses, also known as brumbies, are widely distributed across Australia with some populations being managed largely by human intervention. Rehoming of suitable feral horses following passive trapping has wide community acceptance as a management tool. However, there is little information about the number and relative economic value of feral horses compared with cohorts in the riding horse market. We examined 15,404 advertisements of horses for sale in 53 editions of Horse Deals, published from February 2017 to July 2022. Despite the considerable media attention and public scrutiny surrounding feral horse management, rehomed feral horses represented only a tiny fraction of the horse market in the current study. Of the 15,404 advertisements examined, only 128 (0.0083%) were for feral horses. We recorded phrases used to describe behavioural characteristics and other variables. The following variables were found to be not independent: Ridden Status, Height, Age, Sex, Colour, and Warning terms/more work. Using descriptive statistics to describe basic features of the data, the average price for feral horses ($1408) was lower than that for domestic horses ($1790) with the maximum price for a domestic horse being nearly twice the maximum for a feral horse. Univariate analysis showed feral horses were over-represented among "Unbroken" horses and underrepresented among "Ridden", "Broodmare" and "Harness" horses compared with domestic bred horses (p < 0.001). Feral horses appeared over-represented at shorter heights, among younger age groups (3 years or younger and 3.1 to 6 years) (p < 0.001) and in the dilute colour category (p = 0.008). The multivariable mixed model on price revealed that for domestic horses, the highest estimated marginal mean price averaged across the colour categories was for ridden horses aged 6.1-10-year-old at $1657.04 (95% CI $1320.56-$2074.66). In contrast, for feral horses, the multivariable mixed model demonstrated the similar highest estimated marginal mean averaged was for green broken 3-6-year-old horses that have undergone foundation training under saddle at $2526.97 (95% CI $1505.63-$4208.27). Australian feral horses were valued differently tfromsimilar domestic horses in the recreational riding horse market and further research is warranted to determine appropriate target markets and boost the sustainability of rehoming as a feral horse management tool.