The FEI is a sports federation and not a university,
which means that research with horses is not actually done at the
FEI headquarters. However, there is an intensive cooperation with
universities to support research that can benefit the welfare of
performance horses.
At the moment, the FEI is involved with several
research projects via its Veterinary Research Sub Committee and
through financial support:
• Hypersensitisation
In this form of horse abuse, the limbs of
the horse are made abnormally sensitive, resulting in pain when
hitting an obstacle. The idea behind it is that the horse will
be conditioned this way to lift its limbs higher when jumping.
As the FEI is highly motivated to detect this form of abuse 'on-site',
a research project has been started up to detect abnormal sensitivity
of the horse's limbs by thermography. This USA-based research
project, jointly funded by the FEI and the Bernice Barbour Foundation,
has recently submitted its first interim report to the FEI Veterinary
Committee. The project will hopefully result in several established
tools, by which a state of hypo- or hypersensitisation in the
limbs of a horse can be detected (hyposensitivity would for example
be caused by a neurectomy). As the equipment used is mobile,
it would be possible to proceed with these techniques on site.
• Horse Transport Studies
Transport of competition horses, on a global basis, has dramatically
increased in the last decennium. Apart from the complicated consequences
that this may have for import and re-entry health requirements
in the countries involved, long haul transport of horses can also
result in clinical disease.
A 1999 US seminar was dedicated to transport, with the aim to
come to a detailed inventory, including a set of recommendations,
to be available for NFs, NOCs, riders, trainers and veterinarians.
During the congress it became clear that many research institutes
are in possession of clinical data, illustrating that horses being
transported by air or road for long hauls, suffer from travel stress
and related disease. The respiratory system is primarily affected,
with symptoms varying from dehydration to full-blown shipping fever,
which can have fatal consequences. It was also evident that routine
standards relating to the position of horses in planes, the effect
of pellets on the ventilation patterns and the restrained housing
of the horse (in particular its head position) are more based on
economic than scientific data. For example, the fact that the horse
cannot lower its head in planes greatly affects airway clearance
and leads to an accumulation of debris and micro-organisms in the
respiratory system.
Several research openings have been identified during the seminar
and sponsoring for the project proposals is currently being sought.
A follow-up seminar on transport was organised in 2003, during
which a wider audience was informed of the accompanying risk of
horse transport and the best ways to prevent travel related disease.
• Heat and Humidity
Prior to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, great concern regarding the
climatic conditions resulted in an immense research program, which
studied the response of the competition horse to prolonged air
travel and subsequent performance in hot and humid conditions.
This research has succeeded in
identifying fluid and electrolyte loss via sweat (which can be
monitored by daily weighing), has determined the period required
for flight recovery and acclimatisation and has given us the
tools for rapid cooling of horses with heat accumulation (misting
fans, ice water). The 1996 Olympics were completed without any
horse being seriously compromised by heat overload and the practical
results of these research programmes are still routinely being
used whenever the climatic conditions are likely to reach adverse
levels.
• Endurance
The WEG 2002 resulted in two horse fatalities in this discipline.
As the FEI realised that there was a need for added science the
factors which can show fatigue or exhaustion in the endurance horse
during a ride, a reseatch project was planned to study these factors.
The project will hopefully be
carried out in the beginning of 2005 and will give extra tools
to prevent overriding or exhaustion in endurance horses.