Though the FEI is a sports federation, it is also involved in the research and development of the disciplines it governs. In particular, because the welfare of the horse is at the heart of all FEI activity, it is a prime concern to investigate developments that relate to the field of welfare. Research with horses is not actually done at the FEI headquarters, but there is an intensive cooperation with universities and other research organisations to support research that can benefit the welfare of performance horses.

The FEI is currently involved with several research projects through financial support:

FEI Detection Times Studies

In order to increase the knowledge of the detection times for certain commonly used medications and to prevent horses accidentally testing positive during medication.

A study is currently being undertaken in the USA to determine a detection time for the glucocorticoid Bethamethasone following intra-articular administration in exercising horses. This study will reveal the Pharmacokinetics of this medication in a sport horse in a typical performance programme and compare it with current available data.

Evaluation of training and competition surfaces in equestrian sport, and the consequences for improved welfare and orthopaedic health of horses that use them.

This project has progressed into a data collection period. Several yards across several countries (Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands) have been recruited for the training study, and diary data collection undertaken. Funding for the expansion of the study into UK has been secured and the process of a training study has also begun there, but later compared to the other countries. Assessment of ground properties has also commenced in both training and competition arenas. The data collection started first in Sweden and therefore the initial compilations have mainly been done from this country. The same procedures will be used for the data from all countries, thus enabling full compilation of the study material.

The biomechanical parts of the project include drop hammer testing and video recordings of hoof impacts. These video recordings, which started out as a simple validation for  drop hammer tests, have proven very valuable and will greatly add to the project. Therefore, a decision to make video analysis unto a study of its own has been taken. The aim is to describe the variation in landing angles, horizontal and vertical landing speeds and decelerations in different limbs (leading and trailing fore and hind) and relative on different surfaces.

Three abstracts related to the project have already been accepted to the International Conferenceon Equine Exercise Psysiology (South Africa 2010).

Past Projects

Heat and Humidity
Prior to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, great concern regarding the climatic conditions resulted in an immense research programme, 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, iced water etc). 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. This work, supplemented by further research, was used for the Bejing 2008 Olympic equestrian events which took place in Hong Kong and, again, no horses were seriously compromised by the effect of the climatic conditions.

If you are a researcher and have a concept project that you feel would be of relevance to the FEI, please contact us at veterinary@fei.org.