In May of 2016 the sport of 3 day Eventing was rocked by the death of Philippa Humphreys. Phillipa was 33, healthy and considered one of the rising stars in the sport. She left behind her loving husband Pete and one year old daughter Millie. Philippa died from injuries sustained from a rotational fall on fence 16, a table obstacle, at the CC13* at Jersey Fresh International Event at approximately 12:38 on a Saturday. She was pronounced dead on arrival at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (Horsetalk). The months following brought forth one of the most beautiful shows of solidarity to Philipa’s family. #Memories4Millie was trending worldwide and encouraged participants to share memories of Phillipa and the sport she loved. According to her husband, “She went out the way she would have wanted, doing what she loved more than anything else in the world, on her most treasured partner, Rockstar” (Autry). Her friends also put together a college fund for her daughter Millie, raising over $100,000 in under a year. 

The fellowship of the eventing community shown after the death of Philippa was undoubtedly a beautiful show of just how tight knit the community truly is. The eventing world should feel pride that they could put aside all differences and come together to bring comfort and stability to the family an athlete left behind. For many, the idea of dying doing what you loved is both an intense and touchy subject. It is a risk that each rider accepts the moment they put their feet in the stirrups. While most members of the eventing share this sentiment, this accident should never just be brushed off as something that happens. The idea is beautiful, but no rider or horse should ever have to die doing what he or she loves to do. Defendants of the sport may argue that it was a freak accident. However, Philipa’s life was not the only life lost that weekend; Skylar Decker’s eight-year-old Belgian Warmblood Inoui Van Bost, affectionately called Ouija, had to be humanely euthanized after a fall at the 19th fence at the exact same competition (Horsetalk). This death happened just hours before Philipa’s. No competition should be okay with losing two lives to the sport in one day. It is now time for the community to come together just as they did to show solidarity for Philippa, but with a new mission; to hold those responsible for allowing the sport to reach the recent danger and find new solutions to keep the lovers of the sport safe. Any death is too many. To put it frankly; in the past twenty years the equestrian sport of Eventing has become far too dangerous. This is evident by the spike in fatal horse and rider accidents while navigating the cross-country phase of competitions. There are many factors that go into these deaths, but the common denominator is rotational falls caused by unsafe conditions and elements. The governing bodies of the sport should be held responsible for these accidents and should be blamed for their lack of action in the past. Their choice to prioritize big dangerous events over safety, refusal to not investigate the deaths and their lack of mandating frangible pins is why they should be held responsible. In order to properly understand the changes must be made, proponents of this must understand the sport and those who preside over it. 

Eventing, also known as the “triathlon for horses”(“What is Eventing”) is a thrilling type of equestrian sport that has been around since the early 1900’s. In order to win, the horse and rider must have the lowest combined score from all three elements; dressage, cross-country and showjumping. The first phase of dressage tests the horse and rider’s precision, elegance, harmony and obedience. Dressage, which in French means “training”, is a test the rider and horse learns prior to the competition and is composed of intricate elements the horse must perform. They perform the test in a square arena where every movement is scored. The ultimate goal is to receive the lowest score of everyone competing. Horses competing in eventing have to be extremely fit to complete the cross country/show jumping phases, so it is amazing to see them harness their pure energy to demonstrate elegant and controlled movements. 

Cross Country is the second phase and unarguably the most dangerous of the three. This paper will focus the most on this phase. Horses gallop over 2.75-4 miles outdoors and jump 24-36 fixed obstacles along the way. The course is set to test the courage and physical stamina of both the horses and their human partners (“What is Eventing”). Obstacles such as jumps into water, open ditches and brush jumps add thrill and challenge to attract spectators. There is a set time the pair should complete the course in and any second over results in penalties. A pair can also receive penalties if a horse refuses or runs out an obstacle. These penalties will be added on to the dressage score and take the pair farther away from the optimal low score. It is important to not that Cross Country is the phase where all the accidents observed in this paper have taken place. 

The final phase is showjumping. This phase takes place inside an arena where brightly colored rails are placed on fences to create a jumping course of 12-15 easily knocked down obstacles. The goal is to test the responsiveness, balance and knowledge of the rider. A good rider must be able to make split second decisions to avoid knocking down rails (“What is Eventing”). After the final phase, scores are totaled (dressage score + penalties accrued in cross country and showjumping) and the pair with the lowest score wins. Competing in an eventing competition is something that can be done at all levels as eventing ranges from the low 2’ practice classes to the 4’1 advanced level that is seen in the Olympics. Variations of eventing have been seen since 1902 but true modern eventing has been seen in the Olympic games since 2004. Presiding over these grueling competitions lay the governing bodies of the sport. Since the general public knows very little about the sport athletes have to dedicate their life lives to, governing bodies are used to regulate the high-risk sport. The highest level of this is the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI), which is affiliated with the International Olympic Committee and presides over all equestrian sports (not just eventing). Specifically for eventing they oversee the highest level of international competitions and eventing in the Olympic games. In the United States the next highest level of governing body is the United States Eventing Association. This group presides over all recognized eventing competitions. They implement policies, create rules and regulations, communicate with riders and are responsible for providing fun fair competitions for riders at all levels. These organizations do amazing things for horses and their riders, however they have followed a path of inaction when it comes to addressing the recent accidents. However, before one can truly look at the inaction of the governing bodies, they must take a careful look at the recent trend of accidents. 

Denzil O’Brien and Dr. Bruce Paix published research in 2016 citing that there have been fifty-nine rider deaths in the sport of eventing since 1993. They based their research on published records of death found online. Through their research they found, “The fatalities involved 25 males and 34 females, ranging in age from 12 to 64, with a median age of 32. There were fatalities at 15 international (FEI)-level competitions, 34 national-level competitions and three Pony Club competitions… 41 of the deaths were confirmed as resulting from a rotational fall” (Horsetalk). This data shows that accidents happen at all levels and all ages but the rotational fall is the highest cause of fatal injuries. According to Liz Goldsmith, an expert on the topic of rotational falls, “[a rotational fall] is a fall where the horse hits a fence with its front legs or chest and its body somersaults over the fence with the fence acting as a pivot point. In a rotational fall, the rider usually is thrown out of the saddle and goes over the jump before the horse. In a worst case scenario, the horse can land on the rider”(Goldsmith). Rotational falls only occur in the cross-country phase because cross-country jumps are almost always solid fences. In showjumping and virtually every other form of horse jumping, poles are used and are easily knocked down when a horse’s front legs hit them. In cross-country however, the fences have no give. When a horse’s front legs hit them, the momentum pushes them forward and can result in them to essentially flip. Their hind legs rotate up above their backs and they rotate so they usually land on their side or their back. These are the most dangerous types of falls because if a rider is caught underneath a thousand pound horse lands on them. The probability of serious injury when being involved in a rotational fall is staggering. The likelihood of serious injury when involved in a rotational fall is 15.79%, which should be compared to the likelihood of serious injury when involved in a simple fall from being unseated 1.52% (Stevenson). These numbers alone prove why governing bodies should be doing everything in their power to prevent these types of falls. This poses an important question; why are the governing bodies of FEI and USEA not doing everything in their power to protect competitors from dangerous rotational falls?

There are many factors that go into the reasons FEI and USEA have been inactive in preventing rotational falls. For one thing, eventing, and specifically the exciting cross-country phase, has been moving towards becoming more of a spectator sport. Originally seen as a sport secluded from the public, it has been gaining following in the past twenty years. Thus as eventing becomes more popular the entire sport benefits, but often at the cost of the competitors. Big name events receive TV coverage, the number of spectators increase and more money flows into the organizations that run the competitions. As stated eloquently by Katie Thomas, “Top competitors and coaches argue that the sport’s growing popularity has attracted inexperienced riders who take too many risks, and amateur riders complain that courses are being designed beyond their skill level in order to challenge elite riders. There is also frustration that the governing bodies for eventing have not mandated the safety improvements they identified after another cluster of deaths nine years ago”(Thomas). The cluster Thomas is referring to is the 12 riders worldwide during 2008 that died during competition. This number is unacceptable needs to be investigated. This could begin by identifying what levels of competition pose a higher threat to riders, and why. As one might expect, as the level of difficulty increases so does the number of falls. In the advanced level, they use a * system to show the difficulty and prestige of the event. Data tells us that as the number of *’s increase, so does the number of falls. The 2016 FEI Eventing Risk Management Programme Statistics cites the percentage of fallers in the levels of 1*, 2*, 3* and 4* as 4.85%, 5.75%, 6.96% and 10.47% (Stevenson). Unfortunately it is the tough elements of the 4* events that bring in the most money and spectators. USEA and FEI are hesitant to implement the necessary changes because this could hinder the recent surge in eventing popularity that has brought the sport so much revenue. Every year one of the top competitions known as the Rolex Kentucky 4 Star Event brings in $14.2 million dollars, and that number is growing (Whiteman). With added danger comes excitement and money, but too often at the cost of lives. Another reason FEI and USEA have not taken any action is because of the lack of data. Neither organization mandates that data be published. While studies have been done by outside sources on the number of riders killed, the governing bodies do not require that any statistics be taken. Horses’ deaths are also not required to be recorded anywhere as they are counted as property of their owners. However, the organizations should mandate that all deaths of horses at events be recorded and investigated as to prevent further accidents. As an organization that focuses on horses, they should be keeping track of whether horses are getting hurt or dying.  Also in the case of Ouija at the Jersey Fresh International 3* event the event continued after a horse had died on course. Lives of competitors should never be swept aside; a competition should be shut down and evaluated in the case of a tragic accident. Finally, the organizations are making no effort to mandate or encourage the use of safety equipment. Frangible pins are a safety precaution that can be inserted into fences that allow the jump to collapse similar to a showjumping fence when the horse hits it. This would prevent rotational falls from ever occurring. As Katie Thomas describes, “Although the pins have been available since 2001 and have been shown to be effective in helping to prevent rotational falls, they are used in only 4 percent of obstacles in Britain, where they are mandatory on certain fences. They are even scarcer in the United States”(Thomas). In the UK twice the pins were used to collapse the fence during competition and in both instances both the horse and the rider were unharmed in what could have been a serious fall (Goldsmith). The FEI and the USEA have the power to mandate these pins, but they chose not to in an effort to keep costs low for their organization and event organizers. While it is evident the governing bodies of eventing should be held responsible for their lack of action to make events safer, some still argue that the organizations’ actions are correct. 

There are those that argue that sports that include horses will never be “safe” and accept that accidents will occur. Denzil O’Brien who collected statistics on the sport argues, “Risk is inherent to the activity, and those who engage in the sport and those who manage it know and understand this” (Horsetalk). Course designers and coaches argue that the recent spike in deaths is caused by the increased popularity of the sport and the vast new group of amateurs wanting to try their hand at the thrilling sport. In the past decade alone, eventing competition participation in the United states has grown by over 36% (Thomas). Mick Costello, a competitor and course designed believes the new influx of amateurs is what is causing the spike in deaths. Typically, competitors have been practically raised in the barn and have a vast amount of experience before they head out to a true competition. This is no longer becoming the case. He says, “You have people who didn’t grow up fox hunting or going on wild rides the way we did… They haven’t been used to tumbling falls. They get a thrill out of going fast, and a lot of them aren’t ready”(Thomas). While Costello makes an interesting point, these counterarguments stated above hold no substance. 

While accidents are inherent in a high-risk sport, if things can be done to prevent accidents (i.e. frangible pins, statistics, making courses safer) the governing bodies of the sport should be responsible for doing so. Their purpose is to keep their members safe. Those that argue that accidents will happen also have a fundamentally flawed argument. Yes accidents will happen, but when they do, the organizations owe it to the competitors, and those like Philippa, to record, investigate and prevent any further accidents. They owe it to the horses that gave their lives to the sport to record their deaths properly. In the higher levels especially, course designers should follow specifications set by the governing bodies so they don’t put lives at danger for the sake of pleasing the crowd. 

The governing bodies of eventing need to do everything in their power to make the sport that so many love safe for riders and their horses. While this essay focuses strictly on the numbers and information regarding the dangers of eventing. It is important to note that every rider begins with a sheer love of horses. The partnership that develops from a true competitive team is often indescribable. In Thompson and Nesci’s study of eventing sociology, one of the riders they interviewed described it perfectly, “I’m the navigator and the brains, he’s the brawn. You can’t do it without him, but he can’t do it without you… (02, female, older)”(Thompson). The feeling of having a partnership with a thousand pound animal is an experience all of us in the eventing community are forever in quest of. Together, we can push USEA and FEI to pay attention to our concerns. We would never want to put our beloved horses at risk or put ourselves at risk from never riding again. Overall, Eventing needs to be made safer by reducing rotational falls to end the recent spike in horse and rider deaths. FEI and USEA have the power to do this by making safer courses, prioritizing competitors over money, keeping valid statistics and implementing new technology such as frangible pins. To conclude, deep down we are all just little kids who fell in love with horseback riding, let us help keep that feeling sacred for generations to come. 
