A recent study sought to determine whether international dressage judges qualified to judge at the highest level of the sport may be prone to systematic errors when assessing elite horse-rider combinations during competition. Researchers examined 510 judging scores gathered from seven five-star dressage competitions held between May 2022 and April 2023. The effect of different…
Whether they pull a sulky, run a long distance, or sprint over a short quarter mile, three breeds are the stars of the sport of horse racing, but, of the three, who is the fastest and why?
Many horse and pony owners perceive their animals as being an ideal or healthy weight when they may be obese or overweight. The most commonly used standardized practical field method of assessing fat levels in horses and ponies is by body condition scoring (BCS). However, it has become clear that these BCS systems have a…
Nowhere else in the horse world are numbers, including fractions, more prevalent than in the racing industry. Whether you’re talking times or distances, numbers are all over the place.
Based on a recent horse owner survey, researchers report the most common mistakes made when creating equine diets. Oversupplying calories tops the list.
Managing the wild horses of Shackelford Banks in North Carolina is a challenge. Knowing when to step in and take action, and when to leave nature to take its course can be difficult.
Animals are widely believed to sense human emotions through smell. The communication of emotions is essential for social interactions, but very few studies have clearly shown that animals can sense human emotions through smell. This research project experimented to see if horses sense human emotions through smell.
An investigation into how racehorses express positive emotions during interaction with humans should help people understand more about equine feelings – and potentially improve welfare and performance.
The current practice for fitting saddles to horses is done on standing animals, but that doesn’t account for how the saddle will change position as the horse moves. A new method for scanning moving horses has enabled researchers to produce an enhanced saddle-map that can reduce back pain for horses.
Four evidence-based recommendations have the potential to reduce the risk of injuries and fatalities in Eventing’s cross-country phase. Researchers recommendations centre around a re-evaluation of qualification criteria, the use of risk profiling, a disqualification limit on dressage scores, and a complete review of course and fence design.