A pilot study on factors influencing the career of Dutch sport horses.

REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY Welfare concerns over the reasons for interruption or termination of a sporting career in horses have been expressed. OBJECTIVES To study the career of competition horses and factors that influence career length. METHODS In 2004, 46,576 rider-horse combinations were registered with the Dutch National Equestrian Federation (KNHS) in dressage, show jumping, eventing and endurance. From this population, approximately 1% of horses in each discipline were selected at random and all recorded competition data from the KNHS registration system collected and supplemented by detailed rider/owner telephone enquiry, carried out in July 2009. RESULTS A total of 520 horses were included aged 7.1 ± 3.2 years; endurance horses were on average slightly older than horses in the other 3 disciplines. A total of 334 horses (64.2%) ended their competition career with their initial rider during the study period; the mean total career time was 3.8 ± 2.8 years. Reasons for this included being sold on (51.5%), veterinary reasons (23.9%), being used for breeding (8.7%), changing to a recreational career (8.1%), rider-related issues (6.3%) and retirement (1.5%). No follow-up was available for horses sold. Orthopaedic problems accounted for the majority of the veterinary career-ending decisions (63.7%). A total of 385 horses (74.0%) had one or more career breaks; main reasons were rider-related issues (39.2%), others included temporary withdrawal from competition (21.6%), veterinary problems (21.8%), breeding (9.1%) and miscellaneous (8.3%). CONCLUSIONS Veterinary reasons for career breaks or termination of career accounted for 21.8 and 23.9% over the period investigated. They formed the second reason (after selling) why horses stopped competing with their initial rider/owner. Veterinary reasons were the third important cause for a temporary career break. POTENTIAL RELEVANCE Further in depth research of the reasons for interruption or termination of an equine career may be useful for the improvement of equine welfare.

[1]  P. R. Weeren,et al.  A survey of the workload and clinical skills in current equine practices in The Netherlands , 2007 .

[2]  S. Dyson,et al.  Identification of risk factors for lameness in dressage horses. , 2010, Veterinary journal.

[3]  J A Charles,et al.  Risk of fatality and causes of death of Thoroughbred horses associated with racing in Victoria, Australia: 1989-2004. , 2010, Equine veterinary journal.

[4]  P D Rossdale,et al.  Epidemiological study of wastage among racehorses 1982 and 1983 , 1985, Veterinary Record.

[5]  D. Pfeiffer,et al.  Days lost from training by two- and three-year-old Thoroughbred horses: a survey of seven UK training yards. , 2008, Equine veterinary journal.

[6]  D. Pfeiffer,et al.  Factors associated with the wastage and achievements in competition of event horses registered in the United Kingdom , 2005, Veterinary Record.

[7]  L. Jeffcott,et al.  An assessment of wastage in thoroughbred racing from conception to 4 years of age. , 1982, Equine veterinary journal.

[8]  J. Wood,et al.  Racehorse injuries, clinical problems and fatalities recorded on British racecourses from flat racing and National Hunt racing during 1996, 1997 and 1998. , 2010, Equine veterinary journal.

[9]  J. Wood,et al.  Factors associated with failure of thoroughbred horses to train and race. , 2010, Equine veterinary journal.

[10]  Christopher M Riggs,et al.  Clinical problems in dressage horses: identifying the issues and comparing them with knowledge from racing. , 2010, Veterinary journal.

[11]  F. G. Cawston.  Fluke Disease.: A Consideration of those Fresh Water Mollusca which serve as Intermediate Hosts for Fasciola hepatica L. and Fasciola gigantica Cobbold , 1925 .

[12]  S. Reid,et al.  Wastage in the Australian thoroughbred racing industry: a survey of Sydney trainers. , 1997, Australian veterinary journal.

[13]  A. Guthrie,et al.  An epizoological study of wastage in thoroughbred racehorses in Gauteng, South Africa. , 1997, Journal of the South African Veterinary Association.