UAE Championship focus, frosty grass and other things the horse world is talking about

1. Champion Concern

Activists have warned “horses will die” in response to the rescheduled World Endurance Championship moving to the UAE. The event will be held at the Boudheib International Endurance Village (BIEV) in February. The event was originally scheduled to take place in Verona in October, but the FEI announced it had suspended it because “the safety of horses and riders cannot be guaranteed”. A Clean Endurance spokesman said they had high hopes, with the FEI crediting the championships with a venue that was not only closer to the terrain on which the horses were prepared, but also had “a known lack of negative associations in the past with regard to horse welfare and breaches of UAE rules”.

read more

2. Old traditions and lame horses

In this week’s (8 December) issue, H&H equestrian columnist Graham Fletcher shares his thoughts on the rising number of horse injuries. Injuries to horses seem to be more common today than they were three or four years ago, Graham said — tendon injuries were rare in his racing days, he said, even though horses jumped a lot. “Top horses are hard to come by these days, so I can understand the mistakes people make when it comes to vaulting. However, this theory has been taken by one of the current top duos – the great John Whitaker and Equine America Unick Du Francport. Despite having more performances than most this year, ‘Frank’ has kept his enthusiasm and freshness – thanks to the way he produces and manages it,” said Graham, adding , as the world of horse racing adopts modern ideas, maybe we shouldn’t abandon successful traditions, but both.

Read Graham’s column

3. Frost Grass

With temperatures plummeting, many horse owners wake up to freezing temperatures, which begs the age-old question, is frosty grass safe for horses to eat? Kieran O’Brien, a veterinarian at Penbode Equine in Devon, said horses living in winter could “happily eat scrub every morning for weeks on end without any adverse effects”. The evidence for colic is only circumstantial.” The grass heats up quickly in the horse’s mouth during chewing, and further heats up as the grass travels down the esophagus and into the stomach, Kellan said.

Read what else Keiran said, plus tips for preventing winter colic

You may also be interested in:

Horse & Hound magazine is published every Thursday and contains all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, veterinary and training advice.find ways to enjoy magazine delivery Weekly home visits, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service Bringing you breaking news and reports, among other benefits.