“the increasing carnage”
My personal observations do not support this. There is no increase that I can see in watching sport horse deaths internationally for almost 10 years now. The numbers have not increased to my observation, but internet communication about certain horse sports, including eventing, certainly has. Unfortunately when you compare sports to sports there is not really a big change in the numbers from the last nine years or so, so the view that eventing is getting worse to MY OBSERVATION is without merit. Raw numbers simply do not support this view. Worldwide it’s been 7-10 every year I’ve been looking. And it’s the same pretty much for every other non racing sport, the numbers remain about the same with the exception as I noted for western sports which went up due (I think)to the new western horse sports introduced.
But again, I caution, you really need to do the proper research to avoid skew. For instance, if there is 1 death per 100, that percentage is 1%, per 1,000, .01, per 10,000 - .001, and so on. If the death per thousand was .01 in say, 1955, and remained at that same rate from 1955 to 2005, and did not change, then how could one say the courses are causing it. The courses have changed dramatically in 50 years. But if the death rate did not, then the argument that there has been “increasing carnage” has absolutely no statistical base in fact. Not saying this is true – but just pointing it out the statistical impossiblity of blaming a particular aspect of the sport, such as course change. In fact, given the growth of the sport and increasing numbers of horses and riders and competitions in the last 50 years, an unchanged rate such as the example could actually be evidence of the success of safety measures in action.
One would certainly wish (and it goes without saying) that there would be a zero death rate of course and that is of course the goal, but again, accidents happen, and deaths attributed to the horse’s body can’t be used to blame the events. Or shouldn’t be. Roping horses die of broken necks when they get tangled in ropes directly due to human error. Nobody blames the rodeo. But events get blamed when horses die of heart attacks!
Stats don’t lie but internet bulletin boards are choked with them.
The lalala comment – very disrespectful. I have had 4 decades of experience with sport and race horses and have had a horse die under me (twice). How dare you intimate I want to stick my head in the sand. On the contrary. If you want change, you have to prove it’s necessary, with reason and facts presented carefully and logically – not browbeat people. If I had gone to my state legislature and kicked down doors and pounded my fist on the table we never would have gotten one of the first Equine Activity laws passed in the nation.
We all have opinions but I try not to disrespect other posters’. I try to word my posts carefully to avoid hurting other people’s feelings or copying someone’s every word and responding ad naseum to every point. Who has time for that, I would rather be in the barn.
If you are afraid to event, by all means, do not. If you are not absolutely confident and well schooled in what you are doing, do not go out into the ring, on the course, or down the trail or out of your own backyard with your horse and make him do something you fear. That’s not my advice, that’s a standard in the horse world. Doing anything without confidence is a great way to get somebody hurt. You can’t be afraid to jump a horse, and continue to jump safely. But you know, one of the things I like about eventing is the challenges. It’s not the same eight fences arranged in a different way. It’s not level ground, it’s got a hill or a drop or a bump that I need to THINK about how to approach and conquer. Life is sort of like that too. There are hills and bumps, and it’s not always a smooth path to a pretty ramped oxer, but sometimes a bit more of a ride. Where’s the fun in always being unchallenged, untested, and boringly safe? Life is urgent, we’re not given tomorrow and today is a gift we have to use to the best of our ability. I’m not trying to talk you back into eventing, I’m just saying that’s why I do it.
