The eventing world dodged a bullet this weekend as the FEI instituted and then repealed a ridiculous plan to institute hypersentitivity testing for the eventers at the World Equestrian Games. There have been rumors over the past few days that the national federations were furious about some changes to the Sunday jog procedure. This is the story of how the situation developed and was resolved…for now.
Earlier this week, the eventing chef d’eqipes were told in a meeting with the FEI that horses who passed the final vet inspection on Sunday would walk directly from the jog area to a special location where thermography, touch, and chemical tests would be conducted to test for hypersensitivity in compliance with the FEI’s veterinary regulations. As you know, hypersensivity tests look for signs that techniques have been used to make the front of the horse’s lower legs hypersensitive, thus making it more painful for the horse to tap the show jumping rails. While it is in principle a good idea to test for hypersensitivity, we all remember how the testing system completely failed with the disqualification of McClain Ward and Sapphire at the FEI Show Jumping World Cup just a few months ago.
The top 3 reasons why Sunday morning hypersensitivity testing is a ridiculous idea for eventers:
1. Most anything done to make horses hypersensitive would be done after the jog anyway.2. Event horses would have spent Saturday jumping through brush and rubbing/scraping their legs over solid fences. Some sensitivity to touch and heat is a very realistic expectation and could not be distinguished from unnatural hypersensitivity except by the chemical test.3. The science behind hypersensitivy testing is unproven and the testing doesn’t even work for pure show jumping as evidenced by the Sapphire debacle. At this point I would ask you to please contain your disbelief that the FEI unreasonably tried to institute a policy from one sport to another.
Naturally, when the eventing chefs heard about the hypersensitivity testing they had a small revolt. After a couple of days listening to angry chefs, the FEI decided on Thursday night to back down and not test for hypersensitivity at the Sunday jog. Apparently hypersensitivity testing has been used at a couple of three days in Europe and we will undoubtedly hear more about hypersensitivity in the near future–hopefully after much more consideration and research has been performed. Go eventing.
