Rob Stevenson is a former Canadian team rider (Barcelona, 1992) who continues to event finding balance with family and work as a cardiologist. He runs Foshay South Eventing from a training facility in Lakeside, New Brunswick. Rob has been the National Safety Officer for Canadian Eventing since November 2012, and was kind enough to give us this report from the 2013 FEI Eventing Risk Management Seminar. Thanks to Rob for writing, and thank you for reading.
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From Rob:
The seminar wrapped up today in the early afternoon to allow some to start the journey home, and to allow others a couple hours of Rome before sunset (see above photo of Roman water jump).
The was my first FEI meeting in the role of NSO (National Safety Officer) for Canada. I have taken over the Canadian responsibility from Peter Gray. Peter had done a superb job in the safety role in Canada, and he was much missed in Rome. These will be big shoes to fill.
Peter had put my name forward as a physician, but also as an active rider and coach, a past event organizer and Canadian Eventing Committee member. Despite an awareness of safety issues in the sport, it was hard to truly appreciate the role of the NSO until this meeting. In short, the NSO is to manage the annual ‘fall statistics,’ provide liaison between the national federation and FEI in the event of an accident, and finally to spread the vision of FEI Eventing Risk Management. It was this last point that eluded me most until this meeting.
The short history of the FEI Risk Management Seminar and the NSO’s reflect the international call to action after a series of tragic deaths in the sport in the late 1990’s. Initially there was the International Safety Committee chaired by David O’Connor. Fall statistics have been available since 2004. The Risk Management Programme was launched in 2010, and has been chaired by Italy’s Giuseppe Della Chiesa. He was thus the chair and host for this year’s summit in his hometown of Rome.
There were approximately 40 delegates from more than 22 countries at the meeting. There was a mix of NF representatives and NSO’s. Roger Haller represented the United States.
I think the program can be explained in three parts: the vision, the statistics, and areas of special interest.
Over the weekend, Chairman Della Chiesa spoke eloquently on the FEI’s vision of Eventing. He spoke of the recent transition from a sport on the brink after a series of tragic accidents just over a decade ago. He spoke of the change in mentality from a sport with its origins in the military – a sport of completion at all costs – to the image of the modern sport, where there should be a “good picture” to ensure the well being and safety of horse and rider at all times. This “good picture” is also the image we should convey to the “outside world,” that of a sport that has made tremendous progress in a short period, and that of a sport worthy of its continued place in the Olympic Games. It is recognized that all sport has risk. Some sport has more risk than others. It is the mandate of Eventing Risk Management Programme to best manage the risk that is inherent to our sport.
The statistics that have been amassed on the sport since 2004 are considerable. The FEI has chosen to focus on falls. Falls are recorded as rider falls, horse falls, rotational/non-rotational and whether injury has occurred to horse or rider. One might ask why it is just falls that are recorded? The belief is best described as a continuum. The goal is good riding – a horse and rider in balance negotiating the course. Without good riding, there may be bad riding, out of control riding or dangerous riding. Dangerous riding may lead to falls. Falls may lead to rotational falls. It is believed that rotational falls are the most dangerous types of falls and that these may lead to serious injuries to horse or rider. Thus the modern sport, with a view to risk management encourages good riding and discourges anything less, with citations for dangerous riding, and eliminations for any type of fall. Falls have been recorded as a surrogate marker of safety. Types of falls have also been considered. Thus the news on the fall statistics is encouraging for several reasons. In looking at the international data, falls have generally declined at all levels since 2004. The average number of falls now lies between 5 and 6 % of starters. The percentage of falls increases across the levels from approximately 5% at 1* to 12-13% at 4*. These results lie within pre-specified targets as outlined by the Programme. In addition, there are less rotational falls, reduced from one in approximately 200 starters in 2004 to one in approximately 300 starters in 2012. Further, there has been data available from national competitions (ie., USEA, Canadian Eventing, British Eventing, etc) for several years. This last data set has been compared with the results of the international events and has demonstrated considerably fewer falls at national versus international events, even at the same level of difficulty (1*/prelim; 2*/intermediate; 3*/advanced). There are only hypotheses at this point to explain these findings – one suggested the ‘mental effect’ of an international event, or could the national level events possibly be easier to complete without a fall? In summary, though the statistics do not yet answer all questions, it provides first a reference dataset that did not exist ten years ago. The findings suggest a sport that has become safer over the period in question. Currently the sport is operating within targeted safety measures nationally and internationally. And with the amassed data, more detailed analysis will now be possible.
Beyond the uplifting vision statements and the cold hard statistical facts, there were a number of special interest topics that were covered.
There was an excellent presentation on concussion in sport by Dr. Peter Whitehead. He has been appointed as interim chair of the FEI Medical Committee after the loss of Dr. Craig Farrell. He spoke of concussion, in specific reference to a recent major conference on sports concussion (Zurich 2012) where the FEI had been a co-sponsor. Dr. Whitehead explained the perils of recurrent concussion, the importance of evaluation for concussion after any fall and for the need for a proper program for surveillance and return to play.
Jonathan Clissold premiered the British Eventing Safety DVD, which is essentially a DVD compilation of cross country clips looking at good and less-than-good (and at times dangerous) riding. This will be used around the world for training officials and riders. The DVD should be available within several months.
Philine Ganders (GER) and Lars Christensson (SWE) outlined the very successful “style” riding programs that exist in their countries. They may run these style classes separately or as part of the usual events. Combinations may do separate style classes on the same day as a normal event (CIC*). (Yes, the horses have two cross country rounds!) They view this as more exposure to cross country riding. In Germany they have as many style classes as traditional event classes at the lower levels (CI* and below). They offer an under 15 championship based on style classes. This appears to be an emerging influence in the sport. It is grouped under the Risk Management umbrella, considered a facet of ‘active risk management.’ (Passive risk management would include airvests and frangible pins).
Airvests were discussed as part of a case study. An informal vote was taken on the question, “Do you feel that airvests should be made compulsory at this time?” The majority of the delegates voted against this question. The main concern at this time is that the airvest industry has not yet established a standard by which the technology can be measured. There are others that share the concern that airvests may in fact do harm. This concern has two aspects: that the vests may create a feeling of invincibility for some, leading to increased risk taking; and secondly that the vests may impede the ability of the rider to fall and roll so as to avoid the horse. Thus at this time, airvests are permitted. Any specific recommendation awaits further standardization and testing.
Indoor eventing was discussed briefly. Currently, the FEI has no jurisdiction on this type of competition. There is the concern that this type of competition, often showcased at major indoor shows, may in fact reflect poorly on the sport of eventing. Though these events are not currently sanctioned and do not run under specific eventing rules, it is felt that there is the potential for a “bad picture” of the sport if done poorly. There is a common concern that most of these events are run under a Table C format – ie., ‘fixed obstacles against the clock.’ The FEI and the Risk Management programme have no current opinion or guidelines for such event. It is thought that perhaps discussions should be held at the National Federations in countries where such events are held. Discussions for potential solutions did include the limitation of participation to CCI 2 star combinations and above, a Table A format, the limitation of fixed obstacle height in the first round to 1.10m, a jump off over showjumps at 1.15m, and the inclusion of eventing course designers in the course setting.
In a review of the 2013 rules, Articles 519 and 520 were discussed. Certain risk management issues were reflected in the recent development/changes of these rules. The FEI felt that there needed to be a higher standard for the least experienced combinations entering international competitions. Conversely, the FEI felt that rider categorization would save the most experienced combinations from unnecessary outings. It was beyond the scope of this meeting to debate all aspects of these Articles. It was explored essentially to highlight safety aspects of the new rules. This did provide for better background understanding of the recent changes. First, consider that Germany has no national classes at CN 2 star or 3 star; it only runs international events (CI’s) at these levels. Further, there are many smaller surrounding countries that may then use (‘depend upon’) the readily available German events for qualification. Given that Britain, France and Germany each have 40,000 plus starters annually at their events, there is clearly an abundance of events within a relatively small radius. Though the US would have a similar number of starters, I would suggest that the radius involved is much greater. These regulations will clearly affect certain nations more than others. I think that the bottom line is that in order to participate in international competitions, we will have to further develop the circuit of international qualifying events in North America (no small undertaking affecting horses, riders, owners, officials, organizers, federations and budgets). I do understand that several issues will be discussed further at the FEI Eventing Committee level (in consultation with National Federations). In summary, the FEI feels more control is necessary in order to ensure safe qualification for FEI events. They have shown that National events at similar levels to each of the FEI levels have less falls, thus suggesting that the National events are easier and thus should not be equivalent to CI’s at the same level. They cite that these concerns have safety implications. These decisions have been made at the Eventing Committee level. Certain provisions will be made for 2013. Conversations continue with NF’s to sort out the details.
Frangible jumps were discussed in a limited fashion. The MIM clip has met standardization criteria and is now included as the first frangible type mechanism to be listed on the FEI Risk Management Programme webpage. Other frangible systems (pins/logs) have yet to complete the standardization process. On a related note, British Eventing now has a testing device that will provide further opportunity to test and standardize the various frangible mechanisms.
In summary, participation as an NSO at my first FEI Risk Management Seminar proved to be a very valuable experience. The sport is in a better place now than 10 -12 years ago. The reasons for this are multifaceted. The collected data will help to track the trends of risk within the sport, and the risks within countries, where outliers may then be addressed proactively so as to avoid any reversal in the trend towards a safer sport. There has been a sharp contrast in the accepted mentality in the sport even within 20 years. Cross country is no longer about the ‘completion at all costs wartime hero’ but rather about cross country riding where a “good picture” illuminates the well being – and safety- of the horse and rider, while conveying the appropriate image to the outside world. With this, we hope the sport will flourish and continue to attract loads of young equestrians, all the while ensuring its worthy place as an Olympic sport for years to come.
I am thankful to Canadian Eventing/Equine Canada for the compilation of its national fall statistics (a huge undertaking for TD’s and administrators) and for their support to travel to this meeting.
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All the best in eventing,
Rob Stevenson, MD
National Safety Officer, Canadian Eventing
