UAE: More Horses Die During Dubai Endurance Rides

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

January 12, 2017
by: Pippa Cuckson

Four horse fatalities in three rides have put endurance organisers in Dubai under threat of further disaffiliation from FEI competition.

Urgent meetings will take place in Dubai next week, where the FEI is expected to insist on tougher measures to reduce high speeds. Two of the four horses died in a single ladies’ ride on January 4th, both from the same barn. The FEI has also taken the unprecedented step of suggesting the fatalities could result from pre-existing fractures due to training techniques.

All four catastrophic injuries occurred at Sheikh Mohammed’s Dubai International Endurance City on December 12th, January 4th and January 7th. DIEC had only started staging FEI rides again in December, after the FEI imposed a seven-month moratorium on considering schedules for any type of event from DIEC. Last April, the FEI also removed the 2016 world championship event from DIEC, on the grounds that “horse welfare could not be guaranteed.”

A FEI spokesman said: “The FEI is extremely concerned that there have been a number of in-competition endurance fatalities in the UAE this season and has put in place a series of urgent high level meetings in Dubai next week to discuss the current issues...

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