High-Speed Test for Three-Year-Old Sport Horses Scrapped Amid Outcry

Horse-Canada.com - Full Article

July 13, 2018 | Comments
by: Pippa Cuckson

A 5km test for three-year-old sport horses at speeds, which could exceed 30km/h (18.6m/h), has been scrapped by organisers of the FEI World Endurance Breeding Championships after outcry from riders and Arabian horse breeders.

The Samorin Equestrian Centre in Slovakia were the organizers of the event which was to featured speed trials for three-, four- and five-year-olds as detailed in this promotional flyer. The tests were intended to provide a supporting attraction during an Arabian Horse Festival starting September 29, which incorporates the official FEI 130km endurance championship for seven-year-olds. It is understood the FEI was unaware and had not been asked to approve the additional program, but it has intervened in recent days.

Astonished horsemen took to social media to call for a boycott. Others queried the “sanity” of any producer attempting to break-in and then prepare young horses for these onerous tests in just 10 weeks. All categories would have been required to achieve a heart-rate recovery of just 56 beats per minute within 10 minutes...

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