Report from the Saddle Research Trust (SRT) day at Ingestre with Sue Dyson & Anne Bondi
Some reflections on a fascinating and thought provoking day presented by Dr Sue Dyson and Dr Anne Bondi at Ingestre on 3 August 2022.
Two subjects were covered: The findings of Dr Dyson’s research into the Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram and Social Licensing.
The Ethogram is a painstaking piece of research through observation of certain behaviours which allegedly express discomfort in the horse. This method provides a matrix for measuring discomfort, which might be indicative of subtle lameness.
In the right hands this impressive study could lead to early diagnosis of discomfort in horses, improving their soundness, performance, well being and longevity. It could also potentially reduce the number of falls and eliminations in cross country.
I (and others whom I discussed this with on the day) fear that when this gets into the public domain we may be subjected to hordes of ‘experts’ in warm up arenas baying for the elimination of riders whose horses blink a few times too many when a fly lands on their face or open their mouths to lick and chew.
Why am I sharing this with this erudite group? Because within the F&I Association there are many learned and experienced people, particularly in the domain of equine behaviour.
It would appear that the challenge currently faced by the whole equestrian industry is to identify the signs that indicate horse comfort, happiness or contentment and then to create a system for measurement of this mercurial quality. To then gather evidence and shout it from the rooftops.
As Dr Dyson elegantly demonstrated, recognition of discomfort or pain is not hard (though somewhat nuanced and easy to misinterpret). Recognition of whatever is the opposite is more challenging.
With the recent publication of “I Can’t Watch Any More” https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cant-Watch-Anymore-Dropping-Equestrian/dp/8797354309/ ref=nodl_?dplnkId=b47cc6d9-d7e9-4045-9c87-259f4657c23b
the future of equestrian sports is suddenly more threatened than ever. The ‘Anti’s’ have yet more evidence to weaponise against equestrian sports. Our case is not looking strong. It’s no longer enough to say, “You can see he/she is enjoying this”. The layman doesn’t have our eyes or insight.
Many of you will remember our inspirational discussion at our Annual Course regarding social licensing and the effect of the Modern Pentathlon debacle in Tokyo.
I was one, alongside Kate Allenby and Steph Cook, who championed the cause to retain the riding element, not because I have any vested interest in Mod Pent, but because I saw the writing on the wall for all equestrian sport. None of us would have believed how rapidly and summarily the riding element would be removed from Mod Pent. That’s without doubt the first nail in a very uncomfortable coffin, which has been designed to fit all equestrian sport.
If we don’t get our house in order in a very public and obvious way, there will be no more equestrian sport at Olympic level. We are already an expensive thorn in the IOC’s side, with some poor publicity and an elitist image sharpening it by the day.
I believe the time has come to make some big sacrifices to save our precious sport. To become more open, transparent, accountable and inclusive.
I’d be the last one to ‘hug a bunny’, but I sure don’t want to watch our sport be ostracised from the highest level of competition. Times change. If we can’t, we won’t survive.
So, my challenge to this group is to craft a system that identifies and records Happiness in a performing horse. You know, the soft eye, the floppy ears, the relaxed posture, even under pressure.
Take a picture of an elite human athlete performing and you see pain, stress and exertion. But they chose to be there. Whatever you may like to think, the horse didn’t, so we have the added challenge of demonstrating compliance, even during the greatest effort.
Nick Turner FBHS suggests that members of our Association could pull together to provide photographic evidence of good practice in training and horses displaying contentment, relaxation, even happiness while working to begin to make a case for the promotion of equestrian sports.
We hope that Sue Dyson and Anne Bondi may be able to employ such images in future presentations to counter the rather negative image currently being displayed.
Report by Danny Anholt FBHS