Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40371753›Full record

ArticleEquine veterinary journal2025

Equine fatalities in equestrian eventing.

Heather A Cameron-Whytock, Denzil O'Brien, Victoria Lewis, Tim Parkin, Euan D Bennet

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Equine veterinary journal, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Equine fatalities in equestrian eventing.Equine veterinary journal · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Heather A Cameron-WhytockSchool of Veterinary Medicine, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0760-2584
Denzil O'BrienPO Box 1167, Balhannah, South Australia, Australia.
Victoria LewisEquestrian Performance Research and Knowledge Exchange Arena, Hartpury University, Hartpury, UK.
Tim ParkinBristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3566-9030
Euan D BennetSchool of Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9049-1920

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTo date, industry and research outputs that have aimed to improve safety in equestrian eventing have tended to focus on identifying risk factors for horse falls during cross-country, which have been identified as the greatest risk of injury and fatality for riders. There is an absence of research that investigates fatalities of horses within the sport of eventing.

objectivesTo use a combination of media reports and eventing federation databases to describe and document equine fatalities in equestrian eventing, including their context, location and a basic pathology. STUDY

designDescriptive study.

methodsA study describing equine fatalities that occurred between 1998 and 2023. Study data were taken from a combination of media reports (to identify occurrences of equine fatalities) and federation databases (to confirm a fatality did indeed occur and validate data).

resultsOne hundred and ten equine fatality records were included. Median horse age was 12 years. 62.7% of equine fatalities were not associated with a report of a horse fall during the cross-country phase. Of all fatalities, 36.4% involved a musculoskeletal (MSK) injury, 36.4% were considered sudden death and 27.3% did not report the pathology (unknown). A total of 47.5% of MSK-related fatalities and 90% of sudden death fatalities occurred during cross-country but were unrelated to horse falls at cross-country fences. MAIN LIMITATIONS: The data presented within this study do not provide a complete picture of global equine eventing fatalities during the study period. Details around the context/pathology of fatalities are also limited because of the sources they are derived from.

conclusionsThis study demonstrates that equine fatalities in eventing occur in contexts other than horse falls, including as a result of MSK injury and sudden death. Future research and risk management work in eventing should include work that investigates sudden death and MSK injury in eventing horses and their causative/associative factors.

Indexed as

Athletic InjuriesHorse DiseasesAccidental FallsAnimalsFemaleHorsesMaleRisk FactorsSportscross‐countryeventingfatalityhorsesafetysudden death

Identifiers

PMID40371753
PMCPMC12326938

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.