Eventing safety is a hot topic in the sport. Cross-country, one of the three phases of eventing, will always be an activity with an element of risk because it involves horses and riders jumping solid fences at speed.
Everyone will fall at some point if they ride cross-country frequently and while many falls are innocuous, serious injuries to riders and horses do occur and occasionally even fatalities.
It is generally accepted that the falls which carry the highest risk are those in which the horse falls as well as the rider, particularly rotational falls in which a horse turns right over and lands on top of the rider.
The fight to improve eventing safety is one with many different aspects.
Cross-country course-design and build is a vital part of managing risk in eventing. Fences which deliberately collapse on impact can be used in some situations – British frangible pins and Swedish MIMclips are examples of frangible technology which are approved for use internationally.
Improvements in safety clothing are also part of risk management, as are communications between riders and officials and channels being available for riders to speak up if they are concerned about a fence.
The role of education and rider responsibility in eventing safety is also vital, with riders encouraged to be realistic about whether they are ready to move up a level, regardless of whether they have the right qualifications to do so. The Irish company EquiRatings has been at the forefront of discussions about how data can be used to help manage risk and give riders better information about whether they should tackle a certain level of course.
The latest International Equestrian Federation figures show eventing falls are decreasing, but rotational falls are up with a quarter of riders involved in such falls being severely injured or killed
Organisers of the Ballindenisk one-day event in Co Cork, Ireland have launched an investigation after the death of Karen Rodgers at the event on Sunday
A 62-year-old Austrian rider, Franz Graf, had been killed while competing in a national event at Aspang, near Vienna, Austria
The US Eventing Association is drafting proposed new rules in an attempt to slow speeds and move away from technical cross-country courses
A temporary cross-country fence, equipped with four sensors in the top rail and a camera, will be included at 15 British Eventing competitions as part of research to make the sport safer
Eventing experts have decided on a raft of new proposals to improve safety in their sport following 11 fatal accidents since December 2006
A new cross-country design advisory group has been launched by the International Equestrian Federation after 11 riders lost their lives while participating in the sport during 2007
A new warning system to prevent dangerous riding on cross-country courses is to be trialled for the first time Burghley Horse Trials
Following a freak accident at Badminton when a horse died after being staked by a wooden flag, BE is to introduce new safety flags on cross-country courses
Chris Bartle, Yogi Breisner, Andrew Nicholson, Laurent Bousquet, Mike Tucker and David O’Connor met in London to discuss safety in the sport of eventing
Claire Lomas, the event rider who was paralysed in a fall at Osberton last month, has started to feel tingling in her legs
British Eventing (BE) is currently investigating the recents accidents which lead to the death of Jo-Anne Williams and serious injury of Claire Lomas
Eventing fans are being invited to design a cross-country fence for this year’s Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials
The eventing world is shocked by the loss of Word For Word, who died in a cross-country fall at Burnham Market last weekend
The FEI's first eventing safety report has identified a worrying trend with an increase in the number of horse falls involving a somersault, but the overall number of falls are down
British Eventing announces plans for new cross-country fences at every level to be fitted with frangible pins
