The AAEP developed recommendations to improve equine health and safety during the Modern Pentathlon riding phase of competition. Getty Images
The Welfare & Public Policy Advisory Council of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) developed the following recommendations to improve equine health and safety during the Modern Pentathlon riding phase of competition.
The changes recommended for consideration by UIPM include:
I. Adherence to the FEI approach to horse welfare, including but not limited to:
A. Adoption of a horse welfare statement for inclusion in the UIPM mission statement and rules.
B. Adoption of the FEI Code of Conduct for the MP riding discipline.
C. Requirement of use of equine-experienced and qualified veterinarians, stewards, and other officials. FEI-certified officials could serve as a ready pool of trained animal experts in the management of UIPM competitions.
D. Adoption of FEI requirements for horse biosecurity.
E. Adoption of FEI requirements for arrival examinations.
F. Adoption of a requirement for treating veterinarians to be appropriately equipped and present whenever a horse is being ridden in training, warm-up or competition.
II. Reduction of the number of obstacles.
III. Reduction of the maximum height of obstacles.
IV. Reduction of the number of refusals allowed for continuation in competition.
V. Requirement of rider elimination after one fall of rider.
VI. Requirement of horse elimination and veterinary examination after one fall of horse.
VII. Elimination of the requirement for double and triple combinations.
VIII. Requirement of a rider/chef d’equipe-required Jury Ride, where horses are ridden over actual competition fences for the Ground Jury one or more nights prior to the actual competition, to allow observation and potential elimination of unsound or misbehaving horses before competition begins.
IX. Allowance of a petition for a replacement ride for a rider who drew a horse which obviously had performance/behavior/soundness/or other health issues in competition. Current UIPM rules allow replacement ride application for a subsequent rider of a previously inappropriate horse, but not for the rider who drew the inappropriate ride initially. 2
X. Allowance of longer warm-up/familiarization periods on randomly drawn horses.
XI. Allowance of use of personal horses rather than a pool of randomly drawn horses.
These recommendations were approved by the AAEP board of directors, April 2022.
Respectfully developed and reviewed by: Dr. Kathleen Anderson, Dr. Elizabeth Barrett, Dr. Margaret Brosnahan, Dr. Mary Bell, Dr. Lais Costa, Dr. Noel Dybdal, Dr. Jonathan Foreman, Dr. Erin Gatz, Dr. Alan Goldhahn, Dr. Lauren Kleine, Dr. Clara Mason, Dr. Rick Mitchell, Dr. Olivia Rudolphi, Dr. Emily Sandler-Burtness, Dr. Stephen Schumacher, Dr. Bernadette Smith, Dr. Bart Sutherland and Dr. Mike Tomlinson.
You can download a PDF from the AAEP here.
