Epidemiology and risk factors for eliminations from Fédération Equestre Internationale endurance rides between 2004-2015 in Italy.

The research article is a study on the risk factors for elimination from Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) endurance horse rides in Italy from 2004 to 2015, highlighting how these factors and elimination rates have changed over the years.

Objective and Methodology

• The main goal was to investigate and describe the elimination reasons such as irregular gait and metabolic reasons from FEI endurance rides occurring in Italy from 2004 to 2015.
• The research intends to analyze the risk factors leading to eliminations and document the long-term changes in elimination rates and speeds.
• FEI endurance ride data was gathered from three websites, recording various variables such as Year, month, day, location, class, restriction to youth riders, distance, number of riders, horses’ age, breed, and average finishing speed for each horse.
• The horses were categorized into three groups: Completed, Retired or Eliminated for irregular gait, metabolic, or other reasons.
• Environmental data was collected from the Il Meteo website, and descriptive data were summarized. Univariable analyses and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to examine risk factors.
• The researchers used the chi-squared test and one-way or Friedman analysis of variance (ANOVA) to assess yearly differences.

Findings

• Several variables associated with elimination for irregular gait were the number of starters, age of the horse, different classes, minimum temperature, and the presence of rain.
• The elimination for metabolic reasons were linked with variables such as the number of starters, horse breed classes, and minimum temperature.
• The research found that the average finishing speed increased over the years but the elimination frequency altered only for metabolic reasons, with a higher proportion at the beginning of the study period.

Limitations and Further Reseach

• This study was conducted solely in Italy and thus, the results might not be universally applicable.
• The data regarding speed was only available for those horses that completed the competition, which is a limitation in the evaluation.
• Although the average finishing speed increased over the years, the percentage of eliminations remained stable after 2007.
• Other potential contributing factors to problems during rides such as training, nutrition, previous injuries, and treatments were suggested for further investigation in future research.