Science-in-brief: Sports Forum – international movement of horses.

This report is centered around the 2013 Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) Sports Forum that occurred in Switzerland. Discussions took place regarding various aspects of equestrian sports, including the international movement of competition horses, the welfare of the animals, and protocols concerning disease control and veterinary services.

Equestrian Sport & International Movement of Horses

• The Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), a world governing organization for equestrian sports, hosted a Sports Forum in 2013 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
• Topics at the forum included the principles and technical aspects of the sport, qualification procedures for the Olympic and Paralympic games, the process of preparing athletes for post-competition workplaces, and the complexities faced in the international movement of competition horses.
• Speakers from organisations including the World Animal Health Organisation (OIE), European Commission’s Health and Consumers Directorate-General, and the FEI itself made presentations regarding the international movement of competition horses.

OIE and Animal Health Standards

• As international equestrian sport expands, there’s a necessity for balance between scientific research, animal welfare, and the protection of local equine populations.
• OIE is the global organization responsible for improving animal health. Under its mandate, as horses cross borders for sport events, categorised as trade, they must meet certain health specifications in compliance with the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code.
• There are a range of equine and multiple-species infectious diseases recorded in the OIE manual that horses moving internationally should be tested and vaccinated against.

Current Challenges and Future Improvements

• However, there are challenges due to inconsistent and varying requirements for animal health checks between different countries. Often these checks are not based on current scientific risk analyses, leading to confusion and problems in international equestrian sport.
• The OIE and FEI are working towards improving understanding of the conditions under which international competition horses are kept, as these animals are subject to rigorous training and stringent management practices, thus are likely to be in good health. This will be supported by introducing a cross-industry approach to biosecurity.

Creating a Global Standard

• The OIE and FEI have been collaborating since 2002 to create an international standard for the high-health, high-performance (HHP) horses used in equestrian sports. This would include defining an identification system, having agreed vaccination and testing standards, implementing a standard biosecurity protocol, and a database for tracing horse movements.
• Successful partnerships like these have already resulted in agreements that accommodate the needs of HHP horses, such as the agreement formed with the People’s Republic of China allowing horses to enter an equine disease-free zone in Shanghai and then return to the EU.

Conclusion

• The OIE, FEI, and other stakeholders are working towards facilitating and defining the standards for HHP horses, aiming to simplify the international movement of these horses.
• Reaching this goal would improve the development of equestrian sports, and it is hopeful that this will be achieved in 2014 with the adoption of a Code Chapter into the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code describing the HHP horse.