Sudden death in sport and riding horses during and immediately after exercise: A case series.
Abstract: Sudden death affects the health of horses, the safety of riders and the public perception of animal welfare during equestrian events. Objective: To describe the signalment, clinical history, sudden death episode, rider injuries and causes of sudden death during exercise or closely thereafter in sport and pleasure riding horses. Methods: Retrospective case series based on an online questionnaire. Methods: An online questionnaire was distributed to the veterinary and equestrian community. Connections of animals reported in the press to have died suddenly were sent the survey. Responses were analysed to obtain information. Results: Fifty-seven cases met inclusion criteria with enough information to be analysed. The most common discipline was eventing (n = 23, 40.4%), and the most common breed involved was Thoroughbred (n = 23, 40.4%). Forty-one (71.9%) horses collapsed during exercise, and 16 (28.1%) shortly thereafter. Twenty-four (42.1%) horses died during or near the time of competition and 33 (57.9%) during or near the time of training or a pleasure ride. In 16 (28.1%) horses, the cause of death was known or strongly suspected based on a post-mortem result, and a cardiovascular origin was reported in 13 of these 16 cases. Riders were injured in 13 (22.8%) cases, and injuries to their extremities were the most frequent. Conclusions: There is potential for misdiagnosis and recall and selection bias, and in the absence of data on the total number of horses engaged in equestrian sports and riding, prevalence cannot be calculated. Conclusions: Sudden death occurred in many types of equestrian sports and in riding horses. Death outside competition was more common suggesting that registries based on reports from official veterinarians underestimate the magnitude of this problem. Rider injuries were not uncommon when ridden horses collapsed and died. A definitive diagnosis for the cause of death was not commonly achieved and cardiovascular origin was the most common where a diagnosis was proposed by survey respondents.
© 2018 EVJ Ltd.
Publication Date: 2018-02-05 PubMed ID: 29330860DOI: 10.1111/evj.12803Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
Summary
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The research paper investigates the circumstances and causes of sudden death in sport and pleasure riding horses during or closely after exercise, and its related rider injuries.
Research Methodology
- The study was a retrospective case series based on responses from an online questionnaire distributed to the veterinary and equestrian community.
- An attempt was made to reach out to contacts related to cases of horse sudden death reported in the media, and their responses gathered through the questionnaire.
- Only responses comprising detailed descriptions of sudden death incidents that met the study’s criteria were included in the analysis.
Findings
- 57 cases provided sufficient data for the study. The majority of these involved horses used for eventing (40.4%), and Thoroughbreds were the most common breed noted (40.4%).
- Around 71.9% of the horses collapsed during exercise, with 28.1% doing so shortly afterward.
- Interestingly, while 42.1% of cases revealed that the horse died during or around the time of competition, a higher percentage (57.9%) indicated death during or near the period of training or pleasure riding.
- A probable or known cause of death was identified in 28.1% of the cases. In most of these, a cardiovascular origin was suggested.
- Additionally, the study found that riders were injured in 22.8% of the cases, particularly sustaining injuries to their extremities.
Conclusions
- The research acknowledges the possibility of bias and misdiagnoses due to its utilization of a retrospective approach, the nature of the respondents, and limitations in obtaining a definitive cause of death.
- The paper underlines the inability to calculate the prevalence of sudden death without a comprehensive tally of the total number of horses in equestrian sports and riding.
- One critical revelation from the study is that sudden death is common across equestrian sports and riding and is more prevalent during training or pleasure rides rather than competition.
- The finding suggests that official veterinarian records likely underestimate the gravity of sudden horse death incidence.
- Furthermore, the risk of rider injuries in such incidents is considerable, as evidenced in the study’s findings.
Cite This Article
APA
de Solis CN, Althaus F, Basieux N, Burger D.
(2018).
Sudden death in sport and riding horses during and immediately after exercise: A case series.
Equine Vet J, 50(5), 644-648.
https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.12803 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Swiss Institute of Equine Medicine, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, and Agroscope, Bern, Switzerland.
- Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA.
- Swiss Institute of Equine Medicine, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, and Agroscope, Bern, Switzerland.
- Swiss Equestrian Federation, Bern, Switzerland.
- Swiss Institute of Equine Medicine, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, and Agroscope, Bern, Switzerland.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Cardiovascular Diseases / mortality
- Cardiovascular Diseases / veterinary
- Data Collection
- Death, Sudden / veterinary
- Horse Diseases / mortality
- Horses
- Humans
- Physical Conditioning, Animal
- Retrospective Studies
- Risk Factors
- Surveys and Questionnaires
- Wounds and Injuries
Citations
This article has been cited 5 times.- Brito G, Damián JP, Suárez G, Ruprechter G, Trigo P. Characterization of Raid Hipico Uruguayo Competencies by Ride Type: Causes of Death and Risk Factors.. Animals (Basel) 2023 May 10;13(10).
- Bevevino KE, Cohen ND, Gordon SG, Navas de Solis C. Feasibility of a point-of-care ultrasound protocol for cardiorespiratory evaluation of horses in different clinical settings.. J Vet Intern Med 2023 May-Jun;37(3):1223-1232.
- Nath L, Stent A, Elliott A, La Gerche A, Franklin S. Risk Factors for Exercise-Associated Sudden Cardiac Death in Thoroughbred Racehorses.. Animals (Basel) 2022 May 18;12(10).
- Hellings IR, Skjerve E, Karlstam E, Valheim M, Ihler CF, Fintl C. Racing-associated fatalities in Norwegian and Swedish harness racehorses: Incidence rates, risk factors, and principal postmortem findings.. J Vet Intern Med 2022 Mar;36(2):778-786.
- Furtado T, Preshaw L, Hockenhull J, Wathan J, Douglas J, Horseman S, Smith R, Pollard D, Pinchbeck G, Rogers J, Hall C. How Happy Are Equine Athletes? Stakeholder Perceptions of Equine Welfare Issues Associated with Equestrian Sport.. Animals (Basel) 2021 Nov 12;11(11).
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