To make the Paris Olympic Games those of horse welfare

“The 2024 Paris Olympics are a unique, exceptional opportunity to permanently highlight the welfare of equine athletes, who are the only animal species competing in the Olympics.”

Around forty names from the veterinary world and horse racing, French and international, call in a column published by Le Parisien to advance the consideration of pain and the needs of animals in high-level sport.

“Really taking into account the well-being of horses is essential if we want the equestrian events at the Olympic Games to continue"

At a time when animal welfare has been elevated to cause societal and political concern, and has become a media topic, and with a new edition of the world’s largest sporting event approaching, it is essential to seriously consider the well-being of horses if we want equestrian events at the Olympic Games to continue.

Perceiving the horse solely as a performance tool in service to its rider and the country it represents, while forgetting the sensitive being it is, is an outdated view that must evolve in light of scientific publications on animal emotions, pain perception, and sensitivity to stress. These concepts should serve as the basis for implementing appropriate practices. The Paris Olympics, as a showcase of Olympic sports, offer France the opportunity to initiate a new relationship with equine athletes, whose impact will be international and should extend to the equine sports sector.

Some disrespectful practices towards animals are part of the training journey of the equine athlete destined for competition. In many equestrian disciplines, these practices occur during training, through the use of restrictive equipment such as uncomfortable hind leg boots, oversized spurs, tight nosebands, restrictive lunging aids, coercive bits.

Some practices themselves are equally reprehensible, such as violent hand actions, abusive use of the whip or spurs, prolonged hyperflexion of the neck potentially harmful physically and psychologically… Of course, these practices are the work of a minority, and not all riders are to blame, but it only takes a few to tarnish the image of equestrian sports and put them at risk of disappearing. On their part, equestrian authorities are taking regulatory measures, notably through dedicated charters on horse welfare, whose intentions are commendable… but never binding. 

As France prepares to become the center of attention for hundreds of millions of people around the world next July, our country must set an example and act on new advances in considering animals in our society. France could take the lead and promote the fight against equine abuse through binding regulation of equipment (bits, spurs, boots…) and equestrian practices during training, warm-up, and competition for horses. 

As the Paris Olympics approach, which will see the equestrian events taking place at the wonderful site of the Palace of Versailles, dreaming of a better world for the animal that represents a major success of domestication and establishing an ethical framework for equine well-being to be respected requires the application of 46 recommendations that were the subject of a recent parliamentary report, and applicable also to all equestrian competitions beyond the Olympic Games. These recommendations have been reviewed by experts, veterinarians, and all organizations consulted.

Here are some examples:

• Monitor horses longitudinally in preparation for the Olympic Games and provide doping tests between one month and fifteen days before the veterinary check prior to the events;
• Establish a “welfare committee” on all training and competition sites, composed of independent experts who can freely move around the entire Olympic site of the equestrian events as part of a special mission on “equine welfare at the Olympic Games”;
• Expand video surveillance across the entire site, which will be made available to the “welfare committee”;
• Strictly limit the use of the whip under penalty of sanction, or even disqualification. Video surveillance can be requested if necessary as a means of proof;
• Record events for deferred analysis and possible sanctioning;
• Systematically check the conformity of the rider’s artificial aids (spurs, whip), harness, and horse protections, as provided for in the regulations;
• Regulate these aids: foam spurs of less than 2 cm in length, prohibition of hind leg boots, authorization of light and loose fetlock boots;
• Consult the “welfare committee” in case of bleeding on a horse to stop the continuation of an event;
• Ban the flexion of the neck placing the muzzle behind the vertical line throughout the Olympic arena (“hyperflexion”) and apply immediate sanctions for all equestrian disciplines;
• Equip the cross-country course with 100% of obstacles designed to yield in case of a fall or strong attachment of the horse.

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games organizing committee alone, following hearings from various organizations, must decide on the fate of these recommendations. The sustainability of equestrian sports, the French tradition that accompanies them, and ultimately the survival of the horse, a human auxiliary for 2,200 years, a wonderful animal that has, in turn, allowed humans to move, share their destiny in wars, ensure the development of agriculture, and is now the main protagonist of popular sports disciplines around the world.

SOURCE: Le Parisien