NSAIDs Before PRP or PRF: What New Equine Research Shows
NSAIDs Before PRP or PRF: What New Equine Research Shows
A new NC State study found lower growth factors in platelet-rich fibrin from horses given flunixin for three or more days. Read with two Penn studies, the evidence makes a... Lire plus...
The Price of the Extras: The FEI Fee Cap and EU Competition Law
The Price of the Extras: The FEI Fee Cap and EU Competition Law
The FEI Tribunal has dismissed the Sunshine Tour organizer's challenge to the FEI's caps on show fees in Europe because it was filed too late, leaving the EU competition law... Lire plus...
Kissing Spines in Sport Horses: What the Radiograph Can't Tell You
Kissing Spines in Sport Horses: What the Radiograph Can't Tell You
Kissing spines can end a vetting in a sentence and send a horse toward surgery in the next. Two decades of research from Oslo to Dublin say the radiograph alone... Lire plus...
Black foal with a small white star lying down in a grassy paddock, with misty hills behind
The Carrier Question: Fragile Foal Syndrome and the Sport Horse
A new University of Florida study finds that horses carrying one copy of the fragile foal gene showed a measurable difference in how they load their limbs. The finding turns... Lire plus...
Four young horses, two chestnuts, a grey and a dark bay, resting their heads over a black board fence with autumn trees behind
Training Young Warmbloods: What New Heart Rate Research Shows
A new Mendel University study of 14 three-year-old Warmblood stallions found that free jumping and horse walker sessions carried the highest estimated energy cost per session, and that estimates built... Lire plus...
Close-up of a grey horse's legs in black brushing boots cantering across grass, the rider's boot in the stirrup above
Shoes: What New Heel Movement Research Shows
A new Virginia-Maryland study finds that glue-on and nail-on shoes both restrict heel movement compared with barefoot. The glue-on allowed more movement only at the trot, and the wider research... Lire plus...
Black horse in a lunging surcingle working on a lunge line in a sand arena, with a pyramid rising behind
The Fence at Giza: Global Champions Tour Cairo and Its Working Horses
The Global Champions Tour jumps beneath the Pyramids of Giza inside a disease-free zone that requires 900 working equids to be registered, microchipped, vaccinated, and blood tested. The dossier behind... Lire plus...
Rider on a bay horse jumping a purple-and-white striped vertical with red flags, in front of a grassy spectator bank
The Device Gap: Inside the FDA's HYCOAT Warning Letters
The FDA has linked a contaminated wound product to serious joint infections in nearly 100 horses, with at least 20 euthanized. The warning letters show how a topical product reached... Lire plus...
Riders in dark jackets on a grey horse and a bay horse wearing striped exercise sheets on a grassy training gallop
Omeprazole and Lung Bleeding: Association or Cause?
A new Hong Kong Jockey Club study ties cumulative omeprazole dosing to a rising hazard of exercise induced bleeding in racehorses, with no dose yet shown to be risk-free. For... Lire plus...
Low view across a raked sand arena toward a dressage rider on a bay horse passing between clipped hedges
FEI Warm Up Oversight: What Basel and the 2027 Rules Reveal
An independent panel's report from last year's World Cup Finals and a rejected proposal inside the FEI's 2027 dressage rulebook both point to the same answer: the warm-up ring stays... Lire plus...
Two young dark bay horses galloping together across a green field at the edge of a forest
What EMG Reveals About the Horse Flexion Test
A new Utrecht University study used surface electromyography to test what actually happens in a horse's muscles during a standard flexion test. The signal the exam is built to detect... Lire plus...
Portraits of the three FEI presidential candidates side by side: Mark Samuel of Canada, Sabrina Ibáñez of El Salvador and Jack Huang of Chinese Taipei
FEI's 2026 Presidential Election: The Closed Field Explained
Three candidates are on the ballot for FEI's December 5 presidential election, and all three already hold senior roles inside the federation they want to lead. A look at who... Lire plus...
Dark bay horse grazing in a sunlit green pasture with a dark board fence and autumn hills behind
What a New Study Found in Warmblood Embryo Donor Mares
A new study out of the University of Kentucky and Utrecht University followed 769 warmblood mares through 1,745 breeding cycles and found that the two decisions driving today's embryo-transfer boom,... Lire plus...
Rider in a green jacket adjusting the noseband on a dark bay horse with a white star beside a horse trailer
The FEI Noseband Gauge's First Report Card
A new peer-reviewed study gives the FEI's noseband gauge its first real compliance numbers: 95 percent of dressage horses passed on the first try. A second study from the same... Lire plus...
Black leather tall riding boot standing on a wooden trunk in a dark wood-paneled tack room with saddles and a fern
Broken Riding Boot Zipper? How to Tell a Quick Fix From a Cobbler Job
When a tall boot zipper splits open behind the slider, the boots are rarely finished. How to tell a worn slider from a failed zipper, what a cobbler will cost,... Lire plus...
Grey horse grazing alone in a green paddock with black board fencing, a white barn and autumn trees behind
The Strangles Vaccine Gap Buyers Should Know
UK strangles cases have already topped half of last year's total as the European sales season peaks. Europe has a vaccine with a label gap even its own reviewers call... Lire plus...
Three horses in fleece-lined halters looking out the open side windows of a white horse trailer, a hay net hanging below
The Hour Nobody Regulates: Horse Sport's Transport Blind Spot
Three dressage horses died on October 6 when their trailer struck a rock wall 40 km (25 miles) east of Revelstoke, British Columbia, en route to a national championship. The... Lire plus...
Event rider on a dark bay horse jumping a brush-topped cross-country fence among the trees
The Corner Problem: FEI's New Flag Penalty, By the Numbers
The FEI's 2026 rulebook makes missing a cross-country flag forty percent cheaper than it was. The fences that penalty governs are, by the sport's own funded research, among the riskiest... Lire plus...
Dark bay horse splashing through an indoor water treadmill as a handler watches from the platform
The Wrong Kind of Sweat: Lactate Sensors and the Sport Horse
A new Ghent University study puts a wearable sweat sensor pitched to replace blood draws in sport-horse fitness testing, and the biology does not cooperate. Lire plus...
Bay horse grazing in a green paddock with a fluffy black-and-white cat standing right beside its head
New Research on Dewormer Resistance in Horses, Explained
A new three-year French survey has found resistant strongyle populations against every anthelmintic drug class available in the country, including the two classes barns have always treated as the reliable... Lire plus...
Black horse in a leather bridle looking back over its shoulder against blurred golden autumn leaves
Beneath the Muscle: Insulin Dysregulation in Sport Horses
A new study out of North Carolina State University and the University of Pennsylvania tested 180 sport horses for insulin dysregulation and found it in nearly one in four --... Lire plus...
Horse in a grey turnout sheet grazing in a green pasture below a white barn and bright fall foliage
The Confinement Cost: New Colic Research on Stall Rest
A new international study from the University of Liverpool and Colorado State University found horses stabled more in the four weeks before a strangulating lipoma colic were nearly seven times... Lire plus...
Smiling rider in a navy vest and helmet riding a dark bay horse along a wooded path scattered with autumn leaves
How Cold Is Too Cold to Ride? What the Research Actually Says
Daylight Savings ends, the barn goes quiet an hour earlier, and every rider in a cold climate asks the same question: how cold is too cold? A vet's real thresholds,... Lire plus...
Bay horse grazing in a green paddock with a fluffy black-and-white cat standing right beside its head
Mild Equine Asthma in Sport Horses: What the Research Shows
Up to seventy percent of young sport horses carry subclinical airway inflammation with no visible symptoms at all. A Tufts researcher calls it second only to lameness as a cause... Lire plus...
Two young dark bay horses galloping together across a green field at the edge of a forest
Bisphosphonates in Young Sport Horses: What Buyers Should Know
A bone drug approved only for horses four and older is quietly used on two- and three-year-old sport-horse prospects heading into the sale ring. Racing rewrote its sale contracts over... Lire plus...
Two chestnut horses in a fenced pasture of blue wildflowers below a range of mountains
New Horse Tendon Stem Cell Trial: What the Data Actually Shows
A new randomized, placebo-controlled trial from the University of Liège gives sport horse owners the first real evidence for a stem cell protocol sold on faith for two decades --... Lire plus...
Bay event horse in a navy ear bonnet splashing out of a water complex on a cross-country course, with spectators behind
The Wrong Suspect: What a Slipping Saddle Is Really Telling You
A saddle that slides to one side reads as a fit problem and usually gets treated as one. Research from the UK's Animal Health Trust found saddle slip tracks far... Lire plus...
Rider in a black show jacket with a long blonde ponytail, seen from behind on a chestnut horse
The Three-Minute Window: USEF's Defibrillator Rule Explained
USEF passed a rule this year barring any horse that collapses in the ring from competing for a week. The rule requiring a defibrillator at every show ground -- the... Lire plus...
Close-up of a bay horse and rider in a grass show jumping arena, with a yellow jump and a full grandstand behind
Standing in the Yard: A Vet's Fitness-to-Compete Dilemma
A Saudi rider's suspension this month is the sport's most visible fitness-to-compete decision of the year. The far more consequential calls happen upstream, made by a treating vet whose paycheck... Lire plus...
Vet in a navy jacket kneeling beside an open red equipment case to read her notes, with a chestnut horse standing next to her
The Fifty Percent Problem: Inside the Equine Vet Shortage
Half of all new equine veterinarians leave the profession within five years. For hunter/jumper owners, that shortage is no longer abstract - it shows up as a slower callback, a... Lire plus...
Two chestnut horses in leather halters nuzzling each other in front of autumn trees
The Six-Month Rule: What the UK's Flu Crisis Means for US Riders
Britain is living through its worst equine influenza outbreak in years, and the data trace it to a vaccination gap in exactly the population American hunter and jumper riders touch... Lire plus...
Rider in a red jacket on a chestnut horse jumping a white vertical decorated with small conifers and flowers
The Sentinel Fluid: Rethinking Equine Joint Diagnosis
A radiographic finding at a pre-purchase exam can end a sale in minutes, even though two-thirds of clinically sound competition Warmbloods carry the same "abnormality." New synovial fluid research out... Lire plus...
Rider in black on a dapple grey horse with a blue saddle pad and matching leg wraps in a sand arena lined with cypress trees
Behind the Vertical: FEI's Hyperflexion Rule Gap
For two decades the FEI has called hyperflexion abuse in principle and refused to write it into its rulebook. A 2024 meta-analysis of 58 studies found welfare concerns in three-quarters... Lire plus...
Finish marker surrounded by potted greenery in a grass show jumping arena, with colorful jumps and a packed grandstand behind
Ranked, Not Reigning: What the FEI World Ranking Really Counts
Richard Vogel is now the FEI's top-ranked show jumper. Steve Guerdat, the sport's reigning World Champion, sits fourth. The distance between those two facts says everything about what the Longines... Lire plus...
Rider in a white shirt hugging the head of her dark bay horse with a white blaze, outside a row of stables
The Freeze in the Judge's Box: USHJA's Judging License Pause
USEF and USHJA have frozen new hunter and equitation judge licensing for a full year to rebuild a credentialing system even its own president called too tangled to explain. The... Lire plus...
Black horse in white polo wraps trotting under its rider in an outdoor sand arena on a sunny day
The Single-Gene Illusion: Warmblood Genetic Testing
A 2026 UC Davis survey of 412 owners reveals what warmblood buyers want from genetic testing, and why most panels cannot deliver it. Lire plus...
Chestnut horse in a navy ear bonnet clearing a black-and-white striped rail, with the open sea behind
The Sixty-Year Reprieve: Screwworm Hits the Show Circuit
A parasite eradicated from American soil in 1966 has infected a U.S. horse for the first time this century. As the hunter/jumper circuit heads into its highest-mileage travel season, the... Lire plus...
Woman with a blonde ponytail stroking the face of a chestnut horse inside its stall
The Rating Nobody Requires: Equestrian Helmet Safety
In 2023, the FEI's own Helmet Working Group found that every accepted helmet standard tests the wrong kind of force. Three years and a tightened certification list later, not one... Lire plus...
Bay horse tucking its knees over a fence under a rider in a black show coat, with white show tents behind
The Pressure Point: What Girth Resistance Really Means
New biomechanics research shows a tighter girth shifts saddle pressure toward a horse's shoulder, and a UC Davis retrospective found gastric ulcers behind most cases of chronic girth resistance investigated... Lire plus...
Close-up of a white horse in black boots cantering across a sand arena, with the rider's boot and stirrup just visible above
USEF's Safety Stirrup Rule: The Grace Period Ends
In twelve weeks, U.S. Equestrian moves from warning riders about noncompliant stirrups to penalizing them. The rule an advocate proposed in writing back in 2024 is now close to full... Lire plus...
Close-up of a braided chestnut show horse in a bridle, against a blurred outdoor show background
No Stamp of Approval: FEI's New Tack Rule System
Beginning February 1, 2027, the rules governing tack and equipment in FEI show jumping leave the printed rulebook for a database the federation updates monthly. The same system already runs... Lire plus...
Rider in a black show jacket touching noses with her chestnut horse, still in its bridle, after a round
Nine a Week: The FEI's New Blood Rule, Six Months In
In November 2025, FEI member nations voted to stop eliminating show jumpers automatically for blood on the horse and start issuing warnings instead. Six months of the federation's own numbers... Lire plus...
Rider on a bay horse walking through a sand show ring with white tents, spectators and the Eiffel Tower in the background
The Company Line: Equestrian Media Consolidation
One company has spent the past year acquiring the two most-cited English-language outlets covering international show jumping — and it also organizes FEI competitions of its own. What that concentration... Lire plus...
Two riders walking a black horse and a bay horse across a grassy field edged with purple wildflowers
The Headcount: America's Equine Data Gap
The USDA just launched its first equine population study in eleven years. What it reveals about how America tracks its own horse industry — and what a $177 billion economy... Lire plus...
Close-up of a braided bay dressage horse and its rider in white gloves and breeches, with an arena letter marker behind
The 28 Markers: Warmblood Genomics and Sport Horse Aptitude
A 2026 study from University College Dublin identifies 28 genetic markers that predict whether a warmblood is built for jumping or dressage with 80 percent accuracy. The sport horse world's... Lire plus...
Event rider in a light blue helmet cover galloping a bay horse through shallow water on a cross-country course
Losing the Room: The Data Behind Equestrian Sport's Eroding Support
Nearly one in four members of the British public now says they do not support horse sport under any circumstances -- a figure that has risen steadily since polling began... Lire plus...
Rider on a grey horse jumping a pale blue vertical in front of a grand white hotel, with topiary and flower boxes along the course
Numb: Why the FEI's Neurectomy Vote Should Matter to Every Sport Horse Owner
The FEI will vote in December on whether to explicitly ban neurectomized horses from international competition. The science on palmar digital neurectomy is clear -- and the gap between what's... Lire plus...
Close-up of a chestnut horse's booted legs splashing through water at the base of a cross-country fence, the rider's stirrups just in frame
The Unmonitored Horse: What Sensors See That Feel Cannot
Racing's landmark AAEP study proved that wearable sensors can predict musculoskeletal injuries before they happen. The technology is commercially available, USEF permits it in competition, and a study of elite... Lire plus...
Rider in a navy jacket on a dark bay horse clearing a white and green lattice-gate jump with red flags
The Price of Entry: Show Costs and the Consolidation of the Sport
In 2026, USEF raised federation fees by an average of 44 percent. New tariffs landed on imported tack and leather goods. Regional shows are folding. The price of entry is... Lire plus...
Event rider on a grey horse jumping into a water complex on a cross-country course, past log fences and yellow flowers
Built to Break: What Two Decades of Cross-Country Safety Research Has Solved
Two riders died in cross-country accidents on the same day in July. What two decades of safety research shows about the risks that engineering has reduced, and the ones it... Lire plus...