Third Annual Equine Welfare and Safety Summit submits recommendations
Before the third Annual Equine Welfare and Safety Summit came to a close on the 29th of June in Kentucky, a consensus was reached regarding the setting up of a National Riders Injury Database. Previously, it has been documented as to how vital it is to have the right information regarding safety risks in order to protect athletes in proper races. So the agreement to create the database for that purpose comes as no surprise.
President and CEO of Keeneland Nick Nicholson has said that he believed that it was a necessary first step and it would have been disappointing for him personally if the summit, held on his racetracks, had failed to come to this agreement. Nicholson claimed that for him, the database was the number one priority area in the summit.
A database which would track horse injuries and deaths is already in place and has been collecting data for the past two years. Based on that data, a preliminary report was presented earlier in the summit, highlighting the various risks to horses and the need to gather more information to better understand the risk factors involved in horse racing.
The recommendation to keep a track of rider injuries was originally made at the same time as the recommendation for the equine injury database. However, at that time, the recommendations didn’t culminate into action. Now, with the experience of setting up the equine injury database, the industry leaders and advocates believe that the rider’s database could be setup without complications. It will also take a lesser amount of time than it took to setup the equine database. Participants claimed that the data collection project could take up to 18 months before it is up and running in a proper manner.
California already keeps a data on rider injuries. The proposed database could follow their model of information gathering and management.
Nicholson said that fans accept the fact that all modern sports present certain risks to athletes, but the fans also expect that sporting authorities would do everything in their power to minimize those risks to participants. Nicholson said that if horseracing failed to live up to the expectations of its fans, it will be rejected as a sport.
It has been reported that 128 jockeys since 1940 have died from injuries sustained at racetracks in the United States alone while another 60 are living with disabilities after suffering from brain or spinal-cord injuries. Advocates of the database believe that if more information was available on the causes and circumstances of these injuries, measures could be put in place to avoid and reduce such events. At Keeneland, the management has set up a database of medical information that is made available to doctors in the event of medical emergencies. The database contains no personal information about the riders for privacy reasons.
Nicholson said that after diligent consultations with all concerned riders, doctors, and insurance companies, a system could be developed that satisfies all concerns. Equine Medical’s Director for the California Horse Racing Board Rich Arthur said that although the database would begin with tracking injuries sustained during the main races only, he believed that the database should expand to include injuries sustained during practice races as well.
The recommendations made at the summit were similar to the ones made during previous summits almost voluntary. There are concerns that unless the efforts of industry players prove fruitful, horse racing might need to be regulated by federal authorities, which a majority of the stakeholders want to avoid.
The summit has recommended a ban on the use of anabolic steroids. The summit also recommended a two way exchange of information between states and tracks on veterinarian, steward and starters lists’. The move seeks to stop the practice of “jurisdiction shopping”, when a horse barred from racing in a certain state needs to simply go to another state to race.
The summit recommended setting up safety committees at each track, accreditation for horse rescue and retirement programs along with expanding the scope of the equine injury database to include track maintenance, medication and training routines.
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