Growing More Durable Equine Athletes is one of many interesting research topics within Equestrian Science. This research often focusses on Developmental Orthopaedic Disease (DOD). However, a lot of other factors can have an important influence as well. Producing horses that will have long-term and productive athletic careers requires sound management that starts at conception and continues throughout the life of the horse.
Equestrians develop a growing interest in methods to keep their equine athlete healthy and ready to compete. Nowdays equestrians are aware of the high costs accompanied with days lost to training/competition, leading to a general need to reduce the number of days lost to training/competition due to injuries.
Rearing young horses in a qualitative manner gives them a life-time advantage since they will be less prone to injuries.
Prof. Ingvar Fredricson, a retired professor in equine biomechanics, started an European project in 2002 to increase travel distance in young horses. Although the results of this project were promising, it seemed that the equestrain world was not ready yet to value its potential.
Currently, a follow-up project is launched to gain more insight into the effects of rearing horses in natural conditions. The project is located in Brösarp, Sweden, where the horses live on a rural environment of 70 hectares, confronting them with several natural obstacles. The first preliminary results that have been released, seem very promising.
To better inform you, we attempt to visit this project in December. Stay tuned for additional information after our visit to Brösarp… 🙂
With love & passion,
Joke