2 February 2023 - Flipbook - Page 78
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FARMWEEK
AUGUST 11 2022
HORSEWEEK
WELL DONE: Left,
The gold medal
winning Irish
pony Eventing
team stand on
the podium at
the FEI European
Championships
for ponies (U16)
in Strzegom,
Poland with team
manager Jane
Kinsella.
(FW32-544NN)
EQUINE MANAGEMENT NOTES
Irish Pony riders
dominate FEI European
Championships with
incredible medal haul
I
RELAND’S next generation of equestrian
athletes made history on Sunday, at the FEI
European Championships for Ponies (U16)
in Strzegom, Poland, winning the Eventing
team gold medal and an individual silver,
while in Show Jumping, Ireland filled all three
spots on the podium in the individual final
after a phenomenal display - to add to the
team gold medal they won on Friday.
An historic day began with a gold medal win
for the GAIN Irish Eventing team of Meath’s
Josh Williamson (‘Ardeo Fireman’), Kildare’s
Ben Connors (‘Cornafest Fred’ (CP)), Meath’s
Matthew Love and Kildare’s Claire O’Ryan,
managed by Jane Kinsella. Ireland finished on
a final score of 104.1, with Germany taking the
silver medal on 107.6, while France finished in
bronze on 108.9.
Kildare’s Ben Connors with ‘Cornafest Fred’
(CP) also claimed the individual silver medal,
while Meath’s Josh Williamson with ‘Ardeo
Fireman’ finished just one place outside the
medals in fourth.
Horse Sport Ireland Pony Eventing team
manager, Jane Kinsella said: “I’m absolutely
delighted and so proud of this team. I knew
the strength we had in our squad of six coming
out to Strzegom. Ultimately, they pushed each
other forward, supported each other and
worked incredibly well as a team. We had high
expectations going into these championships,
as they had prepared well and were ready for
the challenge. It was a fantastic competition
from day one, really exciting, and they
delivered under pressure in the end.
“I would like to express my gratitude to
my fantastic coaching team, Sue Smallman
(Dressage) and Heather Coyle (Show Jumping).
My vet Tim O’Hagan and the grooms, Rebekah
McNally and John O’Regan. I would also like to
thank the parents and support teams. Results
like these don’t happen without their support.
Finally, I would like to thank Horse Sport
Ireland and our wonderful sponsors Gain
Equine Nutrition, and suppliers Horseware,
TRM Nutrition, Uvex, Dubarry of Ireland and
Berney Bros Saddlery.”
Just a few hours later, Irish athletes were
back on the podium, as an Irish whitewash
saw riders in green win individual gold, silver
and bronze medals in the FEI Pony Show
Jumping European final.
Westmeath’s James Derwin and ‘Rincoola
Babog’ (ISH) are the new European Champions,
taking the gold medal after a jump-off against
SILVER: Kildare’s Ben Connors rode ‘Cornafest
Fred’ (CP) to claim the Pony Eventing individual
silver medal in Poland. (FW32-545NN)
RECOGNISING PAIN: Facial expression has become a well-established method of assessing
pain in a number of animals and non-verbal humans. (FW32-500NN)
Can you recognise pain in your horse?
CLEAN SWEEP: James Brennan, James
Derwin and Coen Williams made it an Irish
white-wash in the European Pony Jumping
Individual final. (FW32-547NN)
Kilkenny’s James Brennan, who took the
silver medal with ‘MHS Glow’ (ISH). The
bronze medal also also went to Ireland’s Coen
Williams from Co. Clare with ‘Saxton Freedam’
(ISH), while Eoin Brennan made it four Irish
riders in the top five, finishing fifth with ‘Glor
Tire Cruise’ (ISH).
The result came on the back of a European
team gold medal win for Gary Marshall’s GAIN
Irish Pony Jumping on Friday in Strzegom and
speaking afterwards Marshall was over the
moon: “Our riders have made history here
today, to have Irish riders fill all three places
on the podium is unbelievable. We had a plan
and worked hard on it. This takes incredible
dedication and the programmes we have put in
place have delivered the results. You don’t win
medals by accident, the margins are so close
these days, that if you don’t give 100 percent
you won’t win medals. A huge congratulations
to all the riders and their families and of
course a big thank you to everyone involved,
especially our sponsors who made this such a
successful Championships.”
Horse Sport Ireland CEO Denis Duggan
added: “This has been a truly remarkable and
historic week for Irish equestrian sport. To
come away from the European Championships
winning five of the seven medals on offer in
the Eventing and Show Jumping competitions
really is an amazing achievement. This
shows that the future is extremely bright for
Irish equestrian sport and I want to offer my
congratulations to all the athletes, coaches
and families involved and of course thank all
of our excellent sponsors.”
CHAMPIONS: James Derwin and ‘Rincoola
Babog’ on their way to becoming FEI European
Pony Jumping champions 2022. (FW32-546NN)
AS a prey species, horses have evolved to
hide signs that they are in pain. In the wild,
weak individuals would become a target
for predators, so there is a strong selection
pressure towards hiding pain. The tendency
to hide pain is a trait retained in most
domestic horses, and can make it difficult for
their caretakers to identify and treat injuries
early. Despite this, the recognition of subtle
signs of pain may increase treatment options
and reduce the amount of time the horse
needs off work for recovery.
While most equestrians are able to
recognise head-bobbing lameness, evidence
suggests that they are perhaps not as good
at recognising low grade lameness. It is
estimated that up to 80% of behavioural
problems, often ascribed to training or rider
problems, may be caused by underlying pain.
A United Kingdom (UK) study examined 506
sport horses in full work that were described
by their owner as sound - they found 47%
of these horses displayed some form of low
grade lameness or gait abnormality (Greve
and Dyson, 2014).
When assessing lameness, the best place to
start is by looking at the horse’s face. Facial
expression has become a well-established
method of assessing pain in a number of
animals and non-verbal humans (Gleerup et
al., 2015). Pain is an emotional experience
and, even when the individual is trying to
hide it, there are a number of facial features
that are universal indicators of pain.
In a horse that is in pain, the distance
between the base of the ears increases and
the ears are turned outward. The ears may
move in different directions or be positioned
asymmetrically. Next, the muscles around
their eyes will tighten, the eyelids will be
half closed and blinking will become more
frequent. The nostrils will dilate and become
squarer rather than the normal elongated
shape. The lips and chin will become tense,
giving a sharper edge to the muzzle and
the jaw muscles will become stressed and
visible.
A horse may show no signs of pain while
standing, but will still need to be assessed
in motion. Horses can show lameness when
ridden, in hand or both, so it’s important
to assess both in hand and under saddle
in all gaits. In 2020, vets and scientists
developed a list of 24 behaviours that are
likely to be displayed by horses experiencing
musculoskeletal pain (Dyson and Pollard,
2020). Horses displaying eight or more of
these signs were 10 times more likely to have
underlying pain. The list included behaviours
such as head tilted or tilting repeatedly,
head tossing or twisting from side to side,
mouth opening and shutting repeatedly, tail
clamped or swishing, stumbling or tripping
more than once, spooking or sudden changes
in direction and rearing or bucking.
The behaviours that can be observed
when the horse is in pain are not necessarily
linked to limping or the limbs of the horse.
Some may assume that the behaviours being
displayed by the horse are because the
horse is being grumpy or unwilling. However,
research indicates that these behaviours are
likely to be signs of musculoskeletal pain.
These behaviours can be influenced by
factors such as an ill-fitting saddle (for both
horse and rider), rider size and/ or rider
skill. But if the saddle has been fitted by a
qualified saddle fitter recently, the rider is
reasonably skilled and is the correct height/
weight for the horse, then the likely source of
these behaviours is pain.
By taking a whole horse approach and
identifying subtle behaviours that are not
traditionally associated with lameness,
owners can hopefully identify injuries and get
the horse treatment sooner. Where owners
are finding a horse’s behaviour challenging,
it is important to rule out possible sources
of pain before focusing on other strategies
to manage the horse’s behaviour. This could
save time, money and improve horse welfare.
REFERENCES
Gleerup, K., Forkman, B., Lindegaard, C.,
Andersen, P.H. 2015. An equine pain face.
Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia, 42,
103-114.
Dyson, S., Berger, J., Ellis, A.D., Mullard,
J. 2018. Development of an ethogram for a
pain scoring system in ridden horses and
its application to determine the presence of
musculoskeletal pain., Journal of veterinary
behavior, 23, 47-57.
Dyson, S. and Pollard, D. 2020. Application
of a ridden horse pain ethogram and it’s
relationship with gait on a convenience
sample of 60 riding horses. Animals, 10,
doi:10.3390/ani10061044
Greve, L.; Dyson, S.J. 2014. The
interrelationship of lameness, saddle slip
and back shape in the general sports horse
population. Equine Vet. J., 46, 687–694.