German federal animal welfare law means horses under 30 months are no longer allowed to start training or competing. Two-year-old racehorses are currently exempt, as long as they undergo two veterinary assessments. This news has sparked concerns, including whether it is feasible for a vet to make a judgement on an unfamiliar horse in a short period of time, as well as the lack of evidence for this move.
In light of resistance, Germany’s ministry for agriculture has commission a welfare study (Projekt Horsewatch) to ascertain the age at which horses have achieved the mental and physical maturity to permit training and competition. The report is to be submitted to federal parliament in 2027 or 2028.
The change prompted a conference in Newmarket (24 May), featuring world-leading vets, titled “Equine cognizance and mental maturity – what do we know?”. One key take-home message was that educating horses to cope with the world around them from a young age is crucial to set them up for a happy life.
The Netherlands’ Olympic medal-winning dressage rider Arjen Teeuwissen has died, aged 53, on 29 March. He lived in the Netherlands until 1998 before moving to Belgium. Arjen was a former Dutch national champion and in 1999 he and Dutch-bred gelding Goliath T were part of the silver medal-winning team at the European Dressage Championships in Arnhem. Arjen and Goliath won individual bronze and went on to compete at the Sydney Olympic Games, where they won team silver.
A tiny foal weighing a mere 12kg, making him smaller than the average family dog, has been born to a rescued Shetland pony, Polly, who pulled through life-threatening illness during her pregnancy. Pika, who is about 4hh high, is one of “if not the smallest” equines welfare charity Bransby Horses has ever had in its care. Both the mare and foal are doing well.
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“We can’t get over how lovely they both are. We have had to adjust the fencing as it’s too high and would not keep Pika safe,” said Bransby Horses senior press officer Maria Thompson.
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Sarah has worked at an equestrian journalist and editor since 2004 and has held the position of Horse & Hound Editor-in-Chief since 2014. She has reported for Horse & Hound from major championships including Europeans and World Equestrian Games. She has co-written books on horses and horse sport including The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horses & Ponies. She has owned and ridden horses since 1993, and worked for and trained with Olympic gold medallist event rider Leslie Law prior to going to university. While studying for a BSc at London School of Economics Sarah also worked for top British dressage rider Louise Spate.
