The stress of an endurance ride contributed to 11 known horse fatalities in 2003. Some of these fatalities occurred over one week after the ride. Only two of these deaths occurred at the ride site, with one of these being a lost horse. The other nine occurred at a treatment facility or at the ownerÕs home. They occurred at all distances, all speeds and all experience levels.

This fatality rate is about 1 in 1900 starts. To compare this rate with other sports and life in general, the following statistics may prove helpful. Studies of track racing show about one fatality for every 500 starts.(1) So our sport appears to have one-fourth of the event-related fatalities compared to track racing based on the known deaths.

U.S. government-published statistics based on a 1997 survey showed that the overall annual death rate for horses between the age of 5 and 20 was between 1.3 and 1.4 percent.(2) If one computes the mean number of horses dying at random the day of or the day after a ride based on this annual death rate, then an upper bound on the number of expected deaths would be 1.6 horses. We had seven known deaths on either the day of the ride or the day after the ride related to stress from the ride. Therefore our sport appears to increase the risk of death of a horse in that two-day period by over a factor of four as compared with "staying home."

The fatality rate of horses under 20 years of age for the last three years at two public barns has been one in 1600 and one in 2000 for any one week period.(3) Compared to this statistic we appear to match the fatality rate. However we do not know if other AERC horses may have died in this week period that we are unaware of.

These numbers start to put the nature of the risk of our sport in context. But talk with the owners of the deceased animals or the ride veterinarians who treat these horses, and you realize numbers do not tell the story. The pain and upheaval that follows a horse fatality is real and not easily put aside.

AERC is committed to the welfare of our horses and we continue to strive toward a goal of zero fatalities. We will continue to collect and analyze data to help achieve this end. Endurance-related fatalities are a complex problem and there will be no magic bullet to fix them. Education, a respect for the stress of a ride, and a study of the facts of treatments and fatalities will help.

The factors leading up to the death of each horse can only be touched with an article all to itself. We advise every endurance rider to further their knowledge by reading the articles that continue to be published, to learn from knowledgeable riders and ride veterinarians, and to realize how precious the gift is we ride.

The horse welfare committee wants to thank all those riders, owners and veterinarians who have graciously shared with us these painful experiences.

1. University of Minnesota Study, Jockey Club Statistics for 1992; University of Guelph Study 1987-1993; Running for their Lives, Animal Aid.

2. National Animal Health Monitoring System, Dept. of Agriculture reports, Part I, Baseline Reference of 1998 Equine Health and Management, page 44.

3. Rio Bravo Equestrian Center, Bakersfield, CA and UCD Equestrian Center.