By: Julianna Grant
In the world of sports, the health, wellbeing, and safety of the participating athletes is one of the highest priorities for trainers, players, and spectators alike.[i] Ranging from the increase in technology for football helmets to aid in protecting players from serious head injury[ii] to the installment of independent health and safety bodies in Mixed Martial Arts[iii], proprietors of major sports are taking steps to ensure the safety of their athletes. When a sport involves a non-human participant, the concern and standards for their safety should equal that of their human counterparts. This fact became evident during the equestrian portion of the 2020 Summer Olympic modern pentathlon competition when the mistreatment of horses used for the event was nothing short of shocking, spurring the removal of the event from the 2024 Olympic pentathlon.[iv]
Modern pentathlons involve five competitions: shooting pistols, fencing, swimming, horseback riding, and running.[v] The evolution of the modern pentathlon from its origins in Ancient Greece began in 1912 with its inclusion in the Stockholm Games.[vi] Its founder, Baron de Coubertin, described the sport as “[a test] of a [person’s] moral qualities as much as [their] physical resources and skills, producing thereby a complete athlete.”[vii] However, when participants and coaches do not take appropriate measures to consider the safety of the horses involved in the equestrian portion of the event, the “moral qualities” displayed are arguably the opposite of what Baron de Coubertin likely imagined. Due to the dangerous nature of equestrian sports, the blatant disregard for the wellbeing of the horses displayed in the 2020 Olympics creates negative consequences not only for the horse, but potentially for the rider as well.[viii]
Horseback riding has been identified as “the most dangerous sport” in a study conducted by the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley , beating sports commonly thought to be incredibly risky such as football, skiing, and motorcycling.[ix] Injuries resulting from horseback riding were found to be mostly to the chest, head, arms, and legs.[x] Regarding those who had suffered head injuries resulting from a riding accident, the study found that 888 individuals had “severe neurological damage.”[xi] During the time the study was conducted, 320 individuals unfortunately suffered fatal injuries, mostly caused by damage to the head and neck.[xii] This study plainly exhibits the need for safe practices when participating in any equestrian activity, as even those who are experienced or professional riders are not immune to the dangers of the sport.[xiii]
The equestrian portion of the pentathlon is a “show jumping” competition, meaning that the competitor guides the horse over a series of jumps in a set pattern within an allotted timeframe, with the fastest time and the least amount of “faults” (refusal to jump, rails knocked down, falls, etc.) crowned the winner.[xiv] It is worth noting that the competitors choose a horse at random, and do not have experience nor a partnership with the animal as do competitors in other equestrian sports in the Olympics.[xv] The jumps are set to a height of up to 120 centimeters, or approximately 3 feet, 9 inches.[xvi] Show jumping is one of the more dangerous equestrian disciplines, as the time constraints create the potential for catastrophic mistakes in an already inherently risky activity.[xvii]
Despite the existence of the equestrian portion of the modern pentathlon in the Olympics for 109 years, after the 2020 Olympics, the International Modern Pentathlon Union (“UIPM,” the rulemaking board for the sport) rightly voted to replace the event with cycling.[xviii] One of the most attention-grabbing examples of the mistreatment of horses in 2020 was perpetrated by German coach, Kim Raisner.[xix] When the horse, Saint Boy, drawn by German competitor, Annika Schleu, demonstrated clear signs of distress and confusion (bucking, walking backwards, throwing his head, etc.), Raisner was heard instructing Schleu to “hit it” and use a riding crop to make the horse comply.[xx] At this point, Raisner reached over the fence and “punched” the horse in his hind flank with her fist.[xxi] At the direction of her coach, Schleu began to hit Saint Boy repeatedly, to no avail.[xxii] Due to this action, Raisner was given a black card and dismissed from the Games.[xxiii] However, this was not the only instance of mistreatment that caused equestrians all over the world to cringe at their screens.[xxiv] Horses were refusing jumps at alarmingly high rates, entire fences were demolished, riders were almost trampled, and many fell from their horses in a frankly disturbing display of extremely poor riding and horsemanship.[xxv] The 20 minutes and five warm up fences riders are given with their horse prior to entering the arena[xxvi] are clearly not enough to balance the scales of inadequate preparation and simple lack of skill.
In response to the dismissal of Raisner, the German Olympic Committee stated, “Numerous recognizable excessive demands on the horse, and rider combinations should be an urgent reason for the international association to amend the rules. It needs to be changed so that the horse and rider are protected.”[xxvii] Unfortunately, despite the staggering display at the 2020 Olympics, some countries and competitors are unhappy with the proposition of removing the equestrian portion of the competition.[xxviii] British pentathlete, Kate Allenby, stated that removing the riding portion would be a “disaster.”[xxix] Allenby’s opinion appears to be in the minority, however, as other pentathletes recognize the need for change.[xxx] Greg Whyte (an Olympic silver medalist) stated, “All sports evolve, and no sport is immune from change in the modern TV era.”[xxxi]
Regardless of the opinions of disgruntled pentathletes, the UIPM has taken it upon themselves to remove show jumping from the 2024 Paris Games.[xxxii] Its president, Klaus Schormann, stated, “A new discipline will provide fresh impetus to our sport and strengthen the position of modern pentathlon within the Olympic movement.”[xxxiii] We may only hope that, for the safety and health of both horse and rider, the decision to remove the equestrian portion of the pentathlon remains after the 2024 Games.
[i] See generally Sean Shapiro, Player safety is top priority on field, Liberty Hill Indep., https://www.lhindependent.com/sports/player-safety-is-top-priority-on-field/article_208a9828-091e-5422-a41c-9f5a3fbc56c8.html (last updated Nov. 18, 2021) [https://perma.cc/7P8H-34DB]; Sports Safety, Johns Hopkins Med., https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/sports-safety (last visited Oct. 28, 2022) [https://perma.cc/PKQ6-Y5SN].
[ii] Will Carroll, How New Helmet Technology Will Make the NFL and NHL Safter, BleacherReport (June 2, 2014), https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2073748-how-new-helmet-technology-will-make-the-nfl-and-nhl-safer [https://perma.cc/E5U9-N9AK].
[iii] Ross Patterson, IMMAF’s Number One Priority is Keeping Athletes Safe, IMMAF (Oct. 20, 2021), https://immaf.org/2021/10/20/immafs-number-one-priority-is-keeping-athletes-safe/ [https://perma.cc/ABQ6-BKA5].
[iv] Sean Ingle, Modern pentathlon votes to ditch horse riding after Tokyo Olympic turmoil, The Guardian (Nov. 2, 2021, 9:44 AM), https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/nov/02/modern-pentathlon-votes-to-ditch-horse-riding-after-tokyo-olympic-turmoil [https://perma.cc/J7WD-5P6H].
[v] History of Modern Pentathlon, Olympics, https://olympics.com/en/sports/modern-pentathlon/#discipline-history-of. (last visited Oct. 28, 2022) [https://perma.cc/HV4G-TV6J].
[vi] Id.
[vii] Id.
[viii] Horseback riding is the most dangerous sport, study warns, Study Finds (Oct. 17, 2021), https://studyfinds.org/horseback-riding-most-dangerous-sport/ [https://perma.cc/B4YJ-6RUY].
[ix] Id.
[x] Id.
[xi] Id.
[xii] Id.
[xiii] Id.
[xiv] USA Pentathlon Multisport, TeamUSA, https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Modern-Pentathlon/GoldMap (last visited Oct. 28, 2022) [https://perma.cc/TU4E-JA8F].
[xv] Id.
[xvi] Id.
[xvii] Top 10 Most Dangerous Horse Riding Events, The Top Tens, https://www.thetoptens.com/sports/dangerous-horse-riding-events/ (last visited Oct. 28, 2022) [https://perma.cc/86QE-AQ8A].
[xviii] Ingle, supra note iv.
[xix] Matthew S. Schwartz, German Modern Pentathlon Coach Disqualified for Punching a Horse, NPR (Aug. 7, 2021, 10:04 PM), https://www.npr.org/sections/tokyo-olympics-live-updates/2021/08/07/1025814959/german-modern-pentathlon-coach-disqualified-for-punching-a-horse [https://perma.cc/5D2T-YUK5].
[xx] Id.
[xxi] Id.
[xxii] Id.
[xxiii] Id.
[xxiv] Animal Liberation Japan, Bad Modern Pentathlon Show Jumping from Olympics, YouTube (Aug. 10, 2021), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BAYqC-i3CM [https://perma.cc/NQ4N-PNW6].
[xxv] Id.
[xxvi] TeamUSA, supra note xv.
[xxvii] Schwartz, supra note xix.
[xxviii] Victor Mather, Modern Pentathlon Drops Equestrian Competition After Abuse Claims, N.Y. Times (Nov. 3, 2021), https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/03/sports/olympics/horses-equestrian-jumping-modern-pentathlon.html [https://perma.cc/PK9C-2PL5].
[xxix] Ingle, supra note iv.
[xxx] Id.
[xxxi] Id.
[xxxii] Eleanor James, Questions asked over riding’s removal from modern pentathlon, Horse & Hound (Nov. 9, 2021, 7:01 PM), https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/questions-asked-over-ridings-removal-from-modern-pentathlon-768813 [https://perma.cc/EP8M-6324].
[xxxiii] Id.