The “horse world” is a small community where most people know one another and gossip is common. Much of this talk is harmless, but given that many people in the horse world trade on their professional reputations and personal integrity, when does gossip or idle chatter cross the line into defamation?

There are gadgets and gismos used for countless applications when it comes to handling or training horses. Some are of the gentlest nature, others stem from a long history of proper horsemanship, and some still exist that maybe never served much purpose other than to inflict pain. Regardless of how we may personally feel about a certain training tool, there is one constant piece of equipment that is used in many different areas of the horse world: the chain.

Sharing Costs, Spreading Risks - Racehorse syndicates have been around for a long time, but it’s only in the last 20 years that sport horse syndicates have become more common. In the horse world, a syndicate is generally a group of people who pool their funds to invest in a horse together and share the horse’s annual costs. Everyone who “buys in” is a shareholder and owns a portion of the horse for a set period of time, or until the horse is resyndicated or sold.

A recent study has identified factors associated with an increased risk of falls during the cross-country phase of eventing and has suggested modifications that could reduce the risk of injury, making it safer for horse and rider. Higher-level events, longer courses, more starters in the cross-country phase, and less experienced horses and athletes all showed an increased risk. Identifying these risk factors allows riders and event organisers to assess the level of risk for individual horse, rider, and event combinations.