The United States of America has withdrawn its full team of horses from the FEI Endurance World Championship in Pisa (ITA) after one of its horses, stabled offsite, developed a fever.

The USA Team Veterinarian informed the President of the Veterinary Treatment Commission in Pisa on Thursday 20 May that they had a febrile horse. Subsequently, results from a blood test indicated a viral infection. The USA team immediately put in place additional biosecurity measures to prevent any possible transmission of disease. 

Following consultation with the FEI and the President of the Veterinary Commission, the USA decided today to proactively withdraw the entire team, as their horses had all travelled and been stabled together over the past two weeks.

The horses, which arrived in Pisa several days ago, have been stabled 2kms outside the venue. A risk assessment conducted by the FEI Veterinary Department and the Veterinary Commission established that there was a negligible risk of transmission to any other horses taking part in the World Championship. The USA Athletes and team staff discussed the protocol measures directly with the FEI Veterinary Director as part of the decision making process.

“I commend the USA Team veterinarian, the USA Chef d’Equipe and the Athletes for their professionalism and proactivity in addressing this difficult situation, which resulted in the USEF decision to withdraw the team from the Endurance World Championship”, said FEI Veterinary Director Göran Akerström.

“This is a really unfortunate situation for the U.S. Team and I understand their bitter disappointment, but this decision was necessary and is completely in line with the biosecurity measures and rules we have in place to avoid the spread of infectious disease. 

“The welfare of our horses must be put above any sporting goals and ambitions, and today the USA Team have done just that. It’s the right thing to do - and the only thing to do - for the safety of all the horses competing at the Event. We will continue to monitor all the participating horses closely to ensure a biosecure and successful championship for all the participating nations and athletes.”

The five USA Athlete/Horse combinations withdrawn from the Championship are:  

• Karen BINNS-DICAMILLO / RGS RAGNAR ZE MONARCH
• Holly CORCORAN / POETE
• Jessica DICAMILLO / JUST BELIEVE
• Jeremy REYNOLDS / TREASURED MOMENTS
• Cheryl VAN DEUSEN / HOOVER THE MOVER

 

A total of 31 nations will line up for the start of the FEI Endurance World Championship on Saturday 22 May, 12 of which will be battling for the team medals. 

The line-up for the Longines FEI Endurance World Championship in Pisa, Italy has been confirmed, with competitors from 32 countries and five continents ready to challenge for the 2021 individual and team world titles on Saturday May 22.

Amongst them are the 2016 World Champion, Spain’s Jaume Punti Dachs, and his wife Maria Alvarez Ponton who has taken individual gold twice during her successful career - first at Terengganu in Malaysia in 2008 and again in Kentucky, USA in 2010. Also vying for top spot this time out will be Alex Luque Moral from Spain and Bahrain’s Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa who respectively took silver and bronze at the 2016 World Championships in Samorin, Slovakia. A total of 13 nations will be chasing down the team title.

The event will be staged in the magnificent Parco Naturale Migliarino San Rossore Massaciuccoli, one of the largest and most ancient nature parks in Tuscany.

Landscapes

Close to the lovely city of Pisa which is considered one of the pearls of Italy with its world-famous Leaning Tower in the Piazza dei Miracoli, the park extends over 23,000 hectares and boasts a huge variety of landscapes.

Its meadows, hills, pine forests and marshes are bordered by the Tyrrhenian Sea providing a gentle sea breeze. And within the park lies the San Rossore Estate, home to San Rossore Racecourse, the historical home of Italian racing, as well as Villa del Gombo, a presidential home built after World War II. This venue has hosted a number of major FEI Endurance events including the 2019 World Championships for Junior & Young Riders, the World Championship for Young Horses and in 2018 the European Championship for Juniors & Young Riders.

The 2021 Longines FEI Endurance World Championships will get underway at the Racecourse at 07.00 on 22 May when a total of 81 competitors and their horses will set out on the 160 kilometre course. The statistics show a gender balance of 56% men and 44% women on the start list.

All health protocols will be in place as the Show Organisers, who have successfully created the event in a very short period of time, send out a great sporting message. 

Preparation  

“While preparation of the field of play and the course proceeds incessantly, not only San Rossore but also the city of Pisa and Tuscany seem to have come back to life. In spite of the problems caused by the pandemic we are ready to safely welcome the delegations from all over the world, well aware of the fact that this great event will have an important economic effect on the tourism and hospitality sector…..”, says Gianluca Laliscia, the former Endurance champion who heads the Organising Committee company sistemaeventi.it. 

Recently appointed FEI Endurance Director, Christina Abu-Dayyeh, says, “while it was an enormous disappointment having to postpone the 2020 edition of the Longines FEI Endurance World Championships due to the ongoing impact of Covid-19, this has only increased our passion to make these Championships even more spectacular in 2021!”

The event will be preceded by a spectacular Opening Ceremony on Thursday, 20 May, in the aptly-named Piazza dei Cavalieri beside Pisa’s famous university, the Scuola Normale Superiore. 

The Longines FEI Endurance World Championships 2021 will be broadcast live on FEI TV so fans and followers can watch the action unfold from all around the globe.

The line-up for the Longines FEI Endurance World Championship in Pisa, Italy has been confirmed, with competitors from 32 countries and five continents ready to challenge for the 2021 individual and team world titles on Saturday May 22.

Amongst them are the 2016 World Champion, Spain’s Jaume Punti Dachs, and his wife Maria Alvarez Ponton who has taken individual gold twice during her successful career - first at Terengganu in Malaysia in 2008 and again in Kentucky, USA in 2010. Also vying for top spot this time out will be Alex Luque Moral from Spain and Bahrain’s Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa who respectively took silver and bronze at the 2016 World Championships in Samorin, Slovakia. A total of 13 nations will be chasing down the team title.

Magnificent

The event will be staged in the magnificent Parco Naturale Migliarino San Rossore Massaciuccoli, one of the largest and most ancient nature parks in Tuscany. Close to the lovely city of Pisa which is considered one of the pearls of Italy with its world-famous Leaning Tower in the Piazza dei Miracoli, the park extends over 23,000 hectares and boasts a huge variety of landscapes.

Its meadows, hills, pine forests and marshes are bordered by the Tyrrhenian Sea providing a gentle sea breeze. And within the park lies the San Rossore Estate, home to San Rossore Racecourse, the historical home of Italian racing, as well as Villa del Gombo, a presidential home built after World War II. This location has hosted a number of major FEI Endurance events including the 2019 World Championships for Juniors & Young Riders, the World Championship for Young Horses and in 2018 the European Championship for Juniors & Young Riders.

The 2021 Longines FEI Endurance World Championships will get underway at the Racecourse at 07.00 on 22 May when a total of 81 competitors and their horses will set out on the 160 kilometre course. The statistics show a gender balance of 56% men and 44% women on the start list.

All health protocols will be in place as the Show Organisers, who have successfully created the event in a very short period of time, send out a great sporting message. 

Preparation  

“While preparation of the field of play and the course proceeds incessantly, not only San Rossore but also the city of Pisa and Tuscany seem to have come back to life. In spite of the problems caused by the pandemic we are ready to safely welcome the delegations from all over the world, well aware of the fact that this great event will have an important economic effect on the tourism and hospitality sector…..”, says Gianluca Laliscia, the former Endurance champion who heads the Organising Committee company sistemaeventi.it. 

Recently appointed FEI Endurance Director, Christina Abu-Dayyeh, says, “while it was an enormous disappointment having to postpone the 2020 edition of the Longines FEI Endurance World Championships due to the ongoing impact of Covid-19, this has only increased our passion to make these Championships even more spectacular in 2021!”

The event will be preceded by a spectacular Opening Ceremony on Thursday, 20 May, in the aptly-named Piazza dei Cavalieri beside Pisa’s famous university, the Scuola Normale Superiore. 

The Longines FEI Endurance World Championships 2021 will be broadcast live on FEI TV. so fans and followers can watch the action unfold from all around the globe.

Website www.ewc2021.com

Masterlist here 

The FEI Tribunal’s 20-year suspension of UAE Endurance athlete Sh Abdul Aziz Bin Faisal Al Qasimi has been overruled on appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). In its decision, the CAS has eliminated all sanctions, ruling that in its view the burden of proof of horse abuse had not been sufficiently met by the FEI.

The initial FEI Tribunal ruling involved the horse Castlebar Contraband, ridden by Sh Abdul Aziz Bin Faisal Al Qasimi at the CE1* in Fontainebleau (FRA) on 15 October 2016. The horse suffered an open fracture to its front right cannon bone during the event and had to be euthanised.

Blood samples collected from the horse post mortem revealed the presence of the Controlled Medication Substance Xylazine, which is used as a sedative, analgesic and muscle relaxant but is prohibited in competition. The substance, which is rapidly excreted from the body, is known to be used in Endurance to lower the heart rate. No valid Veterinary Form, the equine equivalent of a Therapeutic Use Exemption, exists for this Substance.

The FEI Tribunal accepted the explanation of the Treating Veterinarian who performed the euthanasia that she had followed the standard protocol, which did not include the use of Xylazine, refuting the claim by the defendant’s legal team that Xylazine had been used in the euthanasia process.

The post mortem report revealed the appearance of multiple lesions with a highly targeted location, consistent with recent injections, which the FEI stated demonstrated that the horse had been nerve blocked (desensitised) in training, and both before and during the competition. The FEI’s view was that this desensitisation, in combination with osteoarthritis in the right front fetlock joint, resulted in stress fractures that ultimately caused the catastrophic injury.

In his report for both FEI Tribunal and CAS proceedings and during cross-examination, FEI Veterinary Director Dr Göran Åkerström stated that nerve blocking removes the “very fundamental protective function of sensitivity” and increases the risk of catastrophic injury. This is especially relevant for fractures that are due to bone fatigue (stress fractures) as a horse will not show any signs of pain, such as lameness, while under the influence of an injected substance.

In its decision, the CAS Panel stated that neither the athlete nor his Veterinarian could have “reasonably detected” alleged bone fatigue in the horse. Despite extensive veterinary evidence presented by the FEI and its expert witnesses, the CAS Panel found that there was no proof that the horse had been nerve blocked or abnormally desensitised in competition.

The CAS Panel stated that as the horse had passed the horse inspection the day before the event and had also passed the veterinary checks at the Vet Gates during the competition, it could not be ruled as being unfit to compete. The Panel ruled that the FEI had failed to establish that the athlete competed on an exhausted, lame or injured horse or committed “an action or omission which caused or was likely to cause pain or unnecessary discomfort to a horse”.

As a result, the CAS Panel found that the athlete had not committed a violation of Article 142.1 of the FEI General Regulations and that, therefore, no sanctions for abuse of horse could be imposed. The Panel ruled all findings and sanctions imposed by the FEI Tribunal to be “ill founded” and ordered that they be set aside.

The CAS Panel noted “while it is true that circumstantial evidence may have some probative value, the fact remains that, in a case such as the present, which concerns severe allegations of abuse of horse that may, if established, entail heavy sanctions for the Appellant, there must be cogent evidence establishing the commission of the alleged rule violation”.

“Although we respect the CAS decision, we are extremely disappointed”, FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez said. “The FEI has to stand up for horse welfare and clamp down on horse abuse, so to lose this case on appeal is more than disheartening. The FEI believed that this was an important case to prosecute in order to protect horse welfare, and the FEI Endurance Rules have been further improved from a welfare perspective since this 2016 case. However, the CAS Panel has been clear that they feel that there was insufficient substantive evidence for them to uphold the sanctions imposed by the FEI Tribunal.

“The FEI will of course continue to investigate and prosecute horse abuse cases and we will also work hard to ensure that this CAS decision does not discourage third parties from bringing horse abuse cases forward to the FEI. We need to work together to ensure that those who abuse horses are brought to justice, but we also need to ensure that we have solid and irrefutable evidence.”

The FEI Veterinary Director, who was an expert witness in both the FEI Tribunal and CAS proceedings, was also disappointed with the result. “We are incredibly frustrated to have lost this CAS appeal, especially as the catastrophic injury to this horse involved a combination of risk factors that ultimately led to its death”, Dr Åkerström said.

“But this particular case was one of the main drivers for the development of the FEI Hyposensitivity Control System, which provides physical evidence of nerve blocking, something that was virtually impossible previously. So while the CAS decision sadly does not provide justice for this individual horse, it has resulted in a system that is already being used and which will help prevent similar tragic injuries in the future.”

The CAS decision is published here.

Olivia Robinson (AUS) has been appointed as Communications Director for the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), the global governing body for equestrian sports.

Ms Robinson, 43, a highly experienced Communications specialist, is currently the Senior Manager for Corporate Communications within the FEI. She will take over the reins on 1 June from current FEI Communications Director Grania Willis, who will be retiring after 11 years of dedicated and passionate service. Ms Willis will continue to support the work of the department until 31 December 2021 to ensure an optimal handover.

Since joining the Federation in 2006, Ms Robinson has been integral to the growth and evolution of the International Federation’s communications activities, from the initial development of a fan-facing website to the FEI’s first foray onto social media in 2012.

She was a key player in the FEI’s 2016 Olympic and Paralympic #TwoHearts campaign, which achieved worldwide recognition for its creative storytelling around the human and horse connection. In her previous roles at the FEI, she has worked both in media relations and corporate communications. She has driven promotion of the FEI Sports Forum and FEI Awards and led on the creation of strong and engaging content to promote the values of the equestrian community.

“We are delighted that Olivia Robinson is now moving into the role of Director,” FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez said.

“Olivia, who has been a key member of staff for 15 years, has played an important role in growing the FEI’s global visibility and has championed the promotion of the grassroots development of the sport. She has been instrumental in raising the profile of the annual FEI Awards and is well known for her important role in stakeholder communications. Her 360 degree view of the equestrian landscape and in-depth understanding of the community make her a natural successor to Grania Willis.”    

A talented writer, Olivia Robinson is also fluent in French having spent her formative years in Paris (FRA). Born in the Philippines, she has lived in a number of countries including Italy, Ireland and Bolivia before calling Switzerland home. She studied at Sydney University and has a Masters in Translation (French and Spanish) from Dublin City University.

“I am excited to be embarking on this new chapter in my FEI career,” Olivia Robinson said.

“Our sport has a tremendous heritage but also an extraordinary future, and as we get ready to celebrate the FEI’s centenary, I look forward to working with the team in Lausanne to showcase the sport and the organisation, building on the solid foundations that have been put in place by Grania Willis.”

Olivia Robinson (AUS), currently the Senior Manager for Corporate Communications within the FEI, will start in her new role as FEI Communications Director as of 1 June 2021. © FEI

The FEI Tribunal has suspended US Jumping athlete Andrew Kocher for 10 years and disqualified him from eight events between June 2018 and November 2019 for using electric spurs on horses. The athlete has also been fined CHF 10,000 and ordered to pay costs of CHF 7,500.

The FEI Legal Department notified the athlete on 29 June 2020 that an investigation had been opened following allegations about electric spur use reported to the independent Equestrian Community Integrity Unit (ECIU). It was alleged that Mr Kocher had used electric spurs on a number of FEI registered and national horses in international and national events, and during training.

Following the investigation, the FEI formally opened disciplinary proceedings against Mr Kocher in October 2020. He was provisionally suspended on 28 October 2020 pending a hearing before the FEI Tribunal, and this period will be credited against the full suspension, meaning that the athlete is ineligible through to 27 October 2030.

During the suspension the athlete is barred from participating in or attending, in any capacity, including as a spectator, any competition or event that is authorised or organised by the FEI or any National Federation.

The sanctions also include disqualification of all results obtained at events for which the FEI Tribunal was provided with photographic evidence establishing the athlete’s use of electric spurs. The eight events are: CSI4* Hickstead (GBR), 21-24 June 2018; CSI3* Lexington (USA), 14-18 May 2019; CSI2* Lexington (USA), 22-26 May 2019); CSI5* Calgary (CAN), 5-9 June 2019; CSI5* Calgary (CAN), 27-39 June 2019; CSI3* Traverse City (USA), 7-11 August 2019; CSI3*-W Columbus (USA), 2-6 October 2019; and CSI4*-W Toronto (CAN), 5-9 November 2019.

These sanctions form the operative part of the FEI Tribunal decision. The full reasoned decision will be published here in due course. Parties can appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) within 21 days of receipt of the full decision.

The European Union Animal Health Law (AHL) comes into force today, 21 April 2021, and extensive lobbying by the specially convened International Horse Sports Confederation (IHSC) Task Force has been instrumental in a number of key provisions either being removed or their implementation delayed.

Two key changes in the legislation are an extension for the use of the current Export Health Certificates (EHCs) for horse movement until August 2021, and the removal of the proposed 30-day isolation period prior to transportation of horses from the United Kingdom (UK) to EU Member States (MSs) and Northern Ireland. In addition, UK horses will no longer be required to do a 30-day isolation period prior to transportation to an EU MSs or Northern Ireland.

The current EHCs remain valid until 20 August 2021, meaning that existing certificates can continue to be used until that time. The new EHCs must be used for all horses from 21 August 2021 onwards, but the provision requiring registration of a horse’s precise location while in the EU will be delayed until January 2022.

Horses originating from the UK that are registered with the FEI, a recognised UK organisation or studbook, will no longer be required to do a 30-day pre-export isolation, but will instead need to be under veterinary supervision for 30 days.

Work on the draft legal provision for digital passports, another key proposal from the IHSC Task Force for Brexit and EU Animal Health Law, is ongoing with the European Commission.

“We really welcome this news from the European Commission and DEFRA, as these were the top of the Task Force’s priority list and we had been pushing hard for them on behalf of the entire European equine industry”, the IHSC Task Force Chair Dr Göran Akerström said. “We really appreciate that our requests have not just been listened to, but acted upon and this will make a huge difference to the industry as a whole.

“The delay in implementation of the new Export Health Certificates until August will give everyone time to put everything in place and help to minimise the delays for horses travelling between EU Member States and the UK. There was already a derogation from the 30-day isolation period in place for competition horses, but this has now been extended to all registered horses and will be warmly welcomed, particularly by the Thoroughbred breeding industry.”

The IHSC Task Force is continuing to work closely with the Ministries in both the UK and EU Member States in order to agree similar conditions for the transportation of high-health horses that existed under the previous Tripartite Agreement between France, Britain and Ireland.

Notes to Editors:

The IHSC Task Force for Brexit and EU Animal Health Law, which was created in March 2020, is the result of a unique collaboration bringing together Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), the European Equestrian Federation (EEF), the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA), the International Thoroughbred Breeders Federation (ITBF) and the European Federation of Thoroughbred Breeders Association (EFTBA).

DEFRA is the acronym used for the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The FEI Tribunal has issued its Final Decision in the horse abuse case against Brazilian Dressage athlete Leandro Aparecido Da Silva, who was filmed riding and mistreating his daughter’s very small pony last year.

Under the terms of the Final Decision, the FEI Tribunal has imposed a three-year period of ineligibility on the athlete. A fine of CHF 5,000 and costs of CHF 2,000 were also imposed.

Video footage of the abuse was widely shared on social media and the athlete publicly acknowledged that it was him riding the pony in the video.

In September 2020, the Brazilian Equestrian Sport Tribunal (“Superior Tribunal de Justiça Desportiva do Hipismo Brasileiro”) issued a decision that they had no jurisdiction in this case as it was an out-of-competition incident. As a result, the FEI opened separate disciplinary proceedings against Da Silva in accordance with Article 30 of the Internal Regulations of the FEI Tribunal for alleged breaches of Article 142 of the FEI General Regulations, which prohibits horse abuse.

Following publication of the FEI Tribunal’s Final Decision, the parties have 21 days from the date of notification (19 April 2021) to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The full text of the FEI Tribunal’s Final Decision on this case can be viewed here.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld an appeal against the FEI decision to annul a series of results from events at Villeneuve-Loubet (FRA) between December 2019 and January 2020.

The CAS ruling overturns the decisions of the FEI Secretary General in February 2019 and the FEI Tribunal in June 2020, meaning that all results obtained by the appellants Mathilda Karlsson (SRI) and Andrea Herck (ROM), and other participants in these competitions, are now reinstated.

As a result, the Longines Jumping Rankings are to be recalculated and there are also changes to the individual quotas for this year’s Olympic Games, meaning that Sri Lanka now has an individual place for Tokyo. Hong Kong, which had been allocated an individual slot for Jumping following the removal of the Villeneuve-Loubet results by the FEI, is now the first reserve in Group G for Tokyo. The final list of competing nations at the Tokyo Olympic Games will be confirmed on 5 July 2021.

The FEI’s original decision to annul specific competition results at the French venue was based on findings from an investigation launched by the FEI after concerns were raised about the integrity of these events. The investigation established that a total of 12 competitions counting for Olympic and Longines Rankings had been added after the Definite Entries deadline in contravention of the FEI Rules (Article 110.2.3 of the FEI General Regulations). The changes to the Schedules were submitted to the FEI by the French National Federation and were mistakenly approved by the FEI.

As a result, and in accordance with Article 112.3 of the FEI General Regulations, the FEI retrospectively removed the additional competitions, requiring a recalculation of the Olympic and Longines Rankings.

An appeal against the FEI decision was dismissed by the FEI Tribunal in June 2020, and the two athletes and the Sri Lankan National Federation then took their appeal to the CAS.

In its ruling, the Panel noted that the “protection of the integrity of FEI's events and competitions will be much more effective if they may also be cancelled retroactively, because - in many cases - the circumstances giving rise to integrity or ethical issues (such as betting, bribery or match fixing) will only become known through information that transpires as late as during or after the event”.

The Panel confirmed that Article 112.3 of the FEI General Regulations gives the FEI Secretary General the authority to remove events or competitions even with retroactive effect, providing an “effective instrument” to intervene when the FEI “becomes aware of circumstances jeopardising the integrity of an event without the FEI having had any chance to prevent such circumstances before or during the affected event”. However, the Panel ruled that it was not the purpose of Article 112.3 “to allow the FEI to retroactively rectify mistakes which entirely stem from its own sphere”, referencing the “human error” at the FEI that had resulted in approval of the updated Schedules.

The Panel referred to the two-stage approval process (National Federation and the FEI) which should ensure that “only those schedules are approved which are compliant with the relevant rules and regulations for FEI events”. While acknowledging that there had been a violation of FEI Rules, the Panel declared “the rule violation would never have occurred without the FEI's erroneous authorisation of the Updated Schedules. The Organiser could not have implemented the updates without permission of both the FFE and FEI.”

The CAS Panel ruled that as the FEI had failed to establish "justified circumstances" for the removal of the competitions, the prerequisites of Article 112.3 were not fulfilled and that, as a consequence, the FEI decision as well as the appealed decision of the FEI Tribunal are unlawful and must be reversed.

“This is a very disappointing result for the FEI, but we respect the decision as we knew that mistakes were made and the CAS decision is based on that”, FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez said. “When we decided to annul the Villeneuve-Loubet results in order to do the right thing from a sports integrity perspective, we knew there was a possibility we could lose this case on appeal, but we agreed it was a risk worth taking.

“However, we have been proactive in addressing the issues and in February 2020 implemented the online invitation system for FEI Jumping events that introduced a quota system for CSI 2* for the first time, but the rules were not in effect at the time of the events in question. In addition, Organisers of CSI2* events that wish to include competitions counting for the Longines Rankings must now invite a minimum of 50 athletes and the FEI is also reviewing the scale of Olympic Ranking points based on the number of participants in competitions.”

What do you get when you combine an aviation engineer, a successful amateur rider and a galloping event horse? The answer, it seems, is the man who has made a massive contribution to the work of the FEI Eventing Risk Management Committee, and his name is David Vos.

He describes himself as “an airplane nut” who was fascinated from childhood by aviation dynamics and controls. He only started riding when he was 40 years old, but he has competed up to 2-Star International level in Eventing and his contribution to the creation of an updated standard for frangible devices for cross-country fences (https://inside.fei.org/fei/disc/eventing/risk-management/devices) has been pivotal. 

He’s passionate about improving safety. “We have to use all the tools at our disposal, including the people with a world of experience who have been in this sport for a very long time. You can never keep everyone perfectly safe, but we can do what’s necessary to make things as safe as possible if we take a responsible and disciplined approach”, he says.

As an athlete who came so late to the game, his integration into the Eventing Risk Management Steering Group took some time. “When you enter a new community no-one is going to listen to you”, he points out. It was through friends of his wife, journalist and entrepeneur Patricia Vos, that he was introduced to USEA Cross-Country Safety Committee Chair Jonathan Holling and it kicked off from there.

First versions

“I took videos of 2* and 3* horses running at Fairhill and began monitoring what the trajectory looked like and how the horses jumped. I saw the first versions of frangible fences when I started eventing myself and I just knew from an engineering perspective that it could be so much better. I’m super-interested in this from a physics and systems point of view. 

“It evolved pretty quickly because that’s my specialisation area. I was surprised how little of that existed in the dialogue which was much more driven by trial and error and experience, but very little by theoretical physics - the dynamics of systems.”

Talking with someone who knows how to use mathematical modelling to explain and predict natural phenonema could be a bit like swimming through soup for some of us. But David balances the conversation with stories of his groundbreaking inventions, his love of nature and his pioneering work through the Vos Foundation which aims to ensure the diversity of life by planting billions of trees. And he talks about his horses too of course.

It’s not just his intellectual energy that shines through, it’s also his altruism and humanity.

Free spirit

Born near Capetown in South Africa in 1961 he has always been something of a free spirit, hitch-hiking around the beautiful countryside from the age of 11. “When I was growing up my two big loves were nature and aviation. Animals have always been very special to me, and today it really hurts to know that when I was a kid there were half a million lions in sub-Saharan Africa but today there’s maybe 30,000 or some tiny number like that”, David says. 

His parents and his sister remain in South Africa while his brother moved to London in 1987. “We grew up in the apartheid era and hated our Government. I discovered very early on that good ademic credentials would be my ticket out of the country - basically the world hated us all so it was pretty hard to find a home”, he explains.

He seemed destined for a life in the aviation business. “There’s something magical about flight - my father was always into it and his brothers were pilots who flew in the Korean war.” Instead of becoming a pilot himself however he set his sights on a place at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in Boston, USA and, at the age of 26, his wish came true. He made a big impact when, as part of his PhD project, he developed a unicycle robot in a laboratory that was also home to Marc Raibert and Robert Playter who went on to found the world-famous robotics company Boston Dynamics. It was the first step on the road to an extraordinary career.

Contracts

He started small, working out of his own basement for several years before forming a company that went on to win contracts all around the world. “The unmanned aviation market was just beginning in the late 90s so it was perfect timing”, he says. In one of many research projects, he blew off 80% of a wing and tail of an airplane in flight and demonstrated how the automation system would just keep adjusting the aircraft so it could land successfully. It was ground-breaking stuff in the early days of drone technology, and by 2008 his company, Athena Technologies, was a hot property that was eventually bought by avionics and IT giant Rockwell Collins. 

“I worked for them for four years as part of the contract and then left in 2012 and tried to hide away because I wanted to spend more time on our lovely 200-acre farm in Virginia where I had always felt I was just visiting. I wanted to immerse myself in the countryside and the animals, and to spend real time with my wife. I managed to do that for two years, but then Google found me through Patricia’s horse business and I ended up incubating their business on drone delivery service for two years”, he says. It was a real hit. “We delivered 1,000 burritos by drone and they wanted me to take it further, but that’s when I decided I was retiring for real!”

Horses

It was in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 that David was first introduced to the sport of Eventing, and he was immediately hooked. He and Patricia were living in Cape Cod at the time, and on that infamous 9/11 morning boarded the third of the 8am flights out of Boston. The first two were hijacked.

“It was a bizarre day and I ended up stuck in DC for several months because the aviation world shut down and we were busy with my business there. Patricia came to visit me after being stuck in Europe, and she dragged me out of my office to go to this thing called a Horse Trials in Fairhill and I immediately decided I wanted to do it. In six months we packed up our Cape Cod property and bought our farm in Virginia”.

The first thing Patricia, who has spent many years re-training off-the-track racehorses, put in place was David’s trainer, American rider Jennifer Simmons. “It was a synergistic partnership because we used to sponsor her and bought her a bunch of upper-level horses over the years. She was a great coach for me”. But he admits he hadn’t the first idea what he was letting himself in for.

“When I started I thought you take one lesson, buy a horse and off you go. I had no idea it was a lifelong process of always learning, and and going through all the ups and downs with different horses and how easily they get injured. Maybe if I knew that ahead of time I mightn’t have started!”, he says with a laugh. 

First horse

His first horse was lame within six months but lived out a long and happy life on the farm until passing away last year at the age of 27. “After that I bought any old horse as long as it was sound!”, David laughs again. A wild Trakehener/TB mare was followed by off-the-track Thoroughbreds, but it was a telephone call from US rider Will Coleman that introduced him to his most successful horse to date.

“Will said he’d seen a great Irish Sport Horse in someone’s back yard in England and that I should come and try it. So we combined a visit to Burghley in 2012 with going to see the horse along with Jennifer Simmons and Chris Hunnable”. It wasn’t love at first sight “he was more bulky that I had in mind”, but once David sat on him “I took a deep breath, and that was it”. The pair of them went from strength to strength despite some drama along the way.

“His name is Pablo (Spring Centurion) and he took me from Training all the way to the old 2* (now 3*) level. He was eight when I got him so he’s now 17 and I’m hoping to have him back in work again soon”. Pablo has twice ripped off part of a hoof - once out in the field and then in his stable - and he’s still recovering from that second incident. “But I’m a person that never gives up, so I’m still hoping he’ll come back!”.

On a business-trip to Ireland in 2016 he bought another horse, Apollo, as a four-year-old. “His mother is Irish and his father is German and he’s a super-nice guy!”, David says. He started working with Apollo after retiring for the second and last time in 2017. “I always wanted to train a young horse. It’s been a bit like the blind leading the blind but a whole lot of fun! 

“One of the really great things about the horse world is the relationship we have with our horses. They are really cool characters, and they give us very good life lessons in how to be zen about things we can’t control!”

Segues

Asked how his aviation systems expertise segues into advising on Risk Management in the sport he loves so much - especially since animals are not machines and therefore must be less predictable - David says “that’s the interesting part! You’d be surprised when a horse jumps how the physics really dominates. There’s a cross-domain convergence of really high-tech physiology, psychology and human-animal relationships and it’s really cool!

“At Burghley in 2019 for example I worked together with British Eventing and the FEI and we had up to 25 cameras around the course and I could show how the physics and the video aligned with each other within 5% of accuracy. It gave us confidence in the methodology and in simple tests such as putting a kettle bell on a chain and swinging it at a frangible fence. Depending on the release heights you can very accurately determine the energy of the impact”. 

Then we segue into talking about David and Patricia’s work in the Vos Foundation and the Trillion Trees project. “Right now our main drive is to significantly increase the publicity about tree-planting. We launched together with the Eden Project back in 2018 in Mozambique and so far around 20 millions trees have been planted and are growing and we are working with them and others to scale up the message.

“When you think about it, tree planting is the only known solution to mankind today to resolve our carbon dioxide problem. And all we have to do is plant one more tree for every three out there on the planet today. If we do that by 2030 we will buy probably as many decades as we need to bring online all the sustainable energy solutions the world needs to be able to have humans easily survive on the planet without driving carbon dioxide and global warming nuts!

“It’s incredibly exciting doing this simple thing - pushing seeds into the ground and letting nature grow them. All we have to do is help nature here and we can resolve this monstrous problem that we, as humans, have created.”

Similarities

Back talking horses, David says there are strong similarities between people in the equestrian world and his academic and business colleagues. “There are always people who are really brave, people who are really scared and people who are really smart, and I believe that being clever about things is about being a fearless thinker more than anything else. 

“To reach the top of anything you need fortitude and commitment along with solid doses of humility. There are awesome people everywhere and I’m a really big believer that most people are good people and want to do the right thing. The Eventing Risk Management Group is full of people like that.”