[vineyridge]

There is a list of horse deaths and human deaths and injuries on NZ Horsetalk here:
http://horsetalk.co.nz/2012/04/02/eventing-safety/

To my eye, it looks as if the US has more representives than other countries on the horse list. But many of the US ones listed were aneuryisms or other "drop dead" deaths.

Does the US just publicize horse deaths in competition here more than other countries are liable to do? The only countries with horses listed are the US, GB, NZ, and horses from other countries who died in competition in either the US or GB--I think.

Is horse death in competition non-existent in Ireland and Germany and France? If so, what is their secret?

If not, the NZ Horsetalk list is misleading and possibly dangerous, since it makes it look as if only those three countries kill their horses in competition. That could very easily be used against eventing in GB, NZ and the US.

[SLR]

Yeah, I saw that this morning, and at first glance I thought the same thing. I think its probably an incomplete list, and seems to put the most emphasis on those deaths that got press. We know how the press here in the US loves to emphasize the worst. I was taken aback when I read Jan Bynny's name, then realized it was a list of rider injuries and deaths, without separating them.
There are other injured riders missing, which led me to believe its an incomplete list at best.

[OverandOnward]

My guess is that there are differences between locations in how much investigation is done to determine the *exact* cause. How much info is recorded and available.

In addition, different locations may have different reporting criteria and protocols.

When comparing data it is important to make sure the sources have the same or similar gathering & reporting standards. If not, the data aren't truly comparable, and any conclusions aren't as valid.

I remember reading that in the U.S., as more physical causes were investigated other than the jumping, it was determined that a few deaths *at* a jump were not *caused* by the jump. The horse had something cardio-pulmonary going on, and apparently the jump approach and/or effort triggered the final collapse. What appeared to be a jump accident wasn't an accident at all, it was a fatal equine health incident. Without the extra exploration the data might have been reported differently.

Case comparison, in the U.S. commercial airline crashes are investigated by a gov't funded agenciy that explores every avenue and lead. The goal is to identify causes and determine future prevention. Not every country investigates to this degree. It makes a difference in the information available on airline crashes by location. It also makes a difference in the safety stats.