In the high-stakes world of horse sports, where riders and owners have invested—both financially and emotionally—in the health of their equine partners, veterinarians must balance the complex needs of the horses and the interests of the humans behind them. 

The U.S. Equestrian Federation host a summit in which veterinarians convened to discuss navigating those sometimes conflicting pressures with science-backed care, and recently released a white paper summarizing the conversation “to serve as best practices for veterinarians treating international sport horses, including guidance for veterinarians treating national horses at all levels of competition.”

The 2025 Veterinary Summit, held in March in Ocala, Florida, welcomed 28 veterinarians and some USEF senior executives. It was one outcome of the Chromatic Fund, an initiative inspired by the tragic death of the show jumper Chromatic BF. The late horse’s owner and breeder, Kc Branscomb, collaborated with USEF, the American Association of Equine Practitioners, and the Foundation for the Horse to create the fund, which supports horse welfare and education initiatives.

“This is one of the strategic action steps that came out of the Chromatic Fund” said USEF Chief Operating Officer Sonja Keating. “And this is one that we’re really excited about. It was kind of an inaugural summit, if you will.”

The summit convened a diverse group of U.S. and international team veterinarians alongside veterinarians involved in research and horse racing. By hosting the summit during the Longines League of Nations and ahead of the U.S. Equestrian Open Jumping Final, the event was able to leverage the travel of international vets to Florida and maximize attendance. Dr. Tracy Turner, DVM, who is the president of the AAEP, facilitated the conversation. 

“We recognize how important it is that we address the future and where we’re going as a sport,” Keating said. “We are a global sport, and we want to make sure that we’re getting as many different perspectives as possible—particularly from some of the best experts in the world—and gathering all of them around the table to have some of these discussions was really important to USEF.”

Keating said that the event was structured as a dialogue in order to invite the full expertise of the veterinarians who attended. 

“We really wanted the opportunity to cross-collaborate and have open discussion on ideas,” she said. “It was a very open dialogue, conversation format.”

Turner, along with USEF Chief Veterinary Officer Dr. Stephen Schumacher, DVM, and Dr. Kent Allen, DVM, were the contributing writers who produced the white paper detailing the group’s discussion of equine diagnostics and treatment. The paper sums up their discussions on the following topics: 

• Defining ‘Fitness to Compete’: A horse’s fitness to compete is not necessarily determined by a soundness exam, but varies by horse and competition. Veterinarians discussed the need for increased authority to discern between lameness with pain and asymmetry that is consistent for a particular horse. Vets discussed desiring the ability to overrule a ground jury with a soundness evaluation.

• Regular Examinations: Regular examinations should be performed at least quarterly, but increased to every two to four weeks during periods of intense competition. Consistent exams help veterinarians set a baseline for the animals in their care, and should include wellness, nutrition and tack fit. While confidentiality is valued, open dialogue and thorough record-keeping between veterinarians on the care team is also essential.

• Muscle Recovery: While there are many perceived tools used to assist in muscle recovery, the veterinarians agreed that rest is the most critical factor for promoting recovery. Unfortunately, rest is often overlooked during competition. The writers added that “the arbitrary use of fluids with vitamins and minerals added is not acceptable.” (In the wake of Chromatic’s death—which came after a treating veterinarian injected him with an intravenous cocktail of Selevit, Traumeel, Legend, Adequan and arnica meant to aid post-competition muscle recovery—the Fédération Equestre Internationale passed a rule this year prohibiting the use of injectable vitamins and minerals during competition.)

• Overtraining Risks: A major risk to horse health is the overtraining and excessive competition of equine athletes. Vets highlighted the use of wearable technology as a means to monitor horse performance and determine “how a horse may be exceeding or failing in response to training and competition.”

• Standardization of Treatment Options: Regulation and allowance of certain treatments varies between competitions. Criteria for these interventions should be further studied and standardized. 

• Therapeutic Options: Therapeutic interventions are not benign and procedures like intra-articular joint injections should not be considered “maintenance.” Veterinarians should only inject joints after a diagnostic exam deems the procedure necessary, following a conversation with the horse’s team about risks and expectations. While shockwave therapy can be a tool for the treatment and rehabilitation of injuries, it should be administered only with a veterinarian and not in the days leading up to competition.  

• Homeopathy and Supplements: Some homeopathic treatments may seem to have the appearance of effective treatment, but those treatments are unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration and should not be considered a viable treatment option. Similarly, supplements are also unregulated and some ingredients can be dangerous. 

• Vitamins: Carefully incorporating vitamins into a diet provides nutrients that “are essential for energy metabolism, muscle function, bone integrity, and immune response,” but administering vitamins is not without risk. Some vitamins are known to negatively interact with others, requiring thoughtful veterinary guidance to avoid negative outcomes or deficiencies. 

Following the event, Keating said that the positive response from participants has encouraged the organizers to consider future summits. She said the frequency of events will be determined at a later date.

“The feedback we got following the summit was very positive” Keating said. “In fact, because USEF hosted it, our CEO was present at the summit, and several of the vets afterwards thanked us for the opportunity to participate, commented on how helpful, or additive, that they thought that it was, and expressed an interest in doing it again.” 

Veterinarians also identified gaps in knowledge where future research initiatives can further the welfare of competition horses. Participants named the need to quantify how competition frequency impacts a horse’s success, injury risk and career longevity. They also suggested that future research focus on identifying biomarkers that signal a horse’s need for recovery support, and evaluating how wearable technologies can monitor fitness, environmental stress and travel-related strain.

In the wake of Chromatic’s death, his namesake fund will help to fund research that aims to protect horses at every level of the sport. “There is already a small designated group of people within this Chromatic Fund and AAEP that will help oversee where those research monies are awarded,” Keating said.

To donate to the Chromatic Fund, visit FoundationForTheHorse.org/support/chromaticfund.