What started with tragedy—the death of show jumper Chromatic BF—has evolved into a promising, uniquely wide-ranging effort to improve health and welfare for all sport horses.

This week, the U.S. Equestrian Federation, the American Association of Equine Practitioners, the Foundation for the Horse, and “Chromatic’s” breeder, Kc Branscomb, announced the details of the “Chromatic Fund,” a collaborative effort that will fund innovative research and education initiatives supporting sport horse welfare. 

The fund has been established with $200,000—a $100,000 contribution from USEF, which Branscomb met with a matching donation—and the breeder hopes to raise a total $2 million to keep it going well into the future.

“My initial ambition is to raise $2 million total, which I think will address both the curating of existing available research findings and distributing that information broadly to veterinarians and their clients, as well as a reasonable amount of efficient equine research on certain emerging therapies that are starting to be used broadly at the higher levels of the sport to gain an ‘edge’ without good solid research studies into their efficacy, appropriate administration and risks,” Branscomb explained. “As new drugs, supplements and therapies are emerging all the time that are not specifically prohibited by existing rules, my goal is to have this fund continue to be supported and enlarged to be an annual set of research grants feeding into an annual or bi-annual updated treating veterinary ‘handbook.’ ”

Branscomb was the driving force behind establishing the fund. After her horse’s death in April at the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Final in Riyadh, she insisted—over USEF’s initial statements to the contrary—that it was caused by a team veterinarian’s administration of an intravenous cocktail of Selevit, Traumeel, Legend, Adequan and arnica meant to aid post-competition muscle recovery. What Branscomb began as an effort to have USEF acknowledge the medications’ likely role in her horse’s death grew into a campaign to achieve large-scale changes in the way sport horses representing their country are managed.

Branscomb sees improving sport horse health and welfare as a three-legged stool in which all elements are equally important: funding research into best practices and novel therapies to ensure horses receive treatment scientifically proven to benefit their well-being; continuing education that puts the results of that research into the hands of veterinarians everywhere to ensure they are regularly updated on best practices; and empowering owners to be knowledgable, engaged advocates for their horses.

In August, USEF announced a set of new welfare initiatives that Branscomb had championed, including the establishment of the Chromatic Fund to support research and education. This week’s announcement elaborated on the fund’s operation and management. The nonprofit Foundation For The Horse, established in 1994 to improve horse welfare through education, research and aid to horses at risk, will administer the philanthropic donor-advised fund, while grants will be project-reviewed and managed by AAEP-member equine veterinary participants volunteering through the Foundation For The Horse. 

“Our organizations and its members strive for the same outcomes for the horse that Ms. Branscomb and the USEF does: the safest opportunities for these high-level equine athletes to compete and find success,” said Dr. Tracy Turner, AAEP and Foundation For The Horse president-elect. “We look forward to getting this fund to the level that it can quickly begin to impact programs and research projects.”

The advisory board for the Chromatic Fund is made up of USEF and AAEP representatives, Branscomb and several industry stakeholders closely associated with her efforts. Its members are: 

• Tracy Turner, DVM, DACVS, DACVSMR, president-elect of the AAEP and The Foundation For The Horse
• Bill Moroney, chief executive officer, USEF
• Sonja Keating, chief operating officer and general counsel, USEF
• John E. Madigan, DVM, MS, DACVIM, DACAW, distinguished professor emeritus at the University of California, Davis, and a board-certified animal welfare specialist 
• Jack Snyder, DVM, DACVS, practicing FEI-certified treating veterinarian
• Norman Dello Joio, Olympic bronze medal-winning show jumper
• Branscomb, sport horse breeder and owner

Snyder is Branscomb’s longtime veterinarian, Madigan provided key input to Branscomb and USEF on the likelihood of the IV injection Chromatic received causing anaphylactic shock that led to his death, and she encouraged her lifetime acquaintance Dello Joio to join the advisory board as someone deeply involved in competitive horse sport as a rider, trainer and lover of horses.

“We are dedicated to enhancing our welfare initiatives for sport horses announced in August,” USEF Chief Executive Officer Bill Moroney said in the announcement. “Partnering with the AAEP, The Foundation for the Horse, and Ms. Branscomb is the perfect partnership to set this education and research program on the right path to success.”

Branscomb, too, said the wide-ranging cooperative effort holds great promise for vetting emerging therapies and ensuring sport horses are managed with their owners’ knowledge and consent, using therapies that have been tested for safety and efficacy.

“I see the cooperation between the professional organization that monitors and supports equine veterinarians worldwide with the largest regulatory organization for equestrian sports in the USA as a huge positive step in helping all high-performance horses compete safely and effectively,” Branscomb wrote in an email, “without their owners having concerns that their horse might be inadvertently harmed or have their career shortened by their vet or trainer not having access to best-in-class information regarding appropriate therapies or interventions before, during or after competitions.”

Organizers hope the fund can administer its first set of grants next year, USEF spokeswoman Vicki Lowell said. 

In other action related to Chromatic’s death, during the FEI General Assembly in November, its board approved a veterinary rule change that prohibits “[t]he injection or infusion of vitamins and/or minerals” during the period of a competition except in emergencies, where the veterinarian must submit a form supporting their use.

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