HILL SIXTEEN broke his neck falling at the first fence of this year鈥檚 Grand National race at Aintree in the UK. the 10-year-old Thoroughbred would still be alive today if he hadn鈥檛 been forced to race over the jumps. The horse鈥檚 trainer blames the death on animal rights activists 鈥� the very ones hoping to protect horses as they rushed onto the track just before the race started, triggering a huge police response.
This chaotic scene is emblematic of the greater problem facing horse sports: they are losing the approval of a well-meaning but underinformed public. If the activists had known more about horse behaviour, they might have opted for protests that wouldn鈥檛 stress out these animals, high-strung Thoroughbreds set to run the most challenging course of their careers.
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Animal rights activists fill an important role speaking out for voiceless fellow species that become victims of human mistreatment. But we urgently need their efforts to be based on science, rather than on passions, emotions or anthropomorphism. Social media has become a powerful outlet for some activists to spread propaganda that isn鈥檛 necessarily grounded in either truth or science. This fuels fires that risk doing little service to the animals they want to protect.
The mink fur industry, for example, is gradually losing its , as public support wanes and people call for more bans. But those who farmed minks into the wild to 鈥渟ave鈥� them create health and welfare nightmares for both the freed mink and local wildlife.
In the sports world, greyhound racing has lost its in all but a few areas. In some places, large-scale track closures have led to a sudden need to of dogs bred for speed rather than walks in the park. While that might seem like a short-term problem for a long-term good, it would be better to let these animals do what they love 鈥� run fast 鈥� in ideal welfare conditions backed by science.
Fearing its own social licence is next on the list, the F茅d茅ration Equestre Internationale (FEI), based in Lausanne, Switzerland, which oversees all the Olympic disciplines of horse sport except the modern pentathlon, has top welfare scientists as external advisors. Together, they are working hard to improve the image of these sports and justify their existence.
That is happening none too soon, as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is receiving multiple demands from activist groups to ban any sports involving animals 鈥� especially since the media storm surrounding the horse Saint Boy, the showjumper during the modern pentathlon in Tokyo. The governing body that oversees the pentathlon horses has opted to remove animals totally from its sport after the 2024 games, replacing them with an obstacle event. It seems to prefer this than deal with public criticism.
The FEI has no plans to pull horses from any of the Olympic disciplines it covers, and the IOC says it doesn鈥檛, either. On the contrary, it has 鈥渇ull confidence in the FEI in guaranteeing the highest levels of horse welfare for the Olympic Games Paris 2024鈥�, a spokesperson tells me.
It is right to take this view, as the FEI鈥檚 welfare science team is investigating the way these horses live and train and making evidence-based recommendations for improvement. It aims to ensure each equine lives a 鈥済ood life鈥� tailored to the emotional and physical needs of domestic horses bred to work side by side with caring humans. That is the kind of 鈥渁ctivism鈥�, grounded in science, these animals really need. If the public can trust the science 鈥� and if governing bodies act on evidence-based recommendations 鈥� it will be a win for all.
Christa Lest茅-Lasserre is聽a science writer based in Paris, France
