Equine Behaviour during Show Jumping Competitions

Recently, the concept of social license to operate has reached the equestrian sports. The loss of trust from the public has been met with new rules and practices to increase equine welfare in competitions. In show jumping, courses are extremely fast, lasting around 60 seconds, meaning judges need to recognized and act fast when conflict behaviours are endangering the horse's wellbeing. Based on the observation of jumping courses and the horse's behavior, it can help further understand the reaction of the horses in a competition environment and how to better their wellbeing. Judges and other officials also benefit from this increase in knowledge, as it helps them to know when to act to protect the horse.近年来，运营社会许可（social license to operate）这一概念已渗透至马术运动领域。为应对公众信任的流失，赛事领域已推出新规与实操方案，旨在提升赛事中的马匹福利。在场地障碍赛（show jumping）中，赛道竞速强度极高，单轮赛程仅约60秒，这意味着当冲突性行为危及马匹福祉时，裁判需快速识别并及时介入处置。通过对障碍赛道与马匹行为的观测研究，可进一步厘清赛事环境中马匹的反应规律，以及如何切实提升其福祉。裁判与其他赛事管理人员也能从这类知识储备的升级中获益，因为这能帮助他们精准判断何时应采取行动以保护马匹。