In recent times the British Eventing Frangible Pin and the Swedish MIM Clip and Newera Pin have been approved for use by the FEI on cross country courses.
The main aim of such a device is to decrease the number of potential rotational falls, increasing the safety of the sport for both horse and rider.
On our recent course walk at Melbourne International 3 Day Event, Stuart Tinney took the time to explain the device (above) and it’s even had a mention recently in Phil Diacono’s food blog from Bramham!
At the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials this year, the press were invited to experience a demonstration of the frangible pin testing in action. The UK’s leading horse charity, World Horse Welfare filmed BE’s frangible pin* being tested with the BE testing pendulum and rig as part of BE’s on-going safety initiatives.
In the video, BE National Safety Officer Jonathan Clissold discusses the developments that have taken place in the last decade with Chief Executive of World Horse Welfare, Roly Owers, whilst Martin Herbert from the research engineering company ADHQ explains the pin testing in action and the safety merits gained by the pins.
Chief Executive of World Horse Welfare, Roly Owers says: “World Horse Welfare fully supports the responsible use of horses in sport and as such we have been an independent welfare adviser to the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) for the nearly 30 years. We recognise that when we use horses for anything, especially in sport, there will always be an element of risk, but there is so much we can do to reduce the risks as far as practically possible.
“We were present at this year’s Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials to find out about the latest work of British Eventing to make the cross country phase as challenging a test for horse and rider whilst also being as safe as possible. One of the improvements that British Eventing has developed, based on many years of research, is the use of frangible pins that reduces the risk of injury to horse and rider from falls whilst still keeping the integrity of the fences. And this year we saw a very good example of how effective these pins can be, providing a great example of British Eventing and the FEI putting welfare at the heart of the sport.”
BE Chief Executive, Mike Etherington-Smith says: “BE continually strives to find ways of improving safety across the sport. This video is a great showcase of our commitment to safety to the outside world and it is fantastic to be recognised for this by World Horse Welfare.”
You can view British Eventing’s Safety Manifesto and research developments page here
*A frangible pin is a deformable device which will cause a cross country fence to collapse when loaded with a total of 15 kilonewtons (7.5 kN on each pin).
