Health Safety and Welfare update January 2026

Stallion Safety Awareness

Stallion Safety: Stallion Identification & Responsible Management

Stallion safety is a priority for everyone at Equestrian Australia events. To protect athletes, handlers, spectators and other horses, following EA's Stallion Safe Practice Policy is a requirement all EA-sanctioned events.

Key Requirements

• Notification of entering a stallion to organising committee upon entry
• Stallions must wear compliant green identification — on bridle, saddlecloth, or halter discs on both sides of the horse whilst at events and Stable door identification card displayed.  
• Riders/handlers should be 18+ years old (exceptions only with formal EA approval).

How to Comply

• Notification — advise event organisers a stallion’s entry and provide responsible contact.
• Identification — compliant green number holders/discs visible on both sides at all times whilst handled, Stable door identification
• Accommodation — confirm secure stabling or other appropriate arrangement.
• Handlers — remind that riders/handlers must be 18+ (or special permission if under).

Why this matters

• Proper identification and handling practices minimise the risk of incidents and support a safer competition environment for everyone.
• Supports clear communication between competitors and organisers
• Ensure consistent management of stallions across all disciplines

EA Stallion Safe Practice Policy HERE.
Order EA-Compliant Stallion Identification Discs HERE 
Stable door identification HERE.  

Frangible Workshop Success

The workshop (held from Jan 13-15th)  was rated highly by the 15 attendees from New Zealand and Australia who were "on the tools" building and adapting the latest designs of frangible fences for Eventing designed to collapse when loads are exceeded to mitigate  risk to horse and rider by preventing horse falls.

This upskilling leaves builders across Australasia better able to extend the range of frangible fences and pass on their skills to others.

Continued Hot Weather Conditions

We are continuing to see heatwave conditions in parts of Australia and our Chief Medical Officer, Tess Goodwin, has put together a list of useful resources for the welfare of both horse and rider.

https://inside.fei.org/fei/your-role/medical-safety/general-safety-recom...

https://inside.fei.org/system/files/2019-08-07%20-%20A365%20Beat%20the%2...

https://www.equestrian.org.au/sites/default/files/EA_Hot_Weather%20Polic...

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/how-to-cope-and...

Summer Transport

In addition to managing the workload of our horses and ourselves it is also important to plan carefully if we decide to transport our horses by taking simple measures such as:-

• Planning for breaks on longer trips
  (at least every 3-4 hours)
• Ensuring adequate ventilation
• Traveling at night or during cooler parts of the day
• Following Veterinary Advice as to feed and hydration.