Eventing is not a blood sport

At Fair Hill in October 2015, a horse was seen and photographed with blood dripping from its mouth while on cross country. Despite the blood being noticed by dozens of people, the rider was not pulled up. This same rider was photographed the week before at Boekelo on a different horse, also with blood in the horse's mouth on cross country. Visible blood on a horse should mean automatic and immediate elimination, regardless of circumstances. Eventing is a sport already surrounded by concerns for horse welfare, and it cannot survive if we allow bloodied horses to compete while we make excuses. Our rules on visible blood need to be more clear, and we need to do a better job of immediately stopping and eliminating horses who are bloodied.