Monday, 26 October 2026
In collaboration with British Eventing Support Trust, Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) and British Equestrian (BEF), British Eventing is establishing an independent Eventing Horse and Rider Safety Commission to undertake a comprehensive review of safety across the sport. The Commission will have a majority of independent members and will bring together expertise from within eventing alongside specialists from other sports, safety, welfare, medicine, research and risk management.
The independent Commission will be chaired by Dame Caroline Spelman, former Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and a recent board member of the British Horse Society. Dame Caroline brings extensive experience in senior leadership, governance, agriculture and the equestrian sector and will lead the Commission as it examines what more can be done to reduce avoidable risk to horses and riders.
Following the publication of the Hartington Report in April 2000, the sport has been unstinting in the approach to safety through research, data, rules, course design, technology, training and safety interventions. With over two decades of knowledge and insight collected, and in light of several recent serious incidents, the British Eventing Board believes now is the right time for a broad, independent examination of safety and risk management across eventing.
Everyone involved in the sport has a responsibility to understand risk as thoroughly as possible. Evidence and experience and continually examining where changes can be made to reduce both the likelihood and severity of serious incidents involving horses and riders are key to evolution. The review will take a sport-wide approach, looking openly at the systems, practices and culture that influence safety and identifying where further progress can be made.
British Eventing Chair Julia Mulligan said: “The Board has instigated this review as part of our responsibility for good governance and our duty to ensure that the sport continues to examine, challenge and improve our approach to safety. It is deliberately independent of British Eventing’s operational activity, with a majority of independent members and Dame Caroline leading the work.
“This is bigger than any one organisation. Eventing is delivered by a wide community of people and organisations, and we want this review to draw on that collective knowledge while also bringing in independent expertise and learning from outside the sport. The Commission must be prepared to ask difficult questions, follow the evidence and identify where meaningful change can be made.”
Dame Caroline Spelman said: “I am pleased to have been asked to chair this important work. My starting point will be to listen – to those who know and understand eventing, to those responsible for delivering the sport and, crucially, to the evidence.
“The purpose of an independent review is to be prepared to ask difficult questions and test existing assumptions, while also recognising the considerable work that has already been undertaken to improve safety.
“No outcome has been predetermined. We will look carefully at the data, research and experience available to us, both within eventing and beyond it, and consider where further practical and proportionate improvements may be possible. Our focus throughout will be on learning and identifying what more can be done to reduce avoidable risk to horses and riders.”
Established in collaboration with the FEI, BEF and British Eventing Support Trust, the independent Commission will undertake an evidence-led examination of the systems, policies, practices and culture influencing safety across the sport. The review will also seek engagement and input from organisations across the wider eventing and equestrian community, including the British Horse Society, British Riding Clubs, The Pony Club and providers of unaffiliated eventing.
Its purpose is not to reinvestigate individual incidents, determine liability or attribute blame, but to identify learning and opportunities for further improvement.
Jim Eyre, Chief Executive of British Equestrian, commented: “Making eventing safer is a shared purpose, and the strongest progress will come from stakeholders working together across the whole sport. British Equestrian fully supports this independent Commission and the ambition to bring organisations, experts and participants together around this critical goal.
“Our role is to support an open and thorough review, respecting the Commission’s independence and freedom to reach its own conclusions. By sharing evidence, listening to experiences from across the sport and evaluating current practice, recommendations will come that benefit horses and riders at every level for the generations to come.”
David O’Connor, Chair of the FEI Eventing Committee, said: “A comprehensive, independent review of this kind is important for the worldwide sport of eventing. By examining the evidence, drawing on expertise from other sports and listening to stakeholders at every level, the Commission has the potential to generate learning that benefits horses and riders far beyond Britain.
“British Eventing deserves recognition for the courage it has shown in opening its practices to independent scrutiny and supporting a Commission that is free to challenge assumptions and reach its own conclusions. That willingness to ask difficult questions is essential if we are to continue improving safety across the sport internationally.”
The review will consider areas including:
The Commission’s review will also benchmark eventing in Britain against international practice and relevant learning from other sports and sectors.
Riders, owners, coaches, organisers, officials, course designers and builders, medical and veterinary professionals, researchers and other relevant stakeholders will all be invited to contribute evidence to the review.
The Commission is expected to complete its work within six months and will publish their findings and prioritised recommendations.
Dame Caroline will be joined by a panel including:
Commission Members
Technical Support
Stakeholder Group Chairs
Significant work has already been undertaken across eventing to improve safety, including investment in research and data, course design and construction standards, frangible technology, education, medical and veterinary provision, ground preparation and rider education. The independent review provides an opportunity to examine that work objectively, understand where it is delivering positive results and challenge the whole sport to consider what more can be done.
The overriding objective is clear: to reduce avoidable risk wherever reasonably practicable, strengthen confidence in eventing’s safety systems and ensure the sport continues to learn and improve.
Read the terms of reference here.
Copy: British Eventing