Ocala, FL The final featured event of the week took place in the WEC Grand Arena at World Equestrian Center Ocala (WEC) early in the afternoon. Twenty-three horse-and-rider combinations closed out the week in the $40,000 Yellow Pony Pub & Garden National Grand Prix over a demanding track designed by Catsy Cruz (USA) and Joe Carnicom (USA) that only saw three pairs move onto the jump-off: SharnSource

WINNERS @niamhmcevoy4 & Olympic win todays 1.55m 4* GP at the Sunshine Tour!Delighted for all his connections and everybody at ballypatrick#bshgraduate

Prepurchase examinations (PPEs) or vettings have long been a pillar of the horsebuying process. But according to a panel of leading vets and industry professionals at the 2026 National Equine Forum (NEF) on 5 March, the system is under unprecedented strain. Expectations have shifted, litigation fears have risen, and horses and humans are increasingly caught in the crossfire.During a frank discussion Dr Sam Cutts MRCVS, director of Hook Norton Veterinary Group,Dr Mark Georgetti MRCVS, clinical director of Three Counties Equine Hospital, Dr Lucy Grieve MRCVS, veterinary projects officer of the British Equine Veterinary Association, and dealerJulia Martindelved deep intowhatsgoing wrong, whyitshappening, and what must change.Vetting: a snapshot,nota guaranteeVetting is a risk assessment not a warranty, not a guarantee, stressed vet Lucy Grieve. Its a snapshot in one day, and its a living creature youre looking at.Lucy said buyers increasingly expect certainty rather than context, equating the vetting process with a pass/fail exam. But horses cannot be distilled into black and white results.People expect more fromvettingsthan is possible, she added. Theres been an expectation drift.The myth of pass or failEvery vet on the panel agreed the industrys obsession with the idea of passing or failing a horse is at the root of many problems.Vet Sam Cutts explained:A vetting is suitable or not suitable for the purpose described but people interpret that as pass and fail.Sam went further, emphasising thatvettingsare opinions, not verdicts.Itliterally saysin my opinion at the end of the certificate. You could show the same horse to three experienced vets and get three different opinions.Buyers want perfection but itdoesntexistDealerJulia Martin, who has sold horses fornearly 40years, says the desire for flawless horses especially from inexperienced amateur buyers is destroying the market.People want perfect. There is no perfect, she explained. Years ago, one in 10 horses would fail. Now two in 10 will pass.According to Julia, older horses, which are often the safest for amateurs, are now being routinely rejected for normal wear and tear.We are writing off too many horses, she said. And the people who need the older, safe horses are walking away because they want perfection.Litigation fear: the silent force behind toughervettingsSam revealed thathalf of all veterinary indemnity claims stem fromvettings, and that fear permeates the process.These days if someone buys a horse and it doesnt work out, its somebodys fault and if its not the sellers fault, then its my fault, stated Sam. Lucy Grieve agreed, saying the pressure has driven many young vets away from PPEs altogether.These are the cases that keep you awake at night not for a couple of days, but for weeks or months.One young vet, Julia recalled, was even followed home by an angry purchaser and left the profession altogether.Why vetsdontalways agreeVet Mark Georgetti said differing opinions are inevitable, rooted in:Differing risk tolerance. Personal experience. Differing interpretations of Xrays. Varying understanding of the horses intended use. Differing knowledge of the riders true ability. A horse might be fine to stay at its current level, but not if you want to move it up three levels.Thatsa different conclusion about the same horse, Sam explained.Mark noted thatvettingsare far easier when the vet already knows the purchaser.Its easier to assess a slightly lame horse when you know the rider, the home vet, and the management itll receive, he explained. The hidden variable: rider abilityA horse that vets sound may still unravel with a different rider somethingvettingscannot predict.A horse can look perfect under a professional and fall apart under a less experienced rider, said Lucy. Fitness, symmetry, tension riders influence all of it.Jullia agreed saying:The horse will tell you. If its ears are pricked and it wants to work great. But a new rider can change everything.The rise of Xrays and how they could bemaking things worseRadiographs are now routine, but the panel agreed they often complicate vettings rather than clarify them. Xrays create more questions than answers, said Mark, noting the vast differences in interpretation.As for gait analysis as a tool? Not one vet on the panel supported its use in PPEs.All horses have asymmetry. You will always find something, said Mark.Julia added:Ive lost sales because of gait analysis. Clinically the horse was sound then the machine said otherwise.A system at breaking pointJulia said buyers now regularly undergothree or fourvettingsbefore finding a horse, each costing up to 1,500.People are giving up buying horses.Itstoo stressful, she stated. For sellers, delays can mean weeks of lost time, during which they must keep the horse, turn away other buyers and risk the horse developing a new issue simply by existing. Itscosting 200 a week to keep a horse. Youcantwait three weeks for a vet who specialises in one tiny thing to come out and sayitsnot perfect, said Julia. What needs to change?Every panel member suggested a magic wand solution:Lucy Grieve:Support and mentor young vets so they feel confident doingvettings.Mark Georgetti:Create consensus on radiographic findings we need clear, agreed significance levels.Julia Martin:Reduce overreliance on Xrays. And bring back trust and transparency.Sam Cutts:Move from pass/fail to low, medium, orhigh riskcategories.The audience suggestion of making full veterinary histories follow the horse (not the owner) split the panel mostly due to concerns that unscrupulous sellers would simply find ways around it.The bigger pictureIn the end, one theme ran consistently through the discussion:the system is failing because people are afraid buyers, sellers, and vets alike of imperfection, being sued and possibly making the wrong decision. The paneldidntpretendvettingswill ever be perfect, but they made it clear that if the industry wants a sustainable future, it must rethink its expectations.As Sam put it:We need to accept thatvettingsare opinions and horses are individuals. If we forget that, thewhole systembreaks down.Related contentWhat to expect from a five-stage vettingWhat are the benefits of a five-stage vetting?9 essential things to get right when youre taking care of a horseFuture of equestrianism to be explored at NEF 2026The post Calls grow for overhaul of UK equine vettings amid rising disputes and buyer confusion appeared first on Your Horse.

Artificial intelligence (AI) might sound like something from a tech lab, not a stable yard, but vets, researchers and even the military sayitsalready transforming how wemonitorhorses. At this years National Equine Forum (NEF) on 5 March, speakers revealed how AI is helping catch health problems earlier, understand horses needs more clearly, and give owners and carers informationtheyvenever had before.And crucially, the experts were unanimous:AIwontreplace thehorsemanseye it simply fills in the gaps when wecantbe there.The session included expert insight from Dr Liz Cresswell MRCVS, veterinary lead of Vet Vision AI, Pip Young, a PhD student at Bristol Veterinary School, Major Graham Harvey MRCVS of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps and jHubMed scout and project lead and Professor Sarah Freeman FRCVS, a professor of veterinary surgery at the University of Nottingham.24/7 eyes on horses: what AI is actually doingDr Cresswell opened the session by explaining how AI is used in cattle to analyse behaviour and welfare around the clock, and why horses could benefit inexactly the sameway.We can teach AI algorithms what these different behaviours look like on a camera, she said. It gives us very objective 24/7, 365day data into how our animals are living. AIisntguessing itsrecognising patterns that humans can miss. And while artificial intelligencewontmuck out or spot a loose shoe, itcanmonitorfeeding, resting, and activity with a degree of accuracy impossible for a person on a busy yard.Spotting pain earlier beforeitsobvious to usOne of the most striking demonstrations came from Professor Freeman, who showed video of a horse quietlycolicking.To humans, the horse appeared fine when approached, with its head over the door and ears pricked. But as soon as the groom walked away, the footage showed repeated flankwatching and lyingdowngettingup behaviour.Horses can conceal signs of pain and distress, Professor Freeman said. AI helps us understand what a horses life is truly like.Her team analyses millions of images a day and has already identified: Horses withchronic sleep deprivation. Individuals withreduced eating timebefore an episode of colic.Welfare impacts of management changes, feed types and even vaccinations. In one case, AI revealed that horses showed a dramatic drop in sleeping while lying down after a strangles vaccination. As a result, the yard now givesbutealongside the jab.The vets would not have been aware of the impact on the horses lying times, Professor Freeman explained. All of the horses now receivebuteas a result of what we learned.Military working horses moveintothe futureMajor Graham Harvey of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps described how AI cameras have been installed in stables across Londons military horse units, known as Project Forboss.The benefits, he said, have been immediate.We want earlier veterinary intervention, he stated. When you engage early, you can treat much faster.Project Forboss is now using AI to: Track eating, drinking, urination and lying down behaviours.Identifyperiods when horsesfail tolie down at all. Flag early signs of health problems before staff would spot them. Analyse which bedding types result in more deep rest. One image showed a horse that hadnot slept in 24 hours something staff would have had no way of knowing in the past.Another graph revealed that younger horses spend more time lying down than older ones, and that straw or woodchip tended to allow deeper rest than other beddings. Weve been able to start addressing issues we simply wouldnt have known about before, Major Harvey said. The big questions: is AI going to replace horsemanship?The panel was clear in its answer to whether AI would ever replace horsemanship:absolutely not.AI should remain a tool to offer supportive evidence, said researcher Pip Young. Humans and their experience should remain involved when making a decision or a diagnosis. Experts warned that: Training AI tools requireshighquality, unbiased data. Owners must avoid overreliance. AI cannot replace intuition, fieldcraft, or good management.But they stressed that AIcanspot patterns we never could, such as a horse that eats slightly less in the 48 hours before colic, or one whose rest pattern shifts due to stress,painor environment.Im not looking for a perfect system. It just needs to be 1% better than the current system. And it already is, said Major Harvey. Whats next? Foaling prediction, pasture monitoring and moreThe future uses of AI are already on the horizon: Foaling predictionlooks promising: horses often show tiny behavioural shifts hours before they foal, which AI can detect reliably.Pasture monitoringwill take more time due to trees,lightingand power, but researchers are already exploring it.Lameness detectionremainsa challenge not because of the technology, but because vets and owners disagree on lameness grading, making training data inconsistent.But the direction of travel is clear: more insight, not less and more welfare benefits, not fewer.What horse owners should take awayAIwonttell you how to ride a halfpass, boot your horse for turnout, or spot that somethings not quite right look we all know so well.But itcould:Help fill in the hours when horsesarentsupervised. Catch the subtle signs before a problem escalates.Giveobjectivedata to support management decisions. Help owners tailor care to each individual horse. Professor Freemansummed it up by saying: AI is allowing us to make evidencebased decisions rather than guesses, and make positive differences to health and wellbeing.As every horse owner knows, the more we can understand whats happening when were not in the stable, the better we can care for the horses we love. Seeing the invisible: how AI reveals what horses hideProfessor Freeman showcasedsome of the most powerful evidence of AIs potential, especiallyregardingpain and sleep.Horses conceal signs of pain and distress, she said. But AI helps us understand what a horses life is truly like.Her team analyses up toseven million images every 24 hoursacross military sites alone, and more than230 million imagesover a standard 30day monitoring period.Theyrealready seeing breakthroughs, such as a chronically sleepdeprived horse experiencing minicollapse episodes is now receiving tailored management changes. While another example came during a strangles vaccination programme, when AI revealed that horses lying times dropped dramatically information humans would never have known.The vets were aware of the injection site reactions, Professor Freeman explained. But they would not have been aware of the impact on the horses lying times.All ofthe horses now receivebutewith this vaccination as a result.What AI will andwont replaceWhile enthusiasm was high, the panel reiterated that AI complementsexpertiserather than replacing it.AI should remain a tool to offer supportive evidence, Pip emphasised. Humans and their experience should remain involved when making a decision or a diagnosis.Professor Freeman echoed that sentiment:You need the sceptics, the cautious, and the adventurous.All ofthose voices make sure we go in the right direction.Major Harvey said: Imnot looking for a perfect system. It just needs to be 1% better than the current system. And it already is.All members of the panel agreed that if a human can recognise a pattern, an AI can be trained to do the same and often more consistently.Professor Freeman stated: Every day is a school day. AI is allowing us to make evidencebased decisions rather than guesses, and make positive differences to health and wellbeing.Related contentGreat ways to enrich your horses environment and make them happier Horse behaviour explained: why everything they do has meaning9 essential things to get right when youre taking care of a horseFuture of equestrianism to be explored at NEF 2026The post Is AI quietly revolutionising horse welfare? What it means for you appeared first on Your Horse.

Wilson was clear again and =1st in the 5 year olds to end their second week in Spain with Charly Bevan , owned by Shaun hi and sold by us as a 4yo..just one of many of our graduates on the spring tours in good form..

You've seen it. The horse pacing the fence line, wearing a track in the ground. The one who calls out, again and again, when stabled alone. We call these problems. But most of us have a quieter sense that something else is going on. That quieter sense is correct and now there's a word for what it's pointing at.The post From Telos to Teleonome: A New Way to Understand Horse Welfare appeared first on Horses and People.

March 7, 2026 Ocala, FL Highlight classes on Saturday, March 7, 2026, of the World Equestrian Center (WEC) March Dressage CDI3* presented by Hampton Green Farms at WEC Ocala included the Grand Prix Special CDI3*, captured by Nora Batchelder (USA) and Nova, owned by Carol Glover, and the Grand Prix Freestyle CDI3*, won by Claire Darnell (USA) and her own Harrold S. With a score of 74.315%Source

Ocala, FL The highlight event of Week X of the 2026 Winter Spectacular Show Series at World Equestrian Center Ocala (WEC) brought 38 horse-and-rider combinations representing 14 nations to the WEC Grand Arena to contest the $120,000 Alltech Grand Prix CSI3*. After a challenging track and an exciting jump-off, it was Aaron Vale (USA) who secured the victory aboard Helios du Moulin (UntouchableSource

Wilmington, Ohio Wilhelm Genn and Zhappy Z (Zirocco Blue VDL x Happy Z) continued their winning streak at World Equestrian Center Wilmington (WEC), capturing the $30,000 Grand Prix of Winter Spring Forward. The pair also claimed the Welcome Stake earlier in the week, proving their dominance in the Standlee Sanctuary this Winter in the Midwest Series. Canadas Michael Pegg laid theSource

Ocala, FL The World Equestrian Center (WEC) March Dressage CDI3* presented by Hampton Green Farms at WEC Ocala opened on Friday, March 6, 2026, with two big winners both horses stand well above 17 hands tall at the grand prix level. Jodie Kelly-Baxley (USA) and her own Grayton Beach were victorious in the Grand Prix for Special CDI3*. Claire Darnell (USA) and her own Harrold S led the waySource