New Guide to Horse Capacity – Size of Rider
The Equestrian Australia Dressage Committee (EADC) is pleased to release a Guide on Athlete Size to reinforce the commitment to best practice striving for optimal health, safety and welfare of the athlete-horse combination.
The Athlete Size Guide will provide education and clarity and highlight awareness of Equestrian Australia’s expectations to Athletes, Coaches, Owners, Parents, Judges, Officials and the Public on the aspect of a horse’s welfare and capacity to carry weight.
International Animal Welfare guides include advocacy for horse welfare on this issue, and providing this guide will give our equestrian community a reasonably accurate measurement of the maximum burden for a horse to carry.
The guide will support coaches in conversations with their athletes about carrying capacity considerations, as they currently do, about choice of mount and all animal welfare aspects of horsemanship.
Nothing will change in the assessment of a horse and their athletic performance by any Judge.
The guide tailors the capacity of the horse across the entire height range, to a standard accepted internationally, and ensures appropriate mounts for humans of every age and size.
To date, the Athlete Size Guide has been adopted by the disciplines of Dressage and Eventing, and is being considered by other disciplines across Australia, and internationally.
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