Equestrian-Horse welfare in focus as Versailles dressage hit by heatwave

VERSAILLES : Horse welfare was in focus on the first day of the dressage competitions at the Paris Games on Tuesday, with organisers rolling out a special heat protocol as the sport grapples with the fallout from a major abuse scandal involving a top rider.

The World Equestrian Federation (FEI) activated a special plan to protect horses from the heat, the body's chief veterinarian said, which involves monitoring climate data and ensuring cooling while watching horses with thermal cameras.

Hydration is key, FEI chief vet Goran Akerstrom told Reuters.

Some of the musclebound dressage horses weigh up to 750 kilos and would need around 50 litres of water per day just for their basic body functions, he said.

"If they are sweating, and working, they drink more and they are very carefully looked after. And if there's a need ... we have the opportunity to give them intravenous fluids," he added.

Tuesday's Dressage Grand Prix, in which riders perform the sport's most difficult exercises like pirouettes, piaffes and flying changes in a roughly eight-minute ride, was marked by temperatures well over 30 Celsius.

Akerstrom said FEI officials were checking with heat cameras on the horses' core body temperature - which during training and competition can reach 40 Celsius - and would pull the brakes if they overheat.

Teams are provided with cooling tents and ice buckets while Olympic stables in Versailles are also equipped with a temperature regulating system, allowing for temperatures six degrees below the outside weather.

"The horses have not shown clinical signs of heat stress. They have recovered well and there has been no need for heat-related fluid therapy treatments," an FEI spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Equine welfare is under