Canadian horse Victor disqualified from Olympic equestrian events

The Canadian horse «Victor», ridden by Tiffany Foster, has been disqualified under the FEI’s hypersensitivity protocol due to an area of clear and obvious hypersensitivity on the front of the left forelimb.

The Veterinary Commission stated that the horse had an area of inflammation and sensitivity on the left forelimb just above the hoof. There was no accusation of malpractice, but the horse was deemed unfit to compete by the Ground Jury and was disqualified from the Second Qualifier of the Jumping competition at the Olympic Games this morning.

A protest lodged by the Canadian chef d’equipe was heard by the FEI Appeal Committee before the end of the competition in order to facilitate the athlete taking part in the competition if the protest was successful. However, the protest was denied based on Annex XI of the FEI Veterinary Regulations, which state: “there is no appeal against the decision of the Ground Jury to disqualify a horse for abnormal sensitivity from an Event”. The FEI General Regulations also clearly state that there is no appeal against an elimination of a horse for veterinary reasons.

The horse Victor, ridden by Tiffany Foster, will take no further part in the equestrian events at London 2012.