IGNITE for Equine Athletes is a platform for advancing leading-edge knowledge, evidence-based approaches and collaborative, proactive practices focused on injury prevention, peak performance and longevity for equine athletes.
The resulting information is now available to a membership of equine health care providers, riders, trainers and coaches and sport stakeholders.
The origins of IGNITE date back to 2012. That’s when a small group of veterinarians and horse care providers associated with US Equestrian teams began exploring new ways to improve outcomes for the horses they managed.
They connected with human athletic performance pioneers and riders, farriers, biomechanics experts, physios and others to harness new and diverse expertise on the equine athlete’s behalf.
IGNITE’s focus is musculoskeletal health and the many factors that affect its function.
New Dimensions in Management
The goal was to adopt science-driven strategies, a team approach and an open mind to innovations that can help horses. Formerly known as the Equine High Performance Sports Group, IGNITE for Equine Athletes maintains the same goal today.
“Once we let go of the old way of doing things, it was like falling through a portal to a new dimension,” recalled Olympic veterinarian Mark Revenaugh, DVM, an IGNITE founder.
Dr. Revenaugh noted the vast progressive, well-established resources available to human athletes, and the scarcity of such reliable information for horses.
Further, much of the existing research involving horses gets “stuck in journals rather than making it to the next step of the horse and rider being able to make use of it,” Revenaugh noted.
Tapping into what works for human athletes is part of IGNITE’s approach. “That offers a big vista of potential growth and opportunity in managing our horses,” Dr. Revenaugh asserted.
“It’s important to note that IGNITE is not trying to tell people how to train their horses,” he continued. “Rather, we hope to provide riders and health care professionals with new tools to maximize performance and longevity.
IGNITE’s leaders and members hail from all over the world and represent different areas of expertise. “It’s all about the horse” is their firm common ground.
Sharing and Advancing Knowledge
IGNITE is expanding to give members access to its extensive and growing hub of actionable knowledge.
IGNITE organizes live online and in-person events and hosts a comprehensive and constantly updated library of on-demand content.
In-person events kicked off this year with the Applied Sports Physiology workshops in Wellington and Ocala, FL.
Canadian Olympic show jumper Beth Underhill called it “a great opportunity to share information and learn.”
She acknowledged that feel and instincts remain critical to horse management. “As riders, however, we may tend to weight that more heavily than anything else,” Underhill reflected. “There can be resistance to looking at the data, but the more we can learn about it, discuss it and be part of the conversation, the better.”
Upcoming Events
IGNITE’s bi-monthly Sport Horse Podcast next airs Monday, March 25. Hosts Nicole Lakin and Tim Worden expect great equine bone health insights from Brian D. Nielsen, Ph.D., Animal Science Professor at Michigan State University and noted author.
Thursday March 28 is IGNITE’s next Rehab Round. These are monthly, live online and on-demand sessions in which an expert thoroughly presents a specific patient’s case. Live online attendees can ask questions and join the discussion.
Dutch veterinarian and Grand Prix dressage rider Veronique Swagemakers is this month’s Rehab Rounds presenter. A dressage horse with a superficial digital flexor tendon lesion in the carpal canal is the subject.
On April 26-27 in Salado, TX, IGNITE hosts a From The Ground Up in-person workshop during which farriers, veterinarians and footing experts will dig into several topics. The agenda ranges from Advanced Nutrition for Podiatry to Measurable Parameters for Footing and How Footing Relates to Injuries.
5 Membership Options
Year-round, IGNITE’s website hosts a vast library of cutting-edge content. Five membership options give access to different levels of programming.
From a veterinarian seeking to learn from and contribute to vanguard knowledge to a fan intrigued by our horses’ remarkable athletic abilities, IGNITE for Equine Athletes has something to offer.
The offerings include IGNITE’s Sport Horse Podcast, a treasure trove of half-hour interviews with experts and inspirations throughout the equine performance world.
The educational menu includes all Applied Sports Physiology sessions from January, and a Rehab Round in which renowned lameness expert, Dr. Sue Dyson, uses the Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram to identify the root cause of a sport pony’s naughty behavior.
German Olympian Isabell Werth and German dressage team vet Marc Koene delve into building strength and stability in one of several Sport Horse Series videos. The Orthobiologics Series features factual presentations on the relatively new use of these treatments in horses.
The programs above only scratch the surface of IGNITE’s content.
Ground-breaking Data Registry
IGNITE is also developing a ground-breaking Equine Clinicians Registry. The goal is to build and share a database of specific equine athlete issues – from symptoms and diagnosis to successful treatments and outcomes.
Every level of membership provides value to the member, to the industry and, most importantly, to our horses.
IGNITE’s foundational sponsors are Boehringer Ingelheim and Hilltop Bio.
For more information – IGNITE for Equine Athletes.
IGNITE for Equine Athletes News
Media Contact: Kim F Miller
Kimfmiller1@mac.com