Cristina Wilkins, Author at Horses and People

The FEI’s Blood Rule: Are We Really Willing to Jump Backwards?

by Cristina Wilkins | Oct 21, 2025 | CRISTINA WILKINS, Horse Welfare |

Next month, the FEI is expected to approve a rule change allowing horses to continue competing after visible bleeding — reversing a welfare safeguard into an administrative warning. The proposal places the sport’s “welfare is paramount” rhetoric at odds with its fragile social licence.

A Reply to Response to Comments on ‘Facial pressure beneath a cavesson noseband adjusted to different tightness levels during standing and chewing”

by Cristina Wilkins, Assoc. Prof Janne Winther Christensen, Dr Orla Doherty, MVB MSc PhD, Dr Kate Fenner, PhD, Prof Rafael Freire, Dr Cathrynne Henshall and Prof Paul McGreevy, BVSc, PhD, FRCVS | Oct 13, 2025 | Equitation Science, Horse Welfare |

In academic publishing, critique and reply are essential to scientific progress. This letter—declined by the Equine Veterinary Journal—is published here to complete the public record. It clarifies key methodological issues in a study of noseband pressures and highlights the importance of open discourse for equine welfare policy.