Work continues of making eventing safer

INTERNATIONAL event rider Eric Smiley yesterday conceded that fatalities will never be eliminated from the sport, which took the lives of nine riders in 2007.

Smiley, however, said efforts would continue to make eventing as safe as reasonably possible, without changing its basic concept.

“For most people, it’s a case of trying to mitigate against the danger element, but to sanitise the sport is not why people compete. Through training, riders try to mitigate against the risk, but you can never eliminate the risk. The risk element is one reason why we compete. People thrive on challenges in life,” said Smiley.