The Story of IGNITE

Equestrian sports are extremely competitive and place a significant demand on the health of equine athletes. In recent years, an emphasis has been placed on therapeutic and pharmaceutical interventions as the primary method of managing our horses and facilitating an efficient return to competition post-injury. In contrast, human sports medicine emphasizes proactive biomechanical assessments, data-driven monitoring of the athletes, and strategic strength/conditioning programs to stave off injuries.  

In 2012, a small group of Veterinarians and horse care providers associated with the US Equestrian Teams began working closely with human sports specialists, riders, farriers, biomechanists, physical therapists, and others within the industry, toward adopting a broader and more science-driven strategy to manage our equestrian athletes. In its early years, this took the form of an annual two-day meeting that brought together thought leaders from a number of fields to discuss the latest advancements in both equine and human sports medicine and management as well as to identify critical knowledge gaps.

Since our first meeting, we have become increasingly aware that the most effective approach to maintaining elite-level athletes requires a multi-disciplinary team asking targeted questions; one which challenges the veterinary role to include maintaining athletic health in addition to advancing the treatment of pain and injury. It is our unanimous belief that this strategy holds great promise for the future of the industry. The Group, first named the Equine High-Performance Sports Group, has evolved, but the vision for helping horses achieve maximum potential and longevity has not.

As a first step towards moving forward with this strategy, Drs. Mark Revenaugh and Timothy Ober, along with several contributors to the annual Symposium, developed the Equine High-Performance Sports Group (EHPSG). The EHPSG is a more formal version of the original High-Performance group. The overall structure of the EHPSG is designed to facilitate collaboration between all aspects of the industry and to leverage collective expertise to advance the management of equine athletes.

In 2023, the Equine High-Performance Sports Group became IGNITE. While our name and logo have changed, our mission remains the same, to deliver evidence-inspired health and performance improvements to every equine athlete.