TY - JOUR ID - 129001720 TI - Risk factors and sources of variation in horse falls in steeplechase racing in the UK. AU - French, N. P. AU - Pinchbeck, G. L. AU - Clegg, P. D. AU - Proudman, C. J. AU - Morgan, K. L. AU - Wood, J. L. N. PY - 2002 DB - UniCat KW - Age. KW - Association. KW - Distance. KW - Horse. KW - Horses. KW - Level. KW - Model. KW - Models. KW - Retrospective. KW - Risk-factors. KW - Risk. KW - Variation. UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:129001720 AB - We identified risk factors associated with falling during steeplechase racing. We used retrospective data from all steeplechase runs on UK racecourses during 1999: 10,866 starts with 647 horse falls. The relationship between continuous variables and falling was assessed using generalised additive models (GAMs). Polynomial fits then were included in a multilevel, multivariable logistic-regression model. The number of runners had a linear, positive association with the risk of falling. The distance of the race had a non-linear relationship with the risk of falling; the risk steadily increased in races up to 23 furlongs (1 furlong~198 m), and then decreased in longer races. Age also had a significant, non-linear relationship with the risk of falling: a decreasing risk up to 12 years of age followed by an increasing risk in older horses. Horses that wore visors and had raced previously were associated with a decrease in the risk of falling. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) showed that although most of the variation resided at the start (level 1), a proportion of variation in the risk of falling could be attributed to horse and race. Trainer and jockey contributed very little to the variation in the risk of falling ER -