Seems it is a shame that a horse has to endure being bloodied and stabbed all in the name of a sport and finances.
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I’m sick of people saying “no spurs!!!” On FB there had to be over a hundred people stating that no one should use spurs. Ridiculous. Hello Forever is a difficult horse who has improved tremendously since last year. But there is little chance of getting the tight turns without spurs.
Spurs are REQUIRED in dressage. Are you going to take spurs away from them, too?
They are not a bad tool when used correctly.
I think that when Marilyn Little can razor a horse’s mouth on multiple occasions and nothing happens, and then we see a tiny scratch - and it was a tiny scratch - and SB gets eliminated you have to question the blood rule. It’s not handled correctly from person to person. How much clearer can you be than that? Perhaps that’s one of the cases that Georgina is meaning when she talks about it.
Personally, I think the letter was well crafted. It didn’t sound like whining at all. Maybe because I deal with a ton of whiny people in my job I’m inured to it, but it didn’t wound whiny to me.
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You know? - blood is blood.
No blood. It’s a rule.
Spur marks may also disqualify - discretionary. It’s a rule.
People are perfectly capable of changing their behavior to reduce or eliminate blood using bellybands or changing spurs or using a different training protocol to enhance turning in a horse.
Just because a blood mark/spur mark is small doesn’t make it legal.
I heartily dislike uneven application / enforcement of rules, but that doesn’t imply that ‘a little blood’ ought to be OK, ‘because we are kind and it was accidental’.
There are many ways to oops a competition: this is one.
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McLain Ward gave an interview a few years (part of the “what’s in your tack trunk” series on Noelle Flloyd’s website) where he stated that all of his spurs had rubber tips. That sounds like a good idea generally. I wonder whether this open letter would have been penned if someone other than Georgina’s teammate was disqualified. I was also offended by her repeated “support” for Scott Brash as a great horseman dedicated to the welfare of his animals. That was absolutely not in issue at any time. Her repeated mention of it was, to be frank, insulting. I do not think anybody who saw the mark, viewed the competition, or learned of the disqualification gave even a second thought to thinking that it said something about Scott Brash’s care and welfare as a horseman! Several great horsemen, all of whom cared for the welfare of their horses, have been disqualified because of this rule and he is no different - it happens! Further, if there was evidence of the steward making the mark worse than it actually was there should be a proper investigation - not unsupported allegations in an open letter penned by an interested party.
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You might think that but there are plenty that do not. Plenty of people think you shouldn’t wear spurs at all…and that if you marked a horse with them, you are a horse abuser.
Honestly, if the horse is bleeding from anywhere, it should be withdrawn. I’m having flashbacks of ML and and Scandalous. Bleeding from bits, bleeding from spurs, bleeding from boots, heck, bleeding from a fly bite. If the horse has blood that can be seen on a white rag when that area is wiped, it should not enter the ring. If it has blood present when it exits the ring, automatic disqualification. Maybe THEN we will start to see a shift in the horse coming first.
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Here’s a memo from the FEI Jumping Committee which addresses the blood rule and (WOO HOO) the use of performance-enhancing hind boots.
http://inside.fei.org/system/files/Memo_NFs_JumpRules_GA-2017.pdf
The responses to that article reflect this. You aren’t a horseman if you wear spurs or carry a whip.
Bleeding from a fly bite? That should be eliminated? Good God, no one would compete.
I wouldn’t say a minor bleeding from a spur mark, which is what was seen in SB’s case, means he is not putting his horses first.
There was a huge difference between the blood seen from ML’s horse and SB’s horse. That’s why I think the rule is ridiculous because she gets a mark in her win column while Scott is eliminated. Go figure.
Even the FEI is reconsidering.
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I have also seen rubs on horses from people that have refused to wear spurs or carry a crop and then haven been able to get the lazy horse going… that lazy horse quickly realizes said rider has no tools in his kit to get him going and keeps ignoring riders leg, rider kicks harder, horse ignores more… yeah no spurs is a great idea !!! (Yep sarcasm!)
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I’ve only checked bits and spurs for FEI stuff - so forgive me if I’m playing in the wrong sandbox…
I was told to only press my hand while donning a white glove IF there was sufficient evidence to believe an injury had occurred. The checking of the spurs themselves seemed to be of much more concern.
Dabbing the “wound” vs. rubbing it so hard a layer of skin comes off are two very separate things - which of these occurred?
The skin was rubbed, not dabbed.
[quote-RAyers]Have run at the FEI levels, I understand that the FEI rules are significantly different from our national rules. For example, in Germany it is illegal to trim a horse’s muzzle, eye lashes, and hair from ears. And the FEI allows penalties for that as well at FEI competitions.
[/quote]
I have never been able to find the FEI rule that bans clipping whiskers. Can someone point it out to me?
No, there is no FEI rule. There is a no clipping whiskers rule for German national shows, but not FEI shows, even in Germany. Similar to Switzerland banning drawreins. They can have whatever rules they want at their national shows, but at FEI shows, FEI rules supersede. LIke how you can use a variety of drugs at USEF shows that are banned at the FEI level. Even if the CSI is in the US, FEI drug rules apply.
Was it rubbed hard enough to be the cause of the bleeding?
No one knows if it was rubbed not dabbed, and no one knows that it was rubbed hard enough to cause bleeding. This is Bloomberg’s contention, although it is unclear whether she herself actually witnessed the incident or is merely retelling what she heard.
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That makes much more sense, ladyj79 
I’m just spit balling here, but I think Georgina probably heard it straight from Scott whether it was dabbed or rubbed. But that’s just me.
I find it interesting there is 1 photo of the spur mark before the steward “rubbed it” but no after photo, and no video of said rubbing. Present all the evidence. I feel they were obviously concerned about what would happen about this spur rub to photograph it fresh out of the ring - but not after it’s been rubbed?
Just my 2 cents.
Today I read on “World of Showjumping” website that in a "letter from the FEI Jumping Committee to the National Federations, several changes are proposed to the Jumping Rules including the so-called “blood-rule”, the suggested change being that “minor cases of blood on the flank will not incur elimination.” National Federations have until September 18t to hand in their comments and the final draft rules will be published by the FEI on October 24, 2017. Have to wonder if the Scott Brash disqualification played into this suggested change or how long this suggested change has been in the works!
