Quoted in the article, he says “You realize that if you have to squeeze the life out of them, then maybe they can’t jump that high!”
No need! Just shock the shit out of them and that’ll get 'em jumping higher than ever!
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If I had to guess, the spurs would be more to prevent a horse balking, stopping, ducking out, or coming “off the pace”, than to make them jump higher. Hence why poor old Carollo went through all those jumps - too damn scared to refuse.
Clearly getting a horse to trust a rider to the point that it will happily go over - if a jump can be jumped! - was too much hard work for Handy Andy. That and maybe his seat was too sloppy to sit a balk. So he made sure his mounts were too terrified to do so!
What he has done to horses is the psychological equivalent of when movie producers chased that poor horse off the cliff for a half-second shot of film. “Jump or die”
Sick.
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I have viewed many of his videos to try to ascertain a pattern. I think he used the spurs on the flat, and ceased them only over the jump, e.g., the jump was the (only) release.
The FEI report @skydy contributed-wow. He is not the sharpest tool in the shed. And Maranos spray painting his boots gold because she was planning to build a museum celebrating him–these people deserve each other. And as the FEI report states, ‘no remorse whatsoever.’ Interesting that his attorney (successfully and proudly) defended Glefke/Farmer.
Poor Navalo. He was retired with an injury from Schuler Riley’s GP string and dropped down to junior jumpers. He began competing him GP immediately (per FEI show record) and ran him into the ground, competing at least 4 times a month, sometimes 8 times a month, hauling all over north America and Europe. Early success, then come January some very poor results until his last show in June, 13 months after acquisition.
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I wonder how many more horses would suffer the same treatment at FEI shows; if the fall out with an owner didn’t cause them to finally come forward?
In other words; why wasn’t this caught by any FEI horse show officials before? Sigh.
** IMO; the owner who allowed this to happen to their horses should be held responsible and booted out of sanctioned competition too.
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I remember this coming up a lot in discussions of the Glefke/Farmer case and I think there’s an argument for it. If owners or even horses are also suspended, that would incentivize owners to move their horses from trainers who they know are drugging or abusing their animals, and would also incentivize owners who don’t know if their trainers are drugging or abusing their horses to look more closely at their trainer’s practices and history.
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Oh that’s interesting. This is the attorney, right?
But in terms of who an attorney defends, everyone is entitled to an attorney in court, and they need to make the best argument they can for their client without knowingly lying about facts. Every criminal has someone defending them in court. Arguably, most (not all) people who end up in court are guilty of the things they are accused of or else the prosecutor wouldn’t bother with going to a trial. So IRL most courtroom defence lawyers are out there defending people that they know did something wrong, not defending people they believe to be totally innocent. Unlike on TV.
So it is not a reflection on the character of an individual defence lawyer if they take on unpalatable cases. It doesn’t mean they agree with what the client did. I think they are able to take pride in defending and even winning difficult cases even when they believe their client guilty of something they don’t like.
It looks from Google like this fellow is an equestrian lawyer so it makes sense he’d be defending everyone in that field.
The assault charge is another matter, of course.
A lot of defense attorneys don’t actually know all the details. Despite confidentiality rules, there are some ethics rules that can trump confidentiality, so attorneys won’t ask and won’t want to know where the body is buried (literally, as one example of where this conflict arises, but also figuratively). Defense attorneys also help ensure that the system is functioning properly. Like, law enforcement and the prosecution aren’t violating the 4th Amendment. Or making sure USEF’s lab maintains chain of custody on and proper handling of a sample.
AK changed counsel mid stream here it seems to keep his story straight with ongoing litigation in the states–this attorney was already handling those cases. Remember that the FEI case is public record (obviously). They tried to get a stay pending the other cases but the FEI didn’t allow it. Nor should it since the laws / governing rules were not in conflict, but AK’s public statements may not help him in whatever other civil cases are out there (I have not looked into what those involve other than one of the witnesses here).
The FEI did do something: they banned him.
What was the USEF doing in all the preceding years, while he was abusing horses in American competitions?
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Same as they did with the likes of Devin Ryan: lauded him.
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Point being the FEI/USEF did not ‘catch the abuse’; happening. That abuse went on for years at sanctioned high level jumping shows. Years! If it had not been eventually reported by a ‘disgruntled’ horse owner. Who knows? Only THEN an FEI investigation began… and then he was eventually found guilty.
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I have stood at the ingate or in the schooling area when AK was riding. I have no way of knowing if he was using one of these devices at the time. Possibly. I didn’t notice the device. If you’re not expecting/looking for something like that (and who would be until we all learned that they even EXISTED) I can completely understand why stewards missed it. They were looking for expected/known signs of abuse. In retrospect we can see it in the photos when we’re TOLD its there and we’re LOOKING for it-- but even then it’s hard to see. I don’t credit AK with basically anything except for the fact that this was a sneaky way to shock the horses. It really was.
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After seven months of delays and the testimony of 5 witnesses, his defense is that he used clicker training and that it was a clicker in his hand? Unbelievable.
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(not defending AK, just a question)
Didn’t Navalo wear a belly band? How would that have worked then? Those things are literally made of rubber.
Like this. In almost every photo, the rider’s heel is well behind the spur guard. So it’s not really serving it’s purpose?
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My name is Michael Romm. I am Andy Kocher’s attorney. I have been representing equestrians for 30 years. Midge posted a photo of me on a day I was arrested because I chose to defend myself against a man who threatened my life, instead of allowing him to kill me. Let me share with you what Midge never bothered to discover for herself. Following a five-month investigation, the state attorney (prosecutor) chose NOT to file any charges against me. Why did the prosecutor choose not to file charges? The man who threatened my life was a six-time convicted felon who had served a Florida State Prison stint on at least four separate occasions. These prior convictions ran the spectrum from Robbery and Grand Theft, to violent crimes of Resisting Arrest With Violence – (on multiple occasions), Delivery of Cocaine near a school, other drug offenses, and violation of probation by committing a crime while out on probation. In fact, on the day I was arrested for defending myself, the man who threatened to follow me into a parking lot and end my life was also arrested because there was a warrant out for his arrest for violating whatever probation he was on at the time. Local law enforcement stated in a sworn affidavit that this man was known to them, that he had been arrested by them in the past and had a reputation for threatening patrons in public places. In my entire career I have never found the need to post anything anywhere. I just wanted to set the record straight. The only good that came of that experience was that I learned for the very first time how my clients really feel if they have been arrested. Even though I only spent less than 24 hours in jail, it was truly a frightening experience. Michael Romm
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I disregarded that post because it was regarding an arrest and there was nothing posted about a conviction. I’m sure there are others here that share my feeling about that post.
I’m sorry that someone felt the need to dig that up.
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Belly bands aren’t rubber. They feel more like shapewear. Like any other fabric, they conduct electricity
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The spur would be used before or after a jump, not while in the air…
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I am not Sarah.
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