Yep
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Considering that the grant Mcconnon received has the Broussard name on it, Iām surprised they havenāt been more strident about putting out a statement condemning his actions. Their name and his are closely connected. They have a stable of lawyers and advisors who should be better at managing the fallout.
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Give them 5 minutes. Itās Monday morning out here in the wild west.
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Iām not surprised considering Ian Miller keeps getting appointed Chef up here in Canada and itās well known what an emotionally abusive a** he is.
Seems like thereās a lot of turning a blind eye once these riders get to the ULs. Is it celeb worship? Or just too many intertwined connections?
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Actually this is exactly the part I question. My point was that owner had no reason to send the horse, sheād put a decade of blood sweat and tears into, to Andrewās barn for zero personal gain if she had any suspicion that he was a less-than-exemplary horseman. That was years ago, yes, but heād been in the area long enough to have a professional reputation.
I donāt know how old the videos are beyond at least a few months since they were sent to the FEI, but without video evidence how much does anyone really āknow?ā What can be proven? Dozens of traumatized horses can come out of his barn, his grooms and working students can see things firsthand and thatās how he gets a bad reputation but what is actionable without receipts? Is it realistic to expect teen and 20-something employees to go to authorities to report animal abuse with only their own witness testimony? Is it realistic to expect an owner whose horse comes back from training with welts to file a police report? And what would the results be if they did?
Iām sure some of his owners have known for a long time exactly what goes on and continue to send him horses, so Iām not suggesting that he hasnāt been protected and enabled to some extent. I will say that I used to volunteer quite a lot at his local show venue and never noticed that heās a harsh rider or unpleasant person. I certainly believe awful things were happening in his own barn, but I do think in moments like this when damning evidence comes out thereās a lot of āI saw him ride with short reins or swear at a horse once at a show so I knew he was an abuser all alongā thatās just noise. The real issue is the huge gray area with people who are going to take lessons with and send horses to an ostensibly nice guy who rides well rather than believe vague anecdotes.
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Wrote to them both, thanks.
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I havenāt read all the replies, but I just had to say that the videos and images actually made me feel sick to my stomach.
That the FEI and USEF/USEA have sat on this for months and allowed him to represent us overseas sickens me. After all the widely publicized horse abuse cases this year, donāt you think they would action this quickly? Iām not surprised at all, though. They take token actions (such as suspending Charlotte Dujardin, which they should have done, not arguing with that) and think thatās enough.
I refuse, and have refused, to join USEF until they actually do something about horse welfare rather than just talk about social license to operate. Until it hits them in the pocketbook, with people refusing to renew memberships and attend their shows, they have no incentive to actually do something. Sadly, like many corporate entities, itās all about the money and avoiding anything that would jeopardize their revenue.
How can any of us support an organization that allows this to happen?
However, it requires putting some of our own goals aside to do so. And I think the problem isāthere are too many people that prefer to look the other way because ribbons and results are more important than standing up for the horses that provide those to us.
I know a lot of people on this forum do recognized events, and Iām not trying to single you out, but if we are going to make a difference, we have to consider making some sacrifices ourselves. Other than letter writing and refusing to give the money, what are our other options? Iām asking that sincerely because I want to make sure Iām doing everything I can.
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Thanks for sharing your personal perspective and thoughts.
I have sympathy for the owner of the FEI horse you mentionedā¦ the recent news must be unnerving and upsetting for her.
I do understand what you are saying in that itās challenging for teenaged working students or young adult staff members who are trying to make a serious go of it in this sport to report abuse in a program like this. The reality is that there certainly can be repercussions for reportingā¦ even with policies in place trying to prevent repercussions. Itās a small and insular sport.
I also have sympathy for the position some of the owners are in. When you have a horse in training, there is much you donāt see, even if you are checking on your horse multiple times a week, and watching rides and competitions regularly. Stuff happens. Even with good programs. Unfortunately, BTDT. There are comments online claiming some of his owners are well aware of how tough he is and keep their horses with him because they want to winā¦ Iām a bit skeptical though. Time will tell I guess.
The part of the recent revelations Iām struggling with is mainly related to Allie Conradās post. Per her comments, her horses were in training with him almost a decade ago. One in particular sounds like it was beaten in a manner similar to the videos everyone has now seen. And apparently the horse was very fried by the treatment. She didnāt fully grasp what had happened or put puzzle pieces together until after the horse had left his program. And as she was working through the aftermath, multiple other pros commented that this was not the first horse to come out of AMās program with these issues.
So combine that story with these photos of welts on three different horses, the videos, which seem more recent, andā¦ that APPALLING photo of a horse standing with its head tied to its front legsā¦ while on cross tiesā¦
Itās impossible to conclude anything other than that there have been serious issues with the way this guy treats horses in his program for a long time. Clearly people knew. Working students come and go from bigger programs and word gets round.
Sadly I do understand the nature of people being quiet about stuff like this at the top levels of the sort, and not making a public stink or officially reporting issues. Dynamics are challenging. Butā¦ at the same timeā¦ I am still struggling to understand how he got that grant last year. There are other riders who could have been supported.
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How devastating for them to have found out this way 
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Thatās awful. I canāt imagine seeing a video like that of one of my horses on social mediaā¦ glad they have gotten them home.
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I believe (this is all from speculation of looking at posts from the page) that the horse was with AM due to his normal rider at PDF being pregnant, and thankfully it appears the horse has been back home for a while.
I cannot imagine the feeling of finding out in such a way that someone you trusted would come out like this, but appreciate them making a statement about it!
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Just saying, if I found out someone had been punching my horse in the head Iād be out for BLOOD. I cannot imagine how the owner feels to find out this happened to their horse, or what else may not have been caught on video.
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When I say heads would rollā¦. youād be seeing my mugshot on CoTH if a trainer did that to my horse.
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Imagine opening a video purported to show horse abuse, then the sickening realization that it shows YOUR HORSE. I canāt even imagine the grief and the rage I would feel.
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Important to mention that David OāConnor also lives in the same area as AMā¦and anyone who knows that area knows how small the horse community isā¦
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I couldnāt even imagineā¦when I read the statement from pdf eventing I gasped out loud sitting at work.
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If by same area you mean USEA area II? Otherwise itās about 5 to 6 hours apart. In all my time in Southern Pines I saw a lot of big names, never OāConnor.
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No he doesnāt. McConnon is in the southern pines area
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