He’s a grown man, and can stand up for himself. His mother and I will always be available for him. He’ll call on us if he needs our advice. We have no personal knowledge of the episode depicted in this video, or of its provenance, nor do most of you. My only reason for getting involved here was to encourage constraint before condemning him. Anonymous forums often release a rabid response due to the lack of responsibility by those who post therein. Let those who have facts, other than these 15 seconds of his life, share them PUBLICLY, so we can then all render judgment.
I agree. I’m out. Thanks for indulging my intrusion.
Wait a second…this guy is 38? This wild ride of developing rider grants, camps, winter team camps and all the other perks that only a select few get the nod for has got to have an overhaul.
Why is someone who is ranked 935 given a developing rider grant? Forget the rumors, why is the sport so small minded on how to grow riders who are at the top of the sport?
Literally, the guy is almost 40 years old. What is he going to do more for the sport? The whole system is whacked, if this was the top pick. They knew months ago (in a formal manner) and felt that supporting someone almost 39 years old was the best use of funds, time, and energy.
To all you no name little riders out there, who are not beating their horses and threatening their staff, I am sorry, you did not even get a second glance. Stay the course–there should never be a day you trade in your horsemanship to get ahead.
Shame on everyone in the decision making process. You could have done well by someone deserving, instead–you gave us this. Guess it does not matter, you’re ignoring his behavior now, just like you did 10+ years ago. Guess America’s eventing community will have to wait…cause they wasted so much on this almost 40 year old man.
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Most horses, when trained well, are magnanimous creatures. They could easily kill us, but as a rule they don’t, at least not intentionally. When we learn how to train them, communicate with them and treat them well ( even some that aren’t kindly handled) they are incredibly loyal and trusting.
They give their all to those who train them patiently. Some of them can be abused into doing what a rider wants of them, but most horses will not respond well to harsh training methods and those that do, often shut down like an abused child. Once they can’t take any more abuse, they are not safe to ride.
It is because of a horses’ nature, and the fact that they will give their all to people and become in sync with humans, that experienced horse people hate to see them abused.
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Well said. I still want to hear what Andrew has to say before I join the chorus to condemn him forever for this incident.
I understand your wanting to know what he has to say for himself.
I think the issue that experienced horse people have with Andrew is that he was chosen to ride for the US, when it seems our governing body, USEF, has been aware of his abuse of horses (hitting a horse in the head from the saddle is never OK, never) and yet chose him to represent us in international competition.
There is no getting around the fact that USEF is not vetting riders well enough. It is an embarrassment to us, the people who love horses, who ride and train horses without abusing them, to have to see abusive riding as representing us on the international stage.
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Wick, you may or may not be aware, but your son’s actions come at a pretty contentious time in Equestrian Sports. There have been a number of abuse cases that have come to light in the past couple of years, that are putting these sports in the spotlight.
Charlotte Dujardin
Helgstrand
Cesar Parra
Tokyo Pentathalon
Now, some of these cases seem more extreme than the videos of your son that were shared on facebook the other day, but look at Charlotte and the Pentathlon incident. Not so different.
I do agree with you that these discussion boards and fb can jump to quick conclusions, and information can be spread without proper fact checking, so the pictures showing the whip marks and horse tied on cross ties are hard to immediately judge. The videos clearly showing your son beating a horse in a fit of rage are indisputable abuse. Those actions are not comparable to the post-victory neck slaps that you referenced earlier. Not only is your son ruining his own future prospects in the sport, he’s risking the sport for thousands of riders worldwide who do care about their horses wellbeing and are not abusive.
Recent abuse cases, like those of Charlotte Dujardin and Helgstrand , signal a growing intolerance toward any form of mistreatment in equestrian sports. Social media and public exposure are amplifying the impact of these incidents, leading to reputational damage not just for the individuals involved but for the sport as a whole. Governing bodies and sponsors need to be put under pressure to take decisive action, by banning Andrew from competition and revoking his professional status is he is found guilty.
Non-equestrians often see high-profile incidents, like the Tokyo Pentathlon scandal, where horses were visibly mistreated on an international stage. Incidents like your son’s only serve to validate the negative perception that the public has of equestrian sports, further putting at risk the sustainability and integrity of the sport. We’ve seen how quickly animal rights groups can mobilize, and this kind of behavior could result in calls for stricter regulations, and a significant loss of public and financial support.
Hopefully, you can understand why so many of us are pissed.
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Ok, just one more before I go to bed here at 2:15 AM (these forums surely can suck you in!). You said “…it seems our governing body has been aware…”. Do you know that for a fact? Have they truly been supplied irrefutable evidence that there is a history of abuse, and which they demonstrably chose to ignore? By whom was it supplied? What evidence was presented? I don’t mean to dismiss what was a regrettable incident in the video, but I don’t think it should end his career if that’s really what it was. Good night!
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Asking a 1400 lb animal to jump multiple 1.2 and 1.3 meter jumps including tables, ditches, drops, and water WITH a human on its back is quite the ask. Just like asking you to run a course of hurdles with a small child on your back steering you, if you get to that jump crooked or out of stride (because the child on your back made a steering error or their weight threw you off balance,) you’re probably not going to attempt to jump it and risk injury or death if you take a header by catching a leg over it. Horses feel the same way.
There is no excuse for whipping a horse in the face when that happens. None. You don’t beat a horse for self preservation. That’s what your son did, in front of people. There is video evidence of that.
Calling it innuendo and hearsay or trying to say that people here don’t have the right to find it “disgusting” is… well, disgusting. If I saw a video of one of my family members beating an animal in anger, I certainly wouldn’t be jumping into an online forum to defend it.
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Um, why are we concerned about Andrew’s mental health, again?
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Is the “innuendo and hearsay” in the room with us now?
Because I saw blatant abuse.
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Allie Conrad did just that. She shared in detail the facts around your son’s systematic abuse of her horse.
Do you believe her?
Do you find her credible?
Allie Conrad. Yes, her.
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Yes, I agree, a video of a rider smacking an already confused horse in the head, is not innuendo.
To a parent who is clueless about the horse sport in which their adult child rides at a 5* level (nothing wrong with that until you try to defend the indefensible), slow down until you understand the distress the horse has to endure from being smacked in the head for no reason. They are sensitive creatures. Training a horse under saddle never includes hitting it in the head.
It’s not right. Anyone who knows how fulfilling the connection between horse and human can be, will know that your son has crossed the line. He has a very angry and unproductive response to a confused horse. He is an adult who has lost his temper, yet is competing at an elite level on the backs of the horses he mistreats.
Too bad that USEF is lagging behind enforcing disciplinary procedures for abusive riding. They are culpable in ignoring abuse by riders, and as much as they tout their “horse welfare is our concern” PR, they move at a snails pace, as does the FEI.
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Because he is still a human, who has people who care about him, and has a history and life that not everyone knows about.
I don’t condone his actions. But I can still find it in my heart to worry about the mental health of him, and the people around him. He is still the guy that found a little abandoned dog on a vacation, brought it with him everywhere on said vacation, and then, when they only found high kill shelters, brought it home. People are complex, histories are complex, generational curses are complex.
So yeah, hate what he is shown to have done, and what the rest of the rumors say, can absolutely still worry about someone’s mental health, and especially the people around them. I’m sure this statement will be controversial, but it’s how I operate.
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I am very sorry sir, but there is no excuse for what your son did. You can say it’s not punching all you want, but honestly it doesn’t really matter the shape of his hand or exactly what angle he hit at. The horse was terrified and confused, it had absolutely nothing to do with good training or building the horse’s confidence, it doesn’t teach the horse anything other than to be afraid of the rider. So let’s say it’s not “abuse,” it’s still extremely bad riding and unfair training and your son should know better. I think you need only look at the reaction of the owners of that horse and how upset they are to realize that gaslighting is not going to get you far. They are owed an apology, not “it was an open hand, it doesn’t count!” (ETA: That whole line of “defense” is incredibly tone deaf in this day and age - how long was that line used to excuse abusing women and children? “well officer I only used an open hand!” as if it’s ok to terrorize someone because you could have hurt them worse… )
Now, on to PR stuff: I am replying before reading about 40 posts, so it’s probably too late for this, but I’ve been on these boards a long time. Coming here to insist that what we all see is not, in fact, reality, never goes well in a situation like this. Friends and relatives rushing to the aid of a subject of one of these conversations, saying the sky is green, not blue, when we’re all looking up at it, generally only serves to increase the general sense of anger. If you are at all tempted to collect other friends and relatives to post here, or to invent multiple screen names in your son’s defense, this is a very bad idea.
In the meantime, Andrew can do a couple things to get ahead of this:
Take a voluntary suspension and issue a press release that he is cooperating with any investigation into his conduct and that he’s apologizing to the greater horse community and to the horses themselves. IT is essential that he NOT try to minimize or explain away the videos or insist that it was not abuse or say it was “one moment” that is out of context or character. That will not help if he seeks to rebuild his reputation.
I am not much of a rider anymore but I have seen plenty in my time, and plenty shocking situations being discussed here. The only way forward is to take one’s lumps. Too many people (who do use their full names on fb) have receipts, because the videos that are out are very likely not the only ones.
I would think much better of your son if he handles this without attempting to gaslight us all. The horse world can actually be fairly forgiving, hell, people who killed horses for insurance money apparently still make a living in it.
(As a side note I used to work with Allie Conrad at CANTER mid Atlantic, I remember sending horses there and how excited she was at first to be working with Andrew. I was never told particular details but do remember very much how much trouble she had with her personal horse after Andrew, and the many years of work she’s done with him. I haven’t ridden in years but this is personal to me- I knew some of the horses that went there and it makes me ill to worry if they were mistreated, but also, whatever went on there with her horse was an enormous source of stress and anxiety for YEARS for a friend I care about.)
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Indeed. Just a New England version of him.
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Not sure if this was posted as I am catching up from yesterday, but they did post on their fb page saying he tagged them (which they cannot control) but they want nothing to do with him and do not condone abuse. I’m a big fan so was happy to see that.
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Until he shows that he’s going to own his actions that damaged horses, some permanently, without an iota of an excuse as to why he felt the need to beat horses in the head and ears, tie their heads down for hours, and whip them mercilessly… I couldn’t care less about his feelings on this.
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Snowplow parent will snowplow.
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