https://inside.fei.org/system/files/Updated%202023%20-%20List%20of%20Eventing%20Warnings_0.xlsx
Hmmmmmmm - scores show E-XC-OT, so its been changed to E-XC-DR ?
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From 2008 through now, Oliver Townend has received 11 warnings. Eleven. To the people who say “give him the benefit of the doubt” (and unfortunately they are out there), how many times? Seriously. How. Many. Times.
ETA: Sorry, this was inadvertently posted as a reply to @Equibrit 
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There are no yellow cards on that list.
Quick look – Warning list goes back two years.
OT has two, counting this one, within the last 5 months. But not showing anything prior to that.
The one for this Badminton is “Dangeorus riding / series of dangerous jumps”.
It’s not a yellow card, it’s “Eventing Recorded Warning”.
Prior, Sweden Nov. 24, 2022, also not a yellow card.
“Abuse of horse / excessive use of the whip”
“Oral warning”
In 2018 he had 3 for “Abuse of horse / excessive use of the whip”
There are previous mentions as well. 2014 seems to have been a disaster year with confrontations with horses, stewards, even “careless riding after finish”.
In 2008 he got 2 on the same day for “finishing on a very tired horse” on Flint Curtis and Golden Hue.
I suppose this is improvement over the years? Maybe a bit of a backslide recently? Or officials are more being more strict with him for some reason.
Yes I was JUST about to go back and edit what I said, I meant to write warnings. This is what I get for multitasking. I’m editing now 
Can someone explain the difference between a yellow card and any other type of sanction?
Because across all of the recorded incidents, there was some range of sanctions in the XL sheet, with a lot of “Eventing Recorded warning”, whatever that is. Yellow card was much less frequent.
Excessive use of whip is frequent across all recorded riders/sanctions. I am guessing that officials are more alert than they once were to the counting and placement of strikes.
I don’t have time, but it would be interesting to do some stats on all of the recorded sanctions.
Maybe I’m reading the updated FEI warnings/yellow cards wrong. But the way I’m seeing it, OT got a warning for the Swallow Springs incident at Badminton 2023. Yet further down on the list I see someone got a yellow card (more severe) for “Incorrect behaviour / not at the XC start as scheduled.”
WHAT???
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In the end, OT can do this to a horse two more times in the next two years before he is suspended. For two months.
The FEI obviously doesn’t think that breaking the whip rules or pushing a tired horse is deserving of a serious punishment. There will always be people who will break the rules when they know they can get away with it and know that if they are caught out, they’ll get a slap on the wrist.
OT does what the FEI allows him to.
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FEI definitely preaches horse care and safety and yet continually ignores problem riders and owners, and hell some nations! Officials have mentioned in the past they are often scared to come forward because they’ve been sued previously by owners and riders.
That shouldn’t even be an option. The threat of law suits holding back officials making calls?
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Thanks!
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I think moving it to April was a big mistake, too. Unfortunately there’s no good place for it on the calendar now that the Maryland 5* is in November.
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That is true. It’s still a hell of a long haul for even the Kiwis, though – IMO if it were in Sydney (where it’s more of a direct flight), it’d be slightly more accessible.
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Oliver Townend has been given an FEI “recorded warning” after his elimination at Badminton …
Please tell me how that riding did not rise to the level of a yellow card. He is incredibly lucky that horse did not fall and was not injured.
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I’m so confused about this as well. EN’s article says that a Yellow Card can be awarded for what’s below. So how did his behavior not suit the definition of a Yellow Card for A, B, C or D?
a) All cases of excessive use of whip, as defined above, or by stronger sanction(s) (as provided for under Art. 526.2).
b) Any other cases of Abuse of Horse
c) Excessive pressing of a tired horse
d) Riding an Exhausted horse coupled in addition to Disqualification.”
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FEI is a joke.
They don’t care! Ollie is a rider who has done 80!!! 5*! Him and his owners have paid so many FEI entries… I can’t imagine how many. They will protect him.
The officials are terrified of being sued by owners. The owners have deeper pockets than you can dream of. Totally broken horse welfare system.
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I just checked and it says he has done 886 FEI events in the database.
Say average £1000 per entry.
That’s £886,000 Oliver Townend has brought the FEI.
They aren’t going to cut that cash cow off.
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That is not how this works. That is money to the event organizers, with a fraction of that to the FEI. FEI does not organize events.
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So, not to be disrespectful, but …
It is a fallacy that Townend will drop FEI sanctioned events of any discipline after one yellow card, or even a few more.
This is his living. He would be firing himself from his own job.
As for the owners, maybe they will sue, but are they really going to drop FEI eventing and other disciplines and go unrecognized? Or confine their horses to local associations?
Sometimes the power dynamic just needs to be understood a different way by the sanctioning organization. Not necessarily to drop a rider, but to get their attention and some behavior change in order to continue to play in the big pool.
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