So “Tikun” created an ID just to post this video? Hmm.
So very hard to tell from the fuzzy shot, but it looks as if he hauled the horse to a halt immediately after it stopped so it didn’t run down a person who was standing right in front of it - or is that a jump/standard? and then things went downhill from there.
I can’t see a darned thing in that video. Certainly not enough to convict a guy of cruelty.
Who cares, pot stirrer or not, this incident did happen. And I am glad to know about it.
Someone posted this on the H&H website:
Thank you for your email.
Following your comments, we can confirm that Ben Maher (GBR) was officially reprimanded by the President of the Ground Jury and the Foreign Judge after the incident at the Horse of the Year Show. The horse was also given a thorough veterinary examination after the incident and was given a clean bill of health.
With best regards,
Corporate Communications
Fédération Equestre Internationale
Chemin de la Joliette 8
1006 Lausanne
Switzerland
So looks like the verdict was that he was in the wrong.
[QUOTE=ybiaw;7805651]
Aristo Z is a chestnut. This is Wings Sublieme.
I think the horse overreacted to the refusal, was checked (and yes, checked hard) by Ben, overreacted to that, and ran backward. I don’t think Ben was being abusive.
But I wasn’t there, so I dunno. All I know is I’ve seen Ben ride a lot. In person. And he is usually one cool customer on the back of a horse with no signs of having a “temper.”[/QUOTE]
Ben had trouble with Wings Sublieme at a LGCT show and maybe more over the summer. The horse is the one with the attitude not Ben. He handled the horse very well when I saw him have trouble with him.
Quite honestly I couldn’t see what was happening. The video is of very poor quality. I wouldn’t want to make a judgement based on the video alone.
That hard check was almost certainly in my mind to keep the horse from running into the photographer standing directly in his path. You see the person move way as the horse is backing up.
Yes he checked him or pulled up abruptly. I don’t think it needs all the stink its created.
I saw a few unhappy Eq kids from Sunday’s Pessoa Medal snatch their horses and nobody made a thread.
If Ben is getting punished for this, why wasn’t Reed Kessler punished when she checked Mika HARD in the mouth after a disappointing round at WEF?
Do I think it’s abuse? No. Do I think he was overly heavy handed for a public venue? Yes. It looks to me like he checked hard and the horse overreacted a bit. It’s hard to tell exactly what happened in the video.
Holy heck, some of the posts on that thread made me think I was over at HSD! So uncalled for.
I don’t care 1) if there was a person in front of him (no excuse to REPEATEDLY yank on horse’s face), 2) if the horse is crazy (instigating a “crazy” horse by yanking on it’s mouth after a bad situation…brilliant…) or 3) if he "started to lean forward before the horse flipped (He yanked once and that is enough to shake your head at…b/c we all know yanking on a horse after they stop will really help give them the idea they should go forward next time).
I can’t stand it when ppl make excuses for others on blatantly bad behavior. The video is bad quality, but it’s pretty obvious what’s going on here.
[QUOTE=dani0303;7807217]
If Ben is getting punished for this, why wasn’t Reed Kessler punished when she checked Mika HARD in the mouth after a disappointing round at WEF?[/QUOTE]
THANK YOU!!! I wanted to say exactly this.
[QUOTE=ybiaw;7807581]
THANK YOU!!! I wanted to say exactly this.[/QUOTE]
Me too! She should’ve been punished for her behavior too. Or do they not do that at shows here in the USA?
If the horse has a bad attitude, one that includes not caring who/what he runs over, then the rider absolutely has a responsibility to check that darn animal hard as possible to prevent a run-over, which to me is what looked like happening. I’m not surprised Maher received a reprimand, but I doubt he regrets his actions. Unless you were on the ground there OR have experience riding horses who have some loose screws, there’s very little to judge.
[QUOTE=Polydor;7804403]
Funny how everyone reads the situation totally differently. My UK friend who was watching on tv and I assume had a good view (aka close up) view, saw it as a the horse having the temper tantrum. Horse is apparantely known for being “crazy” before Ben started riding it.[/QUOTE]
What does it mean when people say a horse is having a “temper tantrum”? Seems a bit anthropomorphic to me.
[QUOTE=Pony+ an inch;7807667]
If the horse has a bad attitude, one that includes not caring who/what he runs over, then the rider absolutely has a responsibility to check that darn animal hard as possible to prevent a run-over, which to me is what looked like happening. I’m not surprised Maher received a reprimand, but I doubt he regrets his actions. Unless you were on the ground there OR have experience riding horses who have some loose screws, there’s very little to judge.[/QUOTE]
This. Same thing happened to an event rider this year. Horse spooked and bolted and she checked hard to keep him from running over someone. She was reprimanded for it but it was absolutely the right thing to do. You can’t just let the horse run over someone to avoid hitting him in the mouth. That is just stupid.
[QUOTE=dani0303;7807217]
If Ben is getting punished for this, why wasn’t Reed Kessler punished when she checked Mika HARD in the mouth after a disappointing round at WEF?
Do I think it’s abuse? No. Do I think he was overly heavy handed for a public venue? Yes. It looks to me like he checked hard and the horse overreacted a bit. It’s hard to tell exactly what happened in the video.[/QUOTE]
I think she should of been, but I don’t think that competition was a FEI event. And we all know how the USEF is…
What difference (if any) does the fact that Maher was officially reprimanded make to the assessment of what happened? I assume they were in a much better position to see what happened than we are with that lo-res video.
If what he did was unavoidable, there would be grounds for appealing the decision, I’d have thought.
[QUOTE=AffirmedHope;7807707]
I think she should of been, but I don’t think that competition was a FEI event. And we all know how the USEF is…[/QUOTE]
Yes, it was an FEI class that she man-handled Mika in.
The horse was well clear of the bystander within one hoof-fall.
The remaining 10’ of hard backing that it took to get the horse to back past the large standard and halfway past a 12’ wide jump rail were gratuitous.
And rough enough that the horse fell over.
Quit making excuses, people.
The man showed us who he was before.
Why did we not believe him?
[QUOTE=meupatdoes;7807741]
The horse was well clear of the bystander within one hoof-fall.
The remaining 10’ of hard backing that it took to get the horse to back past the large standard and halfway past a 12’ wide jump rail were gratuitous.
And rough enough that the horse fell over.
Quit making excuses, people.
The man showed us who he was before.
Why did we not believe him?[/QUOTE]
Yes.
I very strongly feel that if someone’s public behavior is bad, no way are they touching my horse if I can help it, as guaranteed their behind closed doors behavior is worse. But every once in a while they forget to keep their behavior to “public behavior” in front of cameras…
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