Boyd Martin's Crackerjack Euthanized at Pau

[Jealoushe]

This is the other similar article I posted a few pages back, but it got buried.

http://www.thehorse.com/articles/383…horse-injuries

I am still seeing new posts on FB piling on Denny. I really don’t get why these riders are making their own public bashing of him criticizing him to no end, when they just have to ignore him. “oh he blocked me, oh me too, blah blah blah” Who cares! If you think hes so nuts, just move on and go back to running your program. I don’t see how the witch hunt on him is helping things whatsoever. Blog posts, FB posts…all take away from the real issue here.

Another horse died on course.

We can not just say it was a freak accident without doing some due diligence here.

Both sides look like fools right now, imo.

[Rnichols]

I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed Denny Emerson’s posts. He was funny and insightful, and I enjoyed reading what others had to comment on his posts. But when I saw what he posted this Saturday (that has subsequently been deleted), my mouth dropped. I wondered if I was just being sensitive to have this type of reaction (since everyone on the posts whole heatedly agreed with what he was saying). He took a low blow to an ULR in what is probably one of Boyds darkest times. Who does that, and especially when they didn’t even WATCH what happened (BTW it was apparent in his post he hadn’t seen the injury, at least at the time of his first FB post). And then to post more and then delete, almost like he was realizing how silly he sounded. But then to keep going on and on and on and on…

I love Boyd and Dom and I respect them. Does something need to change to address the safety for the horses and riders in the upper levels of this sport? Absolutely. But the way Denny went about it was inconsiderate, rude, and classless. To call out another rider, who is hurting and likely did nothing wrong, to make your point is not the way to do it. He turned (and continues to turn, by his many subsequent, ridiculous posts) the death of CrackerJack into a conversation about him, rather than a conversation about what it should be - the safety of horses and riders.

FWIW, as a lowly low level adult amateur (currently at BN with aspirations of a 1*…probably will never get there, but I think I can dream), I am disgusted by Dennys original words and accusations. It’s disappointing, as I used to look up to him and enjoy his comments and insight.

[devvie_continued]

@Rnichols

He turned (and continues to turn, by his many subsequent, ridiculous posts) the death of CrackerJack into a conversation about him, rather than a conversation about what it should be - the safety of horses and riders.

So why don’t we try to avoid doing so here?

[Marigold]

Chiming in late, but I honestly needed some time to absorb all that happened in the last 48 hours. My $0.02 is worth about that, but here is it:

@CCook

Does this mean that anyone who advocates for a safer eventing world (and horse world in general) must be completely innocent of any mistakes ever? Who do we have left to build a better sport then?

No, I think it’s very important that people who have made the mistakes help others to learn from them. However, Denny didn’t say “I have been there in the past. I made the wrong call back then, and really wish I had done x, y and z instead.” Instead, he accused Boyd of killing the horse, and offered no real support for how that could have been avoided. There was no teaching there, no attempt at creating a learning moments for other riders. I know, because I was looking for lessons in all of this myself.

For reference if links eventually go dead, and because I don’t think all of these have been posted yet, these are the posts about this issue that I saw from Denny (four in total, all on the day of the accident).

[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“full”,“title”:“Denny 1.jpg”,“data-attachmentid”:9911552}[/ATTACH][ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“full”,“title”:“Denny 2.jpg”,“data-attachmentid”:9911553}[/ATTACH][ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“full”,“title”:“Denny 3.jpg”,“data-attachmentid”:9911554}[/ATTACH][ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“full”,“title”:“Denny 4.jpg”,“data-attachmentid”:9911555}[/ATTACH]

[Marigold]

@Divine Comedy

I’m not weighing in on the majority of this discussion, I personally think a lot of this is overhashed and unproductive. However, I think from a records standpoint it’s pretty undeniable that Crackers had plenty of good, solid four-star experience and that he is a four-star horse who had not been pushed beyond his athletic or mental ability.

I wanted to make sure everyone had the full story in terms of this horse’s record, who does not deserve to go down in history as a 3* horse pushed past his talent. To me, that is the biggest insult that Denny has offered in the past two days, accusing a rider and owner who bred the horse herself and owns him as a tribute to her dead son of pushing him past his limits for pure greed.

There are plenty of conversations to have about this tragedy, and to me the biggest question is whether abrupt footing changes including road crossings are having a bigger impact on the legs of our horse than we realized. I would imagine the racing industry may have such research available and hopefully it can be applied to eventing. The solution could be as simple as a gradual blending of footing into the transition starting X number of yards from the footing change.

IMO, all of this, and especially the bold, is the best comment on this thread. Worth another bump. Thank you so much, @Divine Comedy

[JER]

@Jealoushe

His post, (I shared on the page back), was showing that that photo was Boyds profile pic before the accident this weekend.

Let me get this straight: Boyd was using his Badminton fall as his profile pic on Facebook?

This must have been an attempt at humor? Or some form of (self-aggrandizing) self-deprecation?

There’s something really callous about that. Horse falls aren’t funny at all.

@MsRidiculous

I think anyone who says that most current ULR’s don’t care about safety or horse welfare is not paying attention to all the safety committees, studies, and fundraising efforts (and who is directly involved with them).

What is the connection between ULRs caring about safety/welfare and the safety committees/fundraising? The two spheres aren’t really related. For example, some ULRs continue to wear top hats in dressage, which shows that safety is not their priority.

@MsRidiculous

I kinda feel like, if you REALLY care about making the sport safer, you will get involved and actually DO something (even if that’s just via a donation to a study). If you don’t REALLY care about making the sport safer, you’ll get on the internet and criticize it without ever doing a damn thing to try to help make it better.

These discussions in the eventing/equestrian community are a form of understanding and promoting safe sport. If you practice safe sport in your own life, extend that practice to those around you, find ways to make unsafe riders safer without confronting them, you’re helping make the sport better. These are everyday actions that don’t require being on a committee or donating money. And you can do all that and speak your mind in these discussions.

As for denny, I can understand his anguish at what happened this weekend. The horse was by a stallion that he’d cared for (and I believe was bred at his place). The horse was a horse that he’d watched in competition, probably due to the personal/stallion connection and he thought the horse was being pushed beyond its capabilities. Denny Emerson is someone who can do it all - ride, train, breed - and even now, he knows a thing or two about how to judge the ability of a horse. I understand that we can point to the horse’s record at 3* and 4* and say it was getting around the courses but then we can probably all give some examples of horses who got around (at least sometimes) but we felt really shouldn’t be competing at that level. This is how denny felt about Boyd’s horse.

Denny might provoke his share of controversy publicly, and while I’ve never actually met him in person, I can say that he will go to extraordinary, heroic lengths to try to ameliorate an impending disaster for horse or rider. There can’t be enough of that spirit in eventing.

[ake987]

@Jealoushe

It’s hard because a lot of people on the committees are not safety experts, they are eventers. Having some eventers sure, but don’t we need safety experts, engineers, people like RAYers?

Really? Take a look at the list of folks on the XC Safety Task Force:

• Sarah Broussard: Rider, USEA VP of Safety, paramedic, EMT and organizer of The Event at Rebecca Farm
• Jonathon Holling: Rider, USEA VP of Active Athletes
• Doug Payne: Rider, degree in mechanical engineering, USEF Judge and TD (Eventing)
• Lesley Grant Law: Rider
• Jay Hambly: Rider, FEI "C" Course Designer and Course Builder
• Malcolm Hook: Rider, USEF Eventing Technical Committee (and former chair), FEI Eventing Chief Steward, USEF "R" TD
• Kathleen Becker, DVM, MEng: Veterinarian, engineer, President of company specializing in dev/distro of large animal rescue equipment; creator of the Becker Sling
• Tremaine Cooper: Rider, FEI Course Designer

Yep. Pitiful group of non-safety experts, just riders.

Do we need more? Yes. Do we also need to do a little research before making blanket generalizations about the incredible people who are actively contributing to the enhanced safety of the sport? Also, yes.

[kcmel]

@NCRider

I don’t know about everyone else on here, but my experience with people in their late 70’s, including 2 of my grandparents and many of their friends, has shown me that many if not most of them lose their filters, particularly about things that are important to them and particularly if they are no longer dependent on “keeping the peace” to make a living. Just for fun, try engaging an older relative about a controversial topic at Thanksgiving this year. Record what they say, disagree with them in a combative and dismissive way, and then record the response to that. Transcribe it. Then read the transcription. FB just allows us to all be parties to that conversation.

I wonder about CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) which can cause severe behavioral changes. It’s very common in pro football players. Denny must have had a lot of falls over the years. Just a thought…

[halt]

@kcmel

I wonder about CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) which can cause severe behavioral changes. It’s very common in pro football players. Denny must have had a lot of falls over the years. Just a thought…

I don’t think so. Denny has always been this direct. I think his filter has faded a little but I think it is more from a position of hapless frustration that he has been saying the same thing for fifteen, twenty years and it feels like nothing has been done. He was like this while I worked for him and that was a long time ago. I think he has gotten more direct as he has gotten older because he is coming from a place of experience, and is comfortable with the realm he has built for himself enough that he knows he can say divisive things and still have people backing him.

[Jealoushe]

@JER

Let me get this straight: Boyd was using his Badminton fall as his profile pic on Facebook?

This must have been an attempt at humor? Or some form of (self-aggrandizing) self-deprecation?

There’s something really callous about that. Horse falls aren’t funny at all.

Yes, I noticed it a long time ago and it always bothered me.

[JER]

@ake987

• Sarah Broussard: Rider, USEA VP of Safety, paramedic, EMT and organizer of The Event at Rebecca Farm
• Jonathon Holling: Rider, USEA VP of Active Athletes
• Doug Payne: Rider, degree in mechanical engineering, USEF Judge and TD (Eventing)
• Lesley Grant Law: Rider
• Jay Hambly: Rider, FEI "C" Course Designer and Course Builder
• Malcolm Hook: Rider, USEF Eventing Technical Committee (and former chair), FEI Eventing Chief Steward, USEF "R" TD
• Kathleen Becker, DVM, MEng: Veterinarian, engineer, President of company specializing in dev/distro of large animal rescue equipment; creator of the Becker Sling
• Tremaine Cooper: Rider, FEI Course Designer

Yep. Pitiful group of non-safety experts, just riders.

Do we need more? Yes.

And what we need are some outside voices. Not just insiders. Not just people with a stake in the sport as it is now.

[Jealoushe]

@ake987

Really? Take a look at the list of folks on the XC Safety Task Force:

• Sarah Broussard: Rider, USEA VP of Safety, paramedic, EMT and organizer of The Event at Rebecca Farm
• Jonathon Holling: Rider, USEA VP of Active Athletes
• Doug Payne: Rider, degree in mechanical engineering, USEF Judge and TD (Eventing)
• Lesley Grant Law: Rider
• Jay Hambly: Rider, FEI "C" Course Designer and Course Builder
• Malcolm Hook: Rider, USEF Eventing Technical Committee (and former chair), FEI Eventing Chief Steward, USEF "R" TD
• Kathleen Becker, DVM, MEng: Veterinarian, engineer, President of company specializing in dev/distro of large animal rescue equipment; creator of the Becker Sling
• Tremaine Cooper: Rider, FEI Course Designer

Yep. Pitiful group of non-safety experts, just riders.

Do we need more? Yes. Do we also need to do a little research before making blanket generalizations about the incredible people who are actively contributing to the enhanced safety of the sport? Also, yes.

I didn’t say or insinuate they were “pitful”. Don’t put words or tone in my mouth please. No need to get offended.

I said they were riders and not safety experts.

I only see a couple of people on that list who have a background that could help identify safety issues. I’m not saying the others won’t have ideas or comments as to what can help, but in terms of actually understanding the scientific component of fatalities, the list falls short. You can ride and design courses till the cows come home, doesn’t make you an expert in eventing safety.

However, it has been said they are the ones in charge of finding those who CAN review and asses data, etc, and that makes more sense to me.

[lep]

Here’s an excerpt from TheHorse.com article linked by a couple people:

The “Bad Step” Myth

For years, many racing industry members have believed in the so-called “bad step” myth—that a completely healthy horse can take a single bad step and suffer a catastrophic injury.

“It sort of excused us from responsibility and lent credence to the belief that racing injuries were inevitable,” Kennedy said. “But in the vast majority of cases, it’s just not true.”

She and her colleagues have confirmed that catastrophic fractures occur in consistent sites in consistent patterns and that everything is bilaterally symmetrical—the contralateral limb will have pre-existing pathology in the same location that the fracture occurred.

It should not be difficult to, at the very least, start keeping track of how many breakdowns like Crackerjack’s occur on course and at which level. Further data which might lead to getting some answers would be at what speed was the horse traveling, was the “bad step” on level ground or an incline/decline, was there a change in footing right before or at the “bad step,” was the horse turning (and if so, a nice wide curving turn, or a sharply-angled on), or was it traveling straight.

In short, I think people who say that Crackerjack’s breakdown was no different from those that occur in a pasture are fooling themselves. And by the way, who is to say that horses who break legs in pastures don’t have some previously-undiagnosed weakness at the spot of the eventual break. The necropsy study in KY makes it clear that xrays often didn’t show the prior damage that led to the catastrophic injury which led to the death. So, a horse can clinically and radiographically appear to be just fine, but in reality there are issues lurking.

[WNT]

Personal attacks and hand-wringing aside, the biggest question in my mind is where will the money come from. Do universities in racing states have the money coming from the racing industry? Racing has leaps and bounds more money than eventing could ever dream of.

The study referenced above about pre-existing injuries prefacing catastrophic ones is very relevant. Like the cardiac study though, we need baseline information on the horses involved. That will cost a lot more than loaning out a few dozen heart rate monitors. Do participants absorb the cost in higher membership and entry fees? Get a bonus or discount for participating in the study?

As as far as researching the nutritional aspect, that’s going to be a toughie, as far as I’ve seen a lot of equine nutrition research is sponsored by the feed companies. Are they going to fund research that may implicate them in damaging horses? Same goes with pharmaceutical and nutriceutical companies.

My last loaded question is just how stiff was Michael Jung’s Sam before the competition? I am FAR from claiming he used it as an excuse not to run! But, it appears a lot of veteran riders were not thrilled with the course, including Boyd, but rode it anyway. I think is on the riders to have to put their collective foot down about courses that are blatantly not fair to the horses. And that is tremendously difficult when not everyone feels the same way, and most everyone’s livelihood is dependent on the next qualification or completion or win to keep the paychecks coming that feed themselves, their families, and their horses. I agree that course designers need to be held accountable for the design and upkeep of their courses over the course of the competition, too.

There are far more difficult questions than easy answers, and the vitriol this weekend certainly is not helpful.

[devvie_continued]

@kcmel

I wonder about CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) which can cause severe behavioral changes. It’s very common in pro football players. Denny must have had a lot of falls over the years. Just a thought…

For the love of God, now you’re diagnosing the man. Did YOU recently fall on your head. I’m done folks, see ya.

[vineyridge]

There have been some writeups of British research on similar matters on H & H. I do seem to recall that the racing industry has funded some studies on various aspects of breakdowns, both tendons and bones. A review of PubMed might call up the peer reviewed papers from all over the world that are relevant.

[kcmel]

@devvie_continued

For the love of God, now you’re diagnosing the man. Did YOU recently fall on your head. I’m done folks, see ya.

No I am a neuroscientist and interested in the aging process. Sorry you are offended .

[BreathEasy]

I think course designers hold most of the responsibility here. Shouldn’t the governig bodies be capable of compiling and publishing an online record of incidents of death or permanent injury to horse/rider, as well as % of eliminations on course for each course designer? Can this be done?

[devvie_continued]

@kcmel

No I am a neuroscientist and interested in the aging process. Sorry you are offended .

SOB. I just keep trying to move this thread away from “WWDED,” and back to the topic at hand, but apparently it’s impossible!!! Permanent sidetrack. Like I said, I give up.

[vineyridge]

As I’ve pointed out humans can break bones in the foot from a bad step because I’ve done it. The difference is that breaking a human foot bone won’t be catastropic, while breaking the analogous bone in the horse can be. I’ve also sheared a DIP tendon in a finger from sticking it in between the cushions of a couch. Both completely without any pre-existing issues. If these sorts of injuries happen to humans, there is no reason to expect they can be prevented in horses.