When confronted with anomalies (that’s a euphemistic term for blatant falsifications) in two of his horses’ passports at a competition, Matthew Wright admits to the FEI that he faked the vaccination records. But shortly thereafter, he has a change of heart and tries to pin the blame on his Polish groom. (Perhaps he thought this would work because there are some in the UK who believe that Polish immigrants/workers are to blame for everything.)
However, the FEI maintained that Wright was the PR, not the groom, and was fined CHF 1500.
It appears he now has the ride on the former Jordan McDonald ride, the lovely Prince Mayo. I can only hope his horses now have regular vaccinations and veterinary care - of course they all deserve it, but that in particular is a special horse to many.
Horse and Hound article June 12, 2012 Matthew Wright and Matthew Heath arrested on Sunday May 27 ….both were suspended by British Eventing…. Rider Oliver Smith was reportedly injured in the incident.at Houghton Horse Trials .
Based on his behavior this dude sounds like a tool, but I don’t know that it’s fair to use this as evidence of why most/all UL riders are entitled jackasses that don’t care about their horses.
Lower level riders may not need or have FEI passports, but I’ve certainly heard of Coggins forms being falsified by local riders and trainers so they could attend shows without actually having a test done.
The “UL riders are all in it for the money and glory and don’t care about their horses/LL riders are all saints that always do what’s best for their horse” dichotomy gets tiresome. And I’m an amateur that competes for fun on an unconventional horse with a very limited budget.
Wow, I’m curious as to where some can justify such statements (opinions) as: “UL riders are all in it for the money and the glory” or “most/all UL riders are entitled jackasses that don’t care about their horses” - pretty sweeping statements, I would say, as in every business, sport, etc. - there are always “bad apples” who make us all look bad - but I would hardly say they are all this way - even a stretch to say “most”. Of course, there has been notable bad (even despicable) behaviour, over the last month or so - but that doesn’t mean we can taint all UL riders with that same brush. I personally know several (meaning a lot) UL riders who do not in anyway feel that they are so privileged that they can have a total disregard for the most important member of their team - their animals are their first priority. On a side note, I have seen several LL riders be “princesses/princess” who have been far from “saintly”!
Now having said that, this particular rider in the UK - looks incredibly stupid for changing his story and who knows why he did it? But what I do know, and this is in NO way condoning his response to the FEI or to others, when people are in trouble they will often lie - deny, deny, deny, until you can’t deny any more! I’m sure many of you can think of some memorable lies from the past and present. “Rule of Thumb” - by being honest and truthful from the start is the best way to avoid tarnishing one’s character.
I think it is very safe to say that his reputation and his character have been severely tarnished/discredited/disgraced/ruined/etc./etc., and from now on will be known as a liar. For me that means a whole lot more than any names one might call him - I can’t think of too many things worse than to be classified as “not trustworthy” in any world we live in. Trust is a very difficult thing to get back - just saying!
Sticky Situation appears to have either not actually read or comprehended my OP or has brought to this thread some pre-existing bias that has nothing to do with my OP and, furthermore, is not evidenced by my posting history or life in eventing.
For example, I don’t compete my own horses but instead get them going myself and then they go to various UL riders for their competitive careers. If I felt that ‘most/all UL riders don’t care about their horses’, then why the F would I do this? Right now, I have one of my homebreds in training for CDEs with a very BN CDE driver. Before that, she was at Mike Plumb’s barn. So seriously, don’t try to put it on me that I denigrate most/all UL riders. I don’t.
My personal view is that we’re all in this together, regardless of level and regardless of nationality out of a shared passion for the sport. Because of that, it’s up to us - all of us - to ensure a fair field of play and a high standard of horse welfare.
My OP was about yet another black eye for eventing with a well-known BN eventer in the UK falsifying his horse’s passports and then trying to pin the blame on his groom. I do not believe that ‘most/all UL riders’ do this sh*t but this one does. Moreover, his groom is Polish - a much-maligned and often vulnerable group in the UK as many are there as low-paid service workers. To try to put this on the groom and give him a public and possibly damaging charge he did not deserve is actually worse than despicable. This is worker exploitation - shameful, abusive and inhumane.
JER - I was quoting from a previous post - not attributing them to a specific person who has posted on this link (please note that I didn’t use the quote tab when responding) - I’m assuming (and I could be wrong, as we all know that assuming something makes “an ass out of you and me”) that these comments were coming from other sources Sticky Situation was aware of, and not you!
In no way was I questioning your post and for certain your character! I think that you may have misunderstood my post, I thought I was pretty clear - obviously I wasn’t???
We all call things the way we wish - don’t for a minute think that I approve of his behaviour or feel that his behaviour is less than what others have done - and the welfare of their horses and their (grooms, working students) who care for their athletic partners - is essential if our sport is to survive.
Karma, Karma, Karma - because this will follow him for a very long time, if not forever!
Blaming the groom is absolutely the main issue here. The falsifying the shots to me is oddly enough slightly common in a jam. At one csi we could have done this, but instead we just didn’t have the shots and got a smaller fine for that.
Trying to pin falsifying records on his groom is absolutely what makes this guy despicable. I cannot believe this is even being debated.
and jer you are absolutely correct it’s worse that it’s a Polish groom, but it’s despicable regardless.
He had a pretty terrible reputation to begin with anyway. It’s not for nothing that his name is mentioned at pretty much every fence judge briefing I’ve attended (and he’s not even a particularly local rider). His attitude towards BE officials and volunteers has historically been absolutely appalling.
it’s a poor sportsmen that blames his…grooms. Oddly enough, I have encountered some truly incompetent grooms lately. Just bad, inexperienced, lazy, sloppy, dangerous not concerned about the horses at all grooms (not exclusive to eventing) However, I blame their rider/boss. If it’s your groom, you make sure they know the job, teach and or kick to the curb as needed…like captain of a ship, you bear responsibility for everyone under your “command”. Blaming the groom…this is like “my dog ate my homework”. Even if your groom made a mistake, you suck it up as they were under your supervision. Maybe that’s what I see that bugs me…people hire grooms and go “ok I’m off the hook, groom knows everything”. Few grooms around of that caliber/experience and they know their worth and capitalize on it to get in with best employers. For most, your groom is a sort of working student, you will have to supervise, educate, guide them…while you save your back some shoveling and feet some hot walking…but you aren’t ever off the hook for any of it, just relieved of some of it.
No. We are ta!king about Europe. Grooms are NOT like working students as many are in the US. They are by and large real and very experienced professionals.
I must have misinterpreted your initial sentence, JER, about the “entitled UL eventers” … I took it imply that your opinion was that this guy was representative of UL riders in general, and read the rest of your post in that light.
Sorry about the misunderstanding.
The “UL riders are bad and are ruining the sport/LL riders are wonderful” type posts do show up on this board pretty often, but I guess this wasn’t meant to be one of them!
I wonder if I’m the only one who’s ever been in the situation of having an official say “ack, you’re missing this required signature, just scribble something in so the box isn’t empty, nobody cares”.
According to the H&H writeup, one of the forged signatures was that of the FEI veterinary delegate herself. That seems beyond dodgy and well into surreal, but might be the only reason this was caught.
