No-one in the UK can be surprised this has happened to Matthew Wright, as he has a bad boy reputation, similar to Olly Townend. As an aside, MW was diagnosed with testicular cancer a few years ago and, upon recovery, has been rebuilding his riding career why is why he hasn’t been seen much on the CCI/CIC circuit as usual.
As for blaming the groom, the reason for that is not that he was Polish but because he was not registered with the FEI and this then had the effect of confusing exactly who could be blamed. This is clearly stated in the official report of the case if you read the full thing on the FEI website.
I am British and have several Polish friends who have worked very hard and quite rightly done well for themselves. I will hate it if they feel they have to go come because of Brexit.
He didn’t blame the groom because the groom was Polish. He didn’t blame the groom because the groom wasn’t registered with the FEI. He blamed the groom because he’s a bad guy.
none of which has anything to do with Brexit. He’ll still be a jerk.
Because there are two sides to every story. Matthew’s statement.
I’m currently in the land of no signal at Houghton Horse Trials with four lovely horses who will all go cross country today. I was really saddened to hear last night that the Horse and Hound felt the need to publish a story about an incident, that was well over two years ago, about a passport irregularity at a three day event one of the horses had. This was all without any actual facts from myself as to what truly happened, just a one sided story that quite frankly, if was all factual, I would have been banned. I never received any ban and the FEI later discovered that my horse complied with competition regulations vaccination wise, after I had already withdrawn from the competition. There are also two sides to every story and there’s the truth. I don’t ever profess to have been an angel, and in the past I have made some stupid mistakes that I have openly admitted to. I had said that this year was my return competition and I wanted to give it my best shot, for myself, my owners, my sponsors and my horses. I am also a very different person now to the person that I used to be. I despise that person to be completely honest, he was no real man!! And I know that this is the main reason I have battled mentally as much as I have. I know I am always going to struggle to get away from that and people are always to some extent going to judge me for the person I was, but to bring up an incident from the past that takes me back to a very bad place I felt was cruel on the eve of cross country day before the three biggest weeks of the year so far. I have been in tears for the majority of the night and I have considered just giving up and going to learn to be a chef or getting a job and doing something else with my life. The horse world is cruel!!! It always has been and it always will be and it made me wonder as I sat there last night actually how many people don’t ever actually achieve there full potential with there horses because there so afraid of what people think or they become too self conscious of the many opinions so many have. But I sat back and I thought, I adore my horses, I do it for the buzz and adrenaline I get when you have to tackle something challenging together, wether it be a crisp packet, grass verge or a cross country fence. I am going to continue Eventing this year and try and raise as much money for the charities of my choice as possible, along with trying to have some great experiences with my horses. I hope many of you can see that I’m a different person now and I am trying and working so very hard to be the best role model I can possibly be for my kids. As long as I and they know that and the people closest to me can see that, then I’m happy!!
I was really saddened to hear last night that the Horse and Hound felt the need to publish a story about an incident, that was well over two years ago, about a passport irregularity at a three day event one of the horses had.
The reason this was in H&H recently is because the FEI Tribunal decision was handed down on 11 May 2018. Which makes it newsworthy.
Boo effing hoo, Mr. Wright.
Two sides, sure. Just not two equivalent sides. This reminds me of ollie’s post post-reaction
I always take media news with a grain of salt, as is rightly pointed out, there are many sides to the story.
But his own testimony there convinced me he is a twat. Oh but ive changed, and I dont want to be judged on my past behaviour cos ive changed - and its not fair.
And im so godamn sick of these people in our sport. Try and behave like that in a real job and see how far you get in life.
Horse & Hound, in their original news report, asked MW to comment for their story. He declined.
Matthew declined to comment for this news story, but said he would comment in his blog on the H&H website in due course.
So then MW writes in his blog:
I was really saddened to hear last night that the Horse and Hound felt the need to publish a story about an incident, that was well over two years ago, about a passport irregularity at a three day event one of the horses had. This was all without any actual facts from myself as to what truly happened, just a one sided story
MW is either an utter dunce or he lives in a bizarre state of denial. He seems quite comfortable with lying and also with making up new lies to cover old lies.
Why does H&H continue to give this person a platform?
And on he goes. MW with shovels, rope and all sorts of excuses up on H&H.
After more obfuscation and self-contradiction, he concludes:
I learnt the lesson the hard way that I should be responsible for the paper work and passports of all of my horses. I also lost the ride on both horses, quite rightly so…
He claims he’s ‘grown up a lot since then’. I hope so. It’s especially disturbing that he claims the groom faked the passport info out of fear because MW was ‘such a bastard to work for at the time’.
Unfortunately, there’s no real recourse or worker protections for a groom or stable employee who’s treated abusively. You can deal with it or you can quit but quitting might not be a possible option for many.
