Horsemanship is the one art for which it seems one needs only practice. However, practice without true principles is nothing other than routine, the fruit of which is a strained and unsure execution, a false diamond which dazzles semi-connoisseurs often more impressed by the accomplishments of the horse than the merit of the horseman.
~Francois Robichon de la Gueriniere
I think what should all be learning from the repeated castle crumbling is no one is perfect, and therefore itâs dangerous to put anyone on a pedestal. Even more dangerous to be the one being put on the pedestal.
So my Mane Man loves to chase after the chopper. He presses up against the fence to watch it. I think he secretly wants to have a fly.
OTOHâŠ
He is terrified of zebra finches. Terrified.
After a weekend away from the computer and time to reflect, as much as I hate the video of CDJ, I am more pissed off about the timing of the release.
We have a microscope now on the sport at the Olympics. THIS is going to kill our sport. The amount of video releases we are seeing now of other riders, Iâm all for it, outing them and holding them accountable, but did it need to be released RIGHT NOW?
THIS is going to kill our sport. From personal experience, I think there are a lot more people who are raised to believe that beating a horse is the answer. Its up to us to educate ourselves and be better. What I was like at 18 is very different for me at 36, my views are different. I absolutely made mistakes, but I was also numb to it because it was all learned from the race world and it was âokâ. Definitely know better now.
What shocks me is, CDJ was already a heavy medal Olympian at this point, whether it was 4 years or 2.5 years ago. She was a well decorated rider by then, shame on her, knowing she is a role model, and knowing eyes are always on her. She should know better. But its not just about her, we all need to be better.
Just sad about the timing. We have a Canadian rider who has been to the Olympics in 1984, bashing our Eventing team before the event is even over. Its created this mad witch hunt which is also just disheartening.
Based on his expression and the tears streaming from his eyes⊠sweaty face. Tell tale sign.
Cesar parra videos were released a while ago, and what changed?
We canât claim this isnât abuse, that everyone does it and not look bad.
We canât ignore the comments here alone, of times people have seen it and felt powerless to do anything about an abusive situation, or worse approached TDs and had nothing happen and also wonder why now!
What happens on private farms is supposedly out of the jurisdiction of the governing bodies, which makes change impossible⊠Well, here we are.
.
We should have done better so this didnât seem necessary by the person/people exposing it.
.
Iâll also repeat my comment about the suggestion to let it go
If I did this to any of the horses I am paid to care for, there would be no conversation about context⊠Iâd be fired and refused a reference and Iâm sure word would get around about me.
Why are we making those consequences seem wrong for CD in this instance?
.
the bitching and whining being done by eventers in Ontario is crazy right now. The amount of people complaining about every little thing, complaining to governing bodies about events over the smallest stupidest thing. We are this close to losing event hosts. People have no idea how many organizers are one more email away from pulling the plug. Complaining about the team, about the weather, itâs never ending! Itâs the worst itâs ever been this year.
Frankly Iâm sick and tired of all the bitching. If people want to event they need to start being a lot more appreciative and supportive of our eventing community. If they want our team to be successful they need to support the team not tear them down!
I listend to her speech âBlickschulungâ and itâs amazing!!! Itâs really worth to listen to the podcast!!!
But⊠the German FN is not interested in her observations 
âŠ. I donât believe she will change anything, but itâs great that the horses have somebody like her who tries to improve trainingâŠ.
Well how do we know that she learned from that lesson? So far we only know that she regrets it because she got caughtâŠ.
Yes I did a lot of mistakes but I did try to learn from themâŠ. Remember I lost my horse 40 years ago to a horse abuser who is still a famous BNT in Germany?? Believe me I know exactly what that meansâŠ.
What are the Canadian eventers bitching about? I watched just about every second of the dressage and cross-country, havenât yet caught up on the show jumping, but they represented well? And on a slight tangent good for Japan that was thrilling to see them do so well. I thought the eventing overall was excellent tough but appropriate cross country That separated the wheat from the chaff and lots of the individual riders were able to complete. What a thrill for them.
Some thoughts on this post from the vet. The quotes below are not the words of @Angela_Freda but are the vetâs opinions from her post.
It is wrong. Not âprobably not.â I would like to hear the vetâs thoughts in which context this reaction is ok.
Yes, people are allowed to change. But was this just one âmistakeâ?
It doesnât bother me that she lost her sponsorships. I bet she made a decent amount of money off those sponsorships. There are plenty of trainers who work hard and train ethically and donât have those sponsorships. Charles Owens was not an unknown company before sponsoring CD. It was a business decision to drop her. Totally allowed. And he can avoid their helmets next time heâs looking to buy a new one, but I think itâs silly. I also think itâs silly to buy a helmet because a rider treated as a celebrity is being paid to wear them. Buy the helmet that fits you. And while Charlotte did have an effect on helmet wearing, IMO Courtney King Dyeâs accident had a larger effect.
CD was put on a pedestal and turned into a celebrity. But that wasnât completely by accident. She has a PR team and a strong social media presence. It makes the public scrutiny much worse for her if she does make a âmistakeâ. But on the other hand, she benefitted financially from being in the spotlight. So there is an awareness CD and other top riders must have due to being in the very bright spotlight.
There is an issue with everyone on social media putting a bullseye on whoever is in the spotlight that day. Itâs a side effect of the current technology we have. It didnât start with CD, and itâs not going away anytime soon. The best thing for CD would be to step away from the internet for a while. I do think she can come back as a trainer and rider. She obviously still has a decent size following. And I hope what people take from this is that if they see abuse, to say something, regardless of how famous the trainer/rider is.
We donât know if she learned from that lesson butâŠto be dragged in front of the whole world, a week before the Olympics, would be such a humiliating experience that it would be hard to comprehend that this lesson is unlearned. Unlike Parra, that news died away pretty quickly, he slunk off, we have no idea what the FEI is doing or not doing about him.
Look at ShaâCarri Richardson and what happened to her before the Tokyo GamesâŠit wasnât abuse of an animal but she was stripped of her national title due to a doping violation. And it was all over the news. I saw an interview with her this year and she was very humble about her mistakes. She is still a flamboyant personality, but you get called out on the worldâs stage for an infraction of rules, and you take a ton of heat and humiliation. It is a smackdown of enormous proportions.
Maybe a psychopath wouldnât care. But Charlotte doesnât strike me a psychopath. This video, changes Charlotteâs life foreverâŠshe will always be known for it, people will watch her like a hawk, and maybe she will lose training and competition horses over it. The lesson she is learning is as tough as the whip she used on the horse.
I did not know you lost a horse to a BNT. I am sorry that happened to you.
Tears? Sweaty face? Telltale sign? In the rain?
You can diagnose that that particular horse was drugged - from your TV screen?
Wow.
What drug was it? What was the dosage? I am sure that is equally easy to figure out.
I did not see it - and my analysis off of my TV screen must surely count for as much âexpertiseâ as yours.
I have worked with horses who also would not have batted an eye at any of what those horses were experiencing - and they were not âdruggedâ. But I am sure some posters here know better.
Well I assume she will learn a lot from being caught with this videoâŠ.
My personal thoughts and I cannot prove it but I am wondering⊠will she be able to train her horses in a different way? How much do we know about how these top riders really train their horses? Mostly we only see them once they are at the top, We donât know their way up to the topâŠ.
I really wonder if a lot of knowledge got lost in the last decadesâŠ.
CO helmets were a popular choice long before CDJ appeared on the scene. It certainly didnât hurt the company to have her wearing their brand, but itâs not like they would have faltered without her.
Her actions changed her life forever. She is responsible for that. If she were smart enough to ban recording of her lessons or, even better, smart enough to not have beaten on that horse, then there would be no video of her abusing a horse.
Someone who is that not smart deserves to be watched like a hawk until they absolutely prove they are trustworthy. Merely expressing regret changes nothing. Pathological liars do that all. the. time. and nothing changes. (thatâs B/W framing of the issue people may have with mere words of apology, not an accusation of CDJ of anything)
Sure, itâs a tough lesson, but many important life lessons are tough.
Yeah, I feel like Charles Owen was the top desirable helmet brand when I returned to riding almost 20 years ago, and then got edged out by the even more expensive Samshields etc.
These are the things being talked about by a previous Canadian Olympian. IMO distasteful as it was posted during cross country day, at least let the team finish before you start your witch hunt.
People did this last time, I canât recall if it was Pan Ams or the Olympics, but people in Canada were bitching before they had even finished.
Canada is a very small pond in every sport or arts, and people do bitch. Itâs also small enough in every endeavour that it might be impossible to avoid the appearance of favoritism. When all Olympic team members basically come from one province everyone presumably knows everyone.
In general in the US, in academia and arts, I got the impression people thought âhey, you might be going somewhere. Let me hitch alone for a ride, give you a boost, that will help me long term. The pie is infinite and you might help me get a slice too.â
In Canada itâs much more âthe pie is tiny, any slice you get is food taken out of my mouth, Iâm going to guard all resources and itâs a zero sum game, so Iâm going to freeze you out.â Also known as âcrabs in a bucket.â
Please note youâre quoting the part I shared from elsewhere, from a vet, and not my own words.
I put his words in italics to avoid confusion.
I agree, CO will survive without her.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
