That poor horse. So many of us (myself included) would LOVE to ride a horse of this caliber and she not only was abusive but I have seen better riders at Training Level…
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Do you think those videos are copyrighted by the company that videoed the show?
Maybe. But I’m sad and glad that I saw it. She looks like a wp trainer
Still working my way thru the thread, but someone should tell this rider that one does not salute with the whip in hand. I hope she has a mentor—not a trainer—who can teach her the etiquette of showing. But that is not likely.
Rider was eliminated after the final halt? Or was she E’d after she left the arena? I may not be seeing the same video.
Can someone point me to the pony who pony who went before this pair? Axel mentions the pony/rider pair a couple of times, but I cannot find video. Should be the one before this rider?
BTW, I think he was quite diplomatic with his commentary. More like a “what not to do and why” when things are not going well.
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It annoyed me too because this ride had nothing to do with rollkur—the horse was alternating between leaning to stabilize the bit and going behind the contact to avoid her jerky hands. The ride was cruel and abusive—but it was not rollkur.
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She was eliminated after she left the arena.
Since the friday session has been deleted from the Adequan festival site, the only other video of the pony is here: the first ride of this session.
Rider was eliminated after the final halt (after which she slammed him with the bit in anger a few times). A score was posted. The judges conferred, according to Axel a few rides later. The pony went immediately after the abusive ride. Axel continued to comment about the abusive ride through the class and then sort of spinned it to the rider being unprepared. He was pretty appalled while the ride was happening though.
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Dear Lord, but those videos break my heart and make me so angry. WTF is wrong with people?!? I’ve seen Diederik van Silfhout warm up and compete in person, and he’s a BEAUTIFUL rider. Honestly, from what I’ve seen of him, I think he’s one of the nicer and kinder riders on the Dutch team.
There’s no question that Ms. Browning is not a pretty or effective rider and should not, in any way, be competing at that level. And she clearly has a rotten temper to take her inadequacies out on the horse. However, one thing I do wonder about is whether or not part of the reason she has so much trouble with her leg is the fact that Diederik is 6’3" and Ms. Browning obviously is not. Her leg is in a completely different spot than what her horse is used to. The poor horse is probably wondering what the heck that puny human on his back is even asking of him half the time. Having gone through a similar issue with my own horse (the guy who put the first 90+ days on him is 6’2" and I top out at 5’6" on a good day), it’s now something I’m aware of. Anyway, it doesn’t excuse her crappy riding, but it can be an issue.
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Someone up thread asked why a rider would enter a level that they were (clearly) not prepared for. Nobody wants a bad score!
But some are happy to just squeak by with qualifying scores towards their Bronze, Silver or Gold USDF medals. To say they have earned their (B, S, G) medal, but NOT say the scores that were qualifying scores…or not-qualifying scores. See this rider’s history of scores, as an example.
Maybe this rider thought she had a shot at getting one of her Q scores, just squeaking in with the minimum required. It’s a possibility, given how saintly the horse seemed.
She already had the qualifying scores at this level, so your theory does not make sense. My bet would be that she’s never been given a truly accurate score so she has no idea how bad she is.
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This has to be it. Or she has a diva personality, and dosen´t listen to her trainer. It looks like she has a good and capable trainer?
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No, tension/jigging are definitely NOT against the rules in eventing. The rules for eventing dressage follow those for dressage-dressage, plain and simple.
Any decent score for this pair must be due to the horse being scored generously, not the rider.
As for questioning the trainer: trainers do not have full control over how a competitor rides and competes. Trainer signatures are NOT required on an entry form. So who knows whether there is a trainer and if there is, how much influence that trainer can have over this rider.
As for the poor riding. We never know why this rider rides as she does, and we certainly do not have information about her inner feelings/beliefs/motives or her reason for competing at this level with such poor skill. Who knows, maybe riding I-2 is on her bucket list for some reason other than wanting to brag about having done it. Maybe she does not realize that her riding is considered abusive, especially if she gets better rides at home or in lessons. Who knows?
Why shoot her name out here to publicly shame her? She is likely humiliated already, although who knows?
I doubt she will be out there competing at this level in the very near future. From the scores, I would guess that her riding has deteriorated across time and it’s now time for a Come To Whoever Moment. She spent a great deal of $$ on a very fancy horse most likely with great dreams. She has failed. Perhaps she is devastated as well as humiliated.
Who knows? We are privy only to a snapshot of her life and not her entire personality profile.
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Meh. I think the rider knows that they are being criticized. I can only hope that she uses it as motivation to become a better rider and works in horsemanship as well.
When you treat your mount like she did, I don’t feel bad that people have “shamed” her. She shamed herself by behaving that way. We will be able to see what kind of person she is at her next competitions. There is the type that will grow from the experience, and the type that will stay even more stuck in their ways.
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I agree 100%. What she does next will give us a hint as to who she is. As for treating her mount like she did, perhaps she didn’t realize how bad it was until she saw the video being linked across social media sites. I am not ready to tar and feather without seeing how she copes with viewing her rides at this competition. I should hope that she will be horrified, dismayed, upset, and will seek to be a (much) better rider.
All of us must at some time have been shocked by a video of our riding - not realizing that we were doing this or that until we actually saw what we were doing.
So let’s see how she deals with the consequences of this ride.
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I have no problem with lots of people discussing her display of temper and poor horsemanship. If she had merely ridden above her current ability, most people would have rolled their eyes and moved on. But the public display of temper and undeserved punishment of the horse deserves to be called out. I also hope that the amount of attention this has received - especially in regards to the score received before elimination - might prompt some discussion among judges and administration on how to deal with and score any such instances. (If she hadnt been eliminated for taking her hand off the reins, would the judging community have been comfortable with this ride being scored as “marginal” or “sufficient”?)
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@DRHB… She rode him terribly and got a 51 on this test…and came back to ride him even more poorly for another 50 some thing and got eliminated, right? She doesn’t learn…she gets worse.
that poor horse.
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She should have been scored much lower. Many of those movements were not performer or of a very poor quality. Well below a 5. Rider marks should be low too. It was not a harmonious test.
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I hear you and I must confess <ducking with embarrassment here> that I wasn’t able to access the video. I can only assume that it was one of those Gawd Awful Cringe Worthy rides that most of us have seen at one time or another (usually at a MUCH lower level).
My only point here was that she may not realize how horribly she rode until she saw the video. Who knows?
I would watch the video I I could get the link for it. I do not do Facebook (posting on COTH, and moving out of the lurking mode took years, LOL).
If anyone can point me to a direct link, that’d be great. Someone above noted that this was a display of “temper,” and if so, perhaps she did realize how terribly she was riding.
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No, the scores for all the horses have been low, so I suspect this is a rider problem. However, I see your point–at this level that should have been ironed out before this. If she isn’t a good size for the horse or they don’t "gel’ then find a more suitable horse, don’t abused him.
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The Thursday ride at scored a 51.75 I think:
https://www.facebook.com/writingofri…0699802310594/
The Friday ride that got her eliminated;
https://www.facebook.com/writingofri…2337048813536/
Those are public links to FB I don’t think you need an account to watch.
she is so weak in her core that there is almost no way on earth she’s strong enough to ride 45 minutes 4-5 days a week. I can’t believe that she does- so I ASSume she studied a pattern and bought a horse.
she fumbles the bight of her reins many times- so she’s unaccustomed to double reins.
she doesn’t know how to salute or hold a halt
she takes her hand off the reins to whip him.illegal.
ALL of that speaks to MONEY and no LESSONS and zero HUMILITY.
I am not bullying her, by the way 
her trainer should have said NO in the face of her hubris and ego. NO, you are not ready! The judges should have rung her out. her saving grace was being too weak to kick a hole in him. There is no way she’s a completely different rider at home- this woman is not a rider, and she’s an abusive passenger.
I cannot imagine the pain of having sold that horse into her hands and seeing where he’s ended up. As Axel said, he’s a SAINT.
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