Del Mar Live Stream

[Dr_Doolittle]

Yeesh, what a painful display of poor horsemanship and bad riding.

As everyone else has said – poor horse!

Without any other information to go on, she strikes me as someone who feels entitled and therefore “can ride at any level she pleases and blame the horse when he doesn’t IMMEDIATELY respond like a robot to her aids and requests”. Her riding is pretty awful, but doesn’t cross the line into abuse.

Is there a law against this? No.

Can you be a “rung out” for this? No.

I completely agree with Big Mama. This rider’s “offenses” are only to our sensibilities as horse people, and therefore not actionable.

Too bad public shaming is no longer in vogue :sigh:

[BigMama1]

@Rosie B

Dear Dressage Gods,

I do not ask for much. I only ask for the same terrible riding skills (complete with jiggly ankles) that you have bestowed upon Vorst D’s previous rider who was scoring 70+% at GP.

Amen.

LOL …he’s a former Olympian! I would kill to ride as “badly” as him too

[Joanne]

@Roni4444

Is it just me or did she yank the poor horse in the mouth after the final salute??!!

Yes, she did.

[JLR1]

@BigMama1

It was I-2. The rider was (name omitted) If you want to watch go to the AWCDF Facebook page and find the first live stream of the day today (Jan 19). The test is around the 50 minute mark.

I won’t comment on the rider because she is an amateur but I will say the horse is a freaking rock star.

No, you did worse than make a snarky comment, you publicly named this rider! I didn’t watch the video and agree that poor equitation is very, very hard to watch…but there is no need to publicly shame someone for their riding abilities! This board is pathetic in its quest to shame and pass judgements.

[yaya]

The rider’s name was shown on the video. It is not a secret.

[Roni4444]

@JLR1

No, you did worse than make a snarky comment, you publicly named this rider! I didn’t watch the video and agree that poor equitation is very, very hard to watch…but there is no need to publicly shame someone for their riding abilities! This board is pathetic in its quest to shame and pass judgements.

For me the issue is less the rider’s abilities than the way the horse was treated. Why yank him right and left after the last salute? Why take the whip in one hand to tap him several times? If that is “needed” to try to get movements, then the rider should know she is not ready for this level! You really need to watch the ride to see what the issues are.

[LarkspurCO]

@Rosie B

Dear Dressage Gods,

I do not ask for much. I only ask for the same terrible riding skills (complete with jiggly ankles) that you have bestowed upon Vorst D’s previous rider who was scoring 70+% at GP.

Amen.

Could I get an order of jiggly ankles over here too, please?

Some people just have weak observational skills. They don’t take the time or lack the ability to analyze what they are seeing.

Jiggly, schmiggly! Where do you think the shock is going to be absorbed? The ankles must flex. If you stiffen your ankle, you’ll flop in the saddle. It’s not as noticeable on a shorter person whose legs don’t hang down below the belly (e.g., Ms. Dujardin). It’s just more obvious on these long-legged guys.

And by the way, they spurs are there to be used, so it’s OK if they use them (as aids, not as bludgeoning instruments demonstrated by the terrible I2 test rider in the video).

[LarkspurCO]

@Roni4444

For me the issue is less the rider’s abilities than the way the horse was treated. Why yank him right and left after the last salute? Why take the whip in one hand to tap him several times? If that is “needed” to try to get movements, then the rider should know she is not ready for this level! You really need to watch the ride to see what the issues are.

I agree. And she continued jabbing him with her spurs as she exited the arena. That was cruel and spiteful.

[exploding_pony]

The ride makes me very, very sad. The horse is lovely (and I too agree that the former rider is an incredible talent) and I don’t understand why that woman was in the ring showing at that level.

Perhaps she was having a very, very bad day. But her trainer should suggest working on her equitation before she enters the ring at that level again.

[Cowgirl]

@ToN Farm

She has 3 scores above 60% this year on that horse.

The scores were in 2017. This is not hard for me to believe–that is a lovely international grand prix horse that had impeccable training. The scores are going downhill now though, and the horse is clearly now not going to move forward while she is holding his face and shoulders and whipping him. The hopping a kicking out is the start of bad things to come as both parties escalate.

The thing that gets me is that the riding was clearly abusive. She should have been rung out before the canter work, and, I would hope that she was yellow carded for abusing his mouth after the ride was over. This is not simply a case of a rider who was over mounted trying to ride over their ability; she took her hands off the reins too welt him up with the dressage whip race horse style–she took her spur away from his side to hit him good with the spur and she jerked him in the mouth for no good reason. I don’t buy that a judge has no recourse for a clear case of abuse and I am disappointed that the ride wasn’t stopped the first time she one handed and whipped him.

If she had a coach, the coach is responsible too. The coach, IMO, should also be yellow carded if they had signed this person’s entry form.

If she is willing to do this in public, I really feel sorry for what that horse has to suffer at home.

I do wonder whether, if the rider had been a no name schlub instead of an influential beverly hills producer, the whole mess would not have been spun as lack of preparation rather than abuse. I’m betting the no name schlub would have been rung out earlier and/or given the yellow card.

[Rosie_B]

@Dr. Doolittle

Yeesh, what a painful display of poor horsemanship and bad riding.

[snip]

Too bad public shaming is no longer in vogue :sigh:

I must confess I am curious what name you would call what is happening here on this thread?

This is a public forum…

[OneGrayPony]

If it wasn’t for the abuse, I’d be inclined to believe she didn’t deserve public shaming. But she yanked on his face and spurred him when he most definitely did not deserve it. She is ruining that poor Horse!

[CanteringCarrot]

I mean if she was just a rider that looked to be still learning and having a little difficulty sitting the horse but was still sympathetic toward her mount, it’d be different.

I think there is no shame in stepping down from that level abs remastering basics. Maybe she is an OK rider on another horse and this one is just not the right match which leads to frustration. I know there are some horses that I get on and suddenly feel like my riding has suffered a setback (larger mover, different way of going/training, or too much horse simply) but I’d recognize that and not compete in such a state until I refined my riding and relationship with the horse. I just know that if I were a trainer, I’d not want that to be an example of my program and what it produces.

[BigMama1]

@JLR1

No, you did worse than make a snarky comment, you publicly named this rider! I didn’t watch the video and agree that poor equitation is very, very hard to watch…but there is no need to publicly shame someone for their riding abilities! This board is pathetic in its quest to shame and pass judgements.

I named her to help the person who asked find the correct ride in the livestream. As her name is displayed prominently on screen during the test I didn’t think it was secret information.

To be clear, I am not “shaming” anyone for poor riding skills. As I mentioned above, as a struggling First Level amateur rider I would look much the same as her trying to ride a big horse with that much movement through that level of test.

What I and others are questioning is the poor judgement in trying to compete so far above the rider’s skill level and how / why a professional trainer would allow or encourage it.

And of course the big issue is not the poor riding but the poor horsemanship, whipping, pulling and kicking a horse who is clearly trying his heart out to figure out what his rider is asking.

[Manni01]

maybe you all should change the name of the thread its misleading… I was checking in to read about the show and I find pages and pages of shaming somebody…

[CanteringCarrot]

@Manni01

maybe you all should change the name of the thread its misleading… I was checking in to read about the show and I find pages and pages of shaming somebody…

Not what you wanted to read? Then leave the thread. Or change the direction of the discussion. Something productive.

This is simple. If I don’t like the topic I just go about my business. These are just my thoughts though and you are free to post what you’d like, of course.

[Cowgirl]

Well I don’t think it’s just about public shaming of someone…but also of the judges and officials and the unnamed coach (if there is one) and the US dressage system that allows this sort of thing to happen. If they really would hand out the 35%, and/or the yellow card and not later try to spin all of these failures into “a lack of preparedness”, this kind of thing would probably not happen.

[CFFarm]

Money can’t buy horsemanship no matter what you’ve heard…

[Manni01]

@CanteringCarrot

Not what you wanted to read? Then leave the thread. Or change the direction of the discussion. Something productive.

This is simple. If I don’t like the topic I just go about my business. These are just my thoughts though and you are free to post what you’d like, of course.

Hmmm where did you read thats not what I wanted to read… Its not what I expected to read when I opened the thread and thats exactly what I posted…So why this snarky response???

[Sparrowette]

@Manni01

maybe you all should change the name of the thread its misleading… I was checking in to read about the show and I find pages and pages of shaming somebody…

I’m not a fantastic dressage rider, but - I have watched a bit, and am at least developing an eye. And this rider brought it upon herself. The gal before her forgot something fairly big and got knocked for it, and she knew it. But she was kind to her horse, sat him fairly well, and took responsibility for her own ride.

This gal, and I WILL say her name, Shelley Browning, blames the horse. We can tell that because of the spiteful jerking on him after the test was finished. If she has a trainer, she should snatch that whip out of her hand and not return it until she can do some other things better.

I’ve only had the most basic of English riding lessons. If Shelley were riding in a basic lesson with my instructor, she would be hearing things like:

“Elbows in! Heels down! Hands stay in that little box! Hold your hands vertical, not horizontal.” and “We will pull the spurs off until your leg is stronger, and stay put better.” (Her leg is unsteady, and she spurs him unintentionally.)

Note in this snip, where his right eye is going as she brings her whip hand down for the salute. Shortly after that, as he moves out and before she jerks his mouth, he is slightly veering away from the whip hand. Although she didn’t smack him, he is anticipating.

She is not communicating with him, and he doesn’t understand why he is being whacked and jerked.
And if I, even I, can see all that….