I see that a Costa Rican rider and horse had a terrible fall early on in the race. Horse has died, rider to hospital. Some outlets reporting it was because of the bad footing?
Ugh. I hope this is the ONLY serious wreck during these Games. 
that’s terrible.
where are you seeing this?
Fei tweet
H&H reports they hit a tree . . .
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/weg/weg-endurance/endurance-horse-dies-world-equestrian-games/
Something I saw in German report mentioned footing.
Footing makes sense. Otherwise I’m not sure how you hit a tree hard enough to kill the horse and injure the rider
Plenty of horses have died from hitting trees while running out in pasture. And before you say the rider should have steered around it, I have treated horses for a head-on collision when both were under riders. And I have a friend who broke a jaw when the horse she was on scraped her off on a tree.
So it’s possible.
There is no trace of the horse slipping before impact.
"A horse and rider suffered a fall during the first loop of the Endurance competition at Sartilly (FRA) shortly after 8.30 am today. Costa Rican rider Claudia Romero Chacon and Dorado (no 50) fell 400 metres before the first check point on the course. Tragically the horse was fatally injured in the fall. The rider was also injured in the fall, but was conscious when she was taken to hospital by ambulance. An update on her condition will be issued as soon as it is available.
The FEI has conducted an immediate investigation into the circumstances of this tragic incident and the investigation shows that the horse struck a tree at the side of the track in a forested area. The horse sustained a head injury and died instantly. There are no signs that the horse slipped prior to the impact."
http://www.normandy2014.com/news/795/claudia-romero-chacon-crc-and-dorado-no-50
We are all horse people and know that unexpected, unheard of, wild, strange etc. things happen all the time when it comes to horses. Not to mention how fragile they are despite their size. Speculating won’t get anyone any answers, just have to wait for the full report from FEI and witnesses.
Prayers and condolences going to Claudia
indeed I think we all remember the Canadian show-jumpers horse that died on course. This horse may have been already gone when it went down. The tree is incidental
My sympathy to all involved.
Thanks for the update NorCal. What a d@mn shame. Hope the rider is OK!
I hope that there are no more falls, thank everyone for the updates, and hope this proves to not be related to footing or anything else but rather one of those tragic things which happen and bad timing which makes it public.
Well the footing out there is terrible–they’ve had tons of rain. The FEI reduced the course speed to try to make allowance for that.
But yes, hope everyone else comes in safely!
Lots of lost shoes too apparently.
Can someone explain the 400 metres part. Did they hit a tree and fall off a cliff?
they hit a tree and fell 400 m from the finish line. There are no 400 m high cliffs there!
Does anyone know why the UAE team dropped out except for one rider?
[QUOTE=FalseImpression;7735816]
they hit a tree and fell 400 m from the finish line. There are no 400 m high cliffs there![/QUOTE]
or to put it another way, 400m from the check point, they fell
Same thing… there are no 400 m drop off is what I wanted to emphasize…
http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/updated-horse-dies-during-world-games-endurance-competition
