Yowza. Those were both pretty darn unpleasant. Double ouch.
Thanks to everyone for digging up the clips.
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Does anybody remember the fall with McLain Ward and Quimi del maset? I was just wondering if it was the same kind of fall.
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Oh, that was awful. I hope he’s OK.
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His horse is not together going in. He and other riders/horses have trouble with the color of the fence. Horse just trying to make it over vertical and depth perception was a problem between. Suggestion is to ride looking forward not skiing backwards and chop chopping over. Like other posters have said this horse is a tactful ride. But also a lot of rider/horses of all ranges were successful in negotiating this often used combo.
Another one went flopbot today, this time in an oxer to vertical two-stride. The rider looked fine and both walked out but that beautiful horse took a scary fall. There were 60 other horses in the class (1.50) and most had no problem.
It must be just bad luck but I honestly don’t remember so many horse falls back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I was grooming. We had some trouble with the old-school solid water jumps and were frequently picking Margie out of some hedge or other but these dramatic somersaults were thankfully rare.
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I was thinking yesterday during the qualifying class that it’s incredible that Margie is still at it at her age, and after the number of injuries she’s had. Huge props to her. Wow.
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Horses see colors, depth, texture, and have a blind spot in front of them. Is this the same red, black, white Dodd fences you are seeing falls or blue and white?
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My friend totaled through a blue and white oxer. Stayed on, no weeding through the bushes.
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I’m impressed that she keeps on keepin’ on. She must have broken every bone in her body by now. As a short person myself, when I see her taking those enormous horses around a GP course, I can’t help but admire her guts and talent.
I’ve never been able to ride huge horses well. In my case at least, having short legs was quite the handicap. The balance required to make up for the lack of leg support was above my pay grade.
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The woman commentator that quietly says “oh we’ve had a tumble, it will be a few to re-set” (that’s not verbatim). Whereas I was shrieking OMFG 
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That’s what I remember too
Ah thanks for the update. Sending good vibes to all. I replayed that fall and it looked for a split second rotational. Glad it was his back and not his neck!
That’s what I thought - two different horses yet the same situation leaving the line. Poor McLain
Oh shoot. Looks like Michael Duffy had a similar fall yesterday in the CSI5* 1.50 classic. Oxer two strides to a vertical; horse seems to have not read it correctly. From what I saw of the class, most had the question ride well.
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It looks to me almost like the horse stepped on itself or tripped
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Ouch.
I still remember the time in the early days of the whole livestream concept when somebody fell off in the ring at Upperville, and the camera stayed pointed at him the whole time when the EMT came in, and eventually I think he ended up leaving in the golf cart with the EMT.
I believe that was when the word went around to everybody that if something bad happens on a livestream, they should immediately point the camera in a different direction.
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Any horse can read any jump incorrectly at any given time. It happens because they are live animals and we are asking them to do an unnatural sport. Does it mean all jumping should be done away with? No. Does it mean all combinations should be done away with? Also, no. It means we have to accept that this is a risky sport and do everything we can to assist in making it as safe as possible. Trying to find a specific reason for horse falls is usually a dead end - they happen for different reasons and almost all have different outcomes.
I wish all those who have fallen well and hope the horses have no lasting impacts from their falls.
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I watched two of the falls. I feel bad for both horse and rider. The gray rolled over his neck - I really hope he is ok.
But does any one else feel like the falls look - for lack of a better term - weird. Like the legs just got stuck under the horses and they couldn’t catch themselves. I know horses can get poles caught in their legs, resulting in horrible spills. But it didn’t really look like that (please correct me if I’m wrong). I myself, more than once, have swum through and oxer, scattering everything. But I didn’t feel like my horse was in danger of a total wipe out. Could the footing be an issue too? Just asking (and definitely not an expert)
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Or are we breeding and schooling horses to be ultra-careful to the point where they will contort themselves into risky positions to try to avoid touching a rail, even when a crash is inevitable?
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