I’m sorry to hear that. Are any of the top riders actually good horsepeople? Nice people? I’m beginning to wonder.
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A LOT of videos disappear on clipmyhorse! I have learned to screen recorded a few that i want to rewatch or share with a friend because they will be gone the next day when I look for it.
I’m not a fan of riding behind the motion like you’re water skiing fighting a horse’s mouth the whole time. Some people are throwing upper bodies over the fence heels up but fall on the back coming down landing on their stirrups and lost contact with mouth. All the flex and hinges that help a horse are lost. So there is a lot of recovery from landing especially if the rider is riding in a full/upright position through the combo.
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If anyone is interested the new Noel Floyd podcast has an interview with him about it. It’s how I knew to go searching for this thread here 
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I watched it. Does anyone know what was the distance between the fences?
I watched a few riders’ rounds before and after Harry’s fall. Vanessa Hood rode the combination perfectly as did Lillie Keenan. It wasn’t an issue for many horses and riders.
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Ok, watched again. The horse likes to jump from the left lead and will switch to do so. The horse did this and a pat stride to get over vertical. Looks like C got in too deep on the landing. Horse tried to make it out but back rail made it impossible. C needs to own the mistake and get the left lead issue worked out. Not blame the course designer and demand rule change.
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Harry Charles did his first 5* at Aachen at the age of 18, he has competed in 2 Olympics, winning team gold in Paris 2024, and currently 32nd in the FEI ranking list. He is 25 years old.
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He is very accomplished.
Lillie Keenan is as well. She is ranked 27th in the FEI ranking list and started jumping the 5* at a fairly young age too. She does have many years more experience and perhaps that factored in to her having no issue at the combination where Harry fell.
Everyone knows that every horse and every top rider will make mistakes. I don’t see Harry’s issue with the two stride combination though, when for so many people it rode just fine.
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@skydy - an indirect comment on ‘needs to work on sorting out his leads’. I probably should have just let it go… But I was feeling old and grouchy.
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Ah, understood.
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The horse is swapping to its left lead at every jump if it is approaching on its right lead. Maybe he’s working on that, but it did contribute to a fall.
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I went back and watched for that, very interesting. I wonder if it’s a training or a pain issue.
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I listened to Harry Charles on “Dear Horse World: It’s Harry Charles” piece on the oxer-vertical 2 stride. Two Olympic Gold Medalists McLain Ward and Peter Charles came out and said that the horse should never be confused and that the combination was too short and that it was poorly built. Both Charles’ and Ward are gold medalist. It’s on Spotify if you want to listen. In contrast Steve Guerdat came out asking “are we going to ban shadows now”. Frank Rothenberg (course designer for 2026 world championships) is opposed to that combination and won’t use it. Harry’s suggestion is that it either be banned or only put in 5* classes. I have never liked them and I have never jumped 1.45 because they just felt unsafe. It’s nice to see the up and comers like Harry Charles and Karl Cook being outspoken.
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Does anybody have the course sheet with distances? Who was the course designer? I tried looking it up but couldn’t find it.
Thank you
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My choice of vocabulary “working” on it wasn’t the best, but yes training or medically aware. Vests with neck rolls should be made part of safety equipment for everyone. After coming off with one on I felt better having it. The same as with better helmets that are not hot to ride in. I wonder if the FEI is keeping stats to point out problem fences. I prefer lots of flowers/shrubs even if fence is airy to let the horse know.
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The jury is still out on whether or not air vests do more harm than good.
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Yes, I’d really like to see more research on them. I do wear a protective vest every time I ride and would buy an air vest if there was more than anecdotal reports on their effectiveness.
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If you want anecdotal evidence. Almost 4 years ago I was trotting in my air vest on flat ground. The horse’s front feet collapsed (into a ground squirrel’s tunnel I think). He fell right on his face and I did not even have time to put my hands out before my forehead smacked the ground hard. My airvest expanded up to around my ears, my helmet came down low on my forehead from the hard brim smacking the ground. I felt like the Michelin man in my airvest and had to tilt my head back to see. Went to ER, where the doctor was certain I had a broken neck. I did not. Nothing, no broken bones, no real soft tissue injuries, nothing. The airvest saved my neck. I NEVER get on a horse without an airvest. It’s not “scientific” but it’s as close as one can get without actually conducting experiments of those kinds of horse/rider falls. Just saying. . . .
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This has no bearing on the safety of the vests.
But I saw a kid at a show the other day who fell off her pony in a very benign way. The thing I really noticed was that when the vest popped, there was no reaction whatsoever from the pony.
He didn’t even flick an ear at that noise, which really does sound a bit like a gunshot. Especially if you’re not familiar with it. He just stood like a rock and waited for the kid to get up.
So something tells me he’s had some practice with the vests. Lol.
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