Good morning, and I apologize for the delayed response, as we were not in office on Sunday.
Please be advised that with the FAN level of membership you only have access to the live content.
You will need to upgrade to the subscriber or competing level of membership to access the OnDemand content of which USEF owns the rights to via ClipMyHorse.
Please do let me know if you have any further questions/concerns.
Be blessed,
Ashleah
This! The USEA I believe actually has rules about mandatory downtime from competing after a head injury, but they only count it if there was a documented loss of consciousness, which is a super out dated way to look at head injuries.
No that was not part of the discussion. Maybe it should be- but the bit was their reason- not the combination with the noseband.
Yes, and IF so, he wouldn’t likely have the best judgements about his and his horses’ states, because of the head trauma…
Please don’t think I’m saying anything negative about PD, he’s flipping amazing and I’d give my left arm to ride 1/10th as well as he does, and he’s tough as nails, and amazing horseman.
The very first time I saw him on course (streaming) I saw him give his horse a strong whip on a straightaway. My immediate comment was, “there he is beating another horse”. I am going to watch the on demand so I’ll keep an eye out. ETA: I didn’t see this particular moment on the on-demand replay. Perhaps I’m mistaken. He did do a lot of “race riding” i.e. elbow flapping with the whip flailing in the horse’s vision, changing whip from side to side, tapping on the shoulder while elbow-flapping with the reins flapping.
I wonder if there should be some penalty given for hitting the horse for the purpose of going faster or avoiding time faults. Like, 10 penalties. That could negate any desire to do.
Heck, the French were talking about a no-whip Olympics. I know that’s not going to happen, but as we face increasing social license scrutiny, it’s worth doing the introspection why that is desirable and how it can be accomplished with training methods.
Report back today from my daughter who has long worked the vet box. She said it was the busiest she has ever experienced. I suppose it’s not my place to do any reveals. And she said it was the 1st yr she noticed a T on her badge. She never knew she was the designated runner if the need arose.
ETA she said it’s okay to mention that there was a higher number of heat exhaustion this year.
Does this Elimination after completion for Katie represent a new precedent. I have never seen this occur before unless it involved a failed drug test. I would hope that there is a serious investigation into the behaviour and timing of this ground jury’s judgement. That wonderful horse has had its record spoiled by power- drunk official FEI nonsense. If this horse were in a “for sale” market a prospective buyer would look at the E and think he failed his jumping test. Maybe time to “lawyer up”.
I had a random run in with her on Saturday evening and she was lovely to me. Count me as a new fan!
So if I have timing right he had the almost fall first, then hard fall with Quasi Cool at last fence. Quasi Cool was rocking and rolling till the final couple fences. I thought he thought he could nurse him home.
Then he rode Azure, with an almost miss in the water.
I just think we need to take better care of our upper level riders as he had a hard fall with Quasi Cool.
Quite frankly, I’m trying to reconcile it myself.
OT has had some less than flattering public moments in recent years; there’s no denying that.
I don’t know the man personally. I’ve briefly worked in the vicinity of him and his team twice in the past year, occasionally having to interact with them directly.
He’s been very genuine and kind. His team has been very genuine and kind. I don’t know what goes on behind the scenes, but I also can appreciate good horsemanship and professionalism when I see it in the moment. And I’ve consistently seen it in the moments I’ve had to be around him.
There are some riders who have HUGE fan clubs here on COTH who have demonstrated nothing but the opposite in every interaction. I’m not going to name names, but it makes all the OT hate hard to take seriously. He’s the devil but these other people are saints? Really?
I feel like that meme of Kermit sipping his tea by the window.
My daughter has used that combo bit for years on cross country. Don’t know if FEI level makes a difference. It is a great bit to teach a horse that they don’t need to get strong when they run. And I have seen some ugly face hauling on cross country by some surprisingly top riders. It sure looks ugly to a novice observer. It looked ugly to me, one rider in particular shall remain nameless - very aggressive to the fence and I’ve seen aggressive/soft and aggressive/hard.
Our horse is bold and runs and lands ears forward. Jumps very through his body. And he loves his rider in a very attached way so it never seemed harsh.
And there’s even less pressure that way she has it with a figure 8 under it …
So according to you, after he finally made it onto the national team he “messed up again” so it doesn’t sound as though he really learned his lesson. And there are plenty of other eventers who don’t come from a wealthy background so I’m not sure what that has to do with it. I agree he has an excellent competitive record but I’m not sure he won’t backslide again.
For reference, I did an overview of Oliver’s warnings/cards for abuse back in 2021:
"Well, I decided to look up Oliver Townend’s FEI yellow card/warning history. And, for anyone who is interested, after his very public warnings (not yellow cards) at Badminton 2018 for excessive use of whip [ETA on TWO horses], he then went on to receive another warning for excessive use of whip in August of 2018. To me, that is NOT someone who took the earlier warnings to heart.
Furthermore, his first recorded sanction for abuse of horse due to excessive use of whip is in 2014. This is a pattern.
| Event | Location | Start date | Person Responsible (PR) | Horse | Yellow Card / Verbal Warning / 25 penalties / Written Warning / Fine | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CIC3* | Blair Castle | 23.08.2018 | Townend Oliver | Tregilder | Verbal warning | Abuse of horse / excessive use of whip |
| CCI4* | Badminton | 02.05.2018 | Townend Oliver | Cooley SRS and Ballaghmore Class | Verbal warning | Abuse of horse / excessive use of whip |
| CCI4* | Badminton | 02.05.2018 | Townend Oliver | Cooley SRS and Ballaghmore Class | Verbal warning | Abuse of horse / excessive use of whip |
| Floors Castle | 2017-05-12 | Townend Oliver | Verbal warning | Abuse of horse / inappropriate use of whip | ||
| Osberton | 03-10-14 | Townend Oliver | Verbal warning + fine | Incorrect behaviour towards a Steward | ||
| CCI3* | Ratoath Tattersalls | 27-05-14 | Townend Oliver | Sandiman III | Verbal warning | Dangerous riding / careless riding after finish |
| CCI4* | Badminton | 08-05-14 | Townend Oliver | Armada | Verbal warning | Abuse of horse /use of whip and spurs |
| CCI3* | Bramham (GBR) | 2008-06-05 | Townend Oliver | Flint Curtis | Verbal warning | Finished on very tired horse |
| CCI3* | Bramham (GBR) | 2008-06-05 | Townend Oliver | Golden Hue | Verbal warning | Finished on very tired horse |
To this list we now get to add:
2022 Stockholm Arena Eventing – oral warning “Abuse of horse/excessive use of whip” (this is not recorded for FEI)
2023 Badminton – Recorded warning “series of dangerous jumps” (was Eliminated on Swallow Springs as the horse was exhausted).
I’m really not happy to see, that of all these sanctions, in the updated format of the FEI’s list that goes back to 2014, Oliver Townend is only listed once..
I noticed when reviewing FEI results database, that if you look at one show’s results, if there were any recorded warnings/cards at that event, it shows at the top. However, when you view an athlete’s results page, nowhere do the warnings/cards show up.
Riders must be examined by medical staff after a fall and before getting on another horse.
Yes you’re right! I got way behind on comments bc I didn’t want to see any spoilers, but I fixed it. Still a great photo and I’m sure Sharon would forgive me because she’s so freakin nice.
and the next horse(s) that may be ridden that day, by a rider whose judgment may be impaired by that hard fall.
I’m fine with “race-riding” as you described (never heard that term, but I know what you mean). I’m fine with judicious use of the whip at takeoff, be it on the shoulder to keep the horse straight or behind the leg to aid in takeoff. I’m even fine with it in limited cases on landing if a horse did not react appropriately to a different aid on takeoff. In my experience (personally and as a witness) those uses are not physically painful or mentally traumatizing to a horse, they are a timing/directional aid that helps ensure a smooth jump and therefore a good and safe experience for the horse. Those uses are why I am against no-whip OIympics - I would rather, every single time, see a horse receive a tap on takeoff and leave the ground smoothly at the right time than miss a distance and go somersaulting over a fence. I believe that a whip has a place as a properly used aid like any other.
I am never, ever fine with beating a horse, or for hitting an exhausted horse in an attempt to make it go faster and avoid time faults. I don’t think there should be a numerical penalty for this, but that is only because I believe this should be punished by elimination and carded. This is abuse of the horse and should not be tolerated from any rider.
He probably remembers Karen on a grey in 93?
I would love to see a photo of this.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
