Didn’t I read somewhere a year or so ago that she had sold the mare and somebody else was going to get the ride? I can’t remember the particulars but she was sad but had quite a few other nice horses waiting in the wings to take over.
She was sold/leased to the Japanese team for the Olympics, but I do not remember if she competed.
I agree. Very probably DdG will see it the same way. He seems to have humane principals of course design.
So I expect that we don’t see another configuration like the problem landing on the one oxer on future courses anywhere. If we do see that landing structure again, I will have real concerns about the shared core principals of 5* course design.
I hate to see an attitude that horse falls aren’t a big deal if horse & rider walk away. Generally speaking, not saying that this thread is casual about it as clearly not. Fans casually excusing benign horse falls gets into the culture. It can lead to riskier course design when trying to add interest, and riders thinking it’s ok to go ahead when it is not.
And sometimes a horse and/or rider just don’t belong out there. I fully agreed with the call to pull off the one rider whose horse was struggling as she flopped and flapped to keep it going. Whatever their past accomplishments, on that day the rider should have made the call herself. I am glad they did not record a completion because “completed at Burghley” would have completely misrepresented how badly they navigated that course.
These horses are very powerful, fit animals. They can do the gallops and the jumps. When there are problems, usually it is due to human interference, either course design or rider error. Including the rider error to have tried at all with a horse that has already showed it is not thoroughly up for it on the day.
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I didn’t see a number of rounds. Does that include the horse that “chested” Cottesmore leap but landed and continued? I can’t remember the name, it was in the last half of the field. Horse lost its hind legs on take off and kind of belly-flopped on the brush. But had enough momentum to swim across and land the other side, so no penalties.
I didn’t watch enough to have seen if other horses had the same problem with the take-off at Cottesmore Leap, or if it was just the one.
One horse got stuck up on it, wasn’t able to get off and they have marked it as a fall.
I think it’s more because to me the problems were obviously the fence design. I never want to see horses fall but everyone is OK and I think they have learned those fences didn’t work. Lots of riders have had their say on it also about the trouble fences. So to me the issue is going to be solved. Otherwise I thought the course was great.
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Preface: I did not enjoy watching so many horse falls yesterday. Almost all were on their side (twist) or peck/crumple. What I wrote below may be a reflex along the lines of “I want to control for these outcomes so that they are less likely to happen to me and people I know.” Not sure. I am hesitant to think CDs don’t already think about these things. I would like to know more - e.g. attend the annual safety forum which is usually held in the UK in approx. January.
“Everyone is ok” is not something to be said lightly.
We have no idea whether any of the horses or riders have small injuries. Whether they will have confidence issues. Whether any riders have concussions that weren’t immediately apparent from the 5 second clip we saw of them on video after getting up.
Obviously at 5* level, preventing falls is a multi-factor enterprise, and with the difficulty at this level, unlikely to be 100% successful. Human and horse alike are using judgment, when on course they are making split-second decisions, and they may be dealing with terrain, weather, crowds, mental fatigue etc.
That’s why if the course design of certain fences is at fault, we can’t brush it off as “well everyone walked away”.
I have wondered about if/who is analysing the very top courses and designers. Is there any data being taken, science being used? Or is it e.g. Mark Phillips tells Derek “looks good”. Derek tells the next guy “maybe don’t put an enormous frangible oxer on a dip landing with uneven footing”? On this board we’ve certainly bandied this question about before, asking for the top-level course designers to have report cards, in essence.
How about:
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Percentage of clear XC rounds
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Horse falls per starter
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Rider falls per starter
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Catastrophic injury numbers (over their career, # per starter)
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Speed rating (showing how the course is measured/intensity of efforts/difficulty in making the time)
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Finishers per starter. This should factor in retirements that were rider decision, perhaps if they retire after only one stop or in the first 1/3 of the course.
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Types of fences where problems occurred. Presumably this kind of data is already being kept track of. So if a certain designer gets a reputation for having horse falls at corners in water, for example, and that’s publicly available loud and clear, maybe the CD, the TD, the organizer, the riders, and/or the public, will think twice about that element being present in future courses.
As I write this, it occurs to me that the TD must approve the course design, so there is another factor to consider. I wonder if Big Name Designers are ever told “no” by the TDs. Since we always see CDs working on the courses e.g. a year in advance, once things are built it’s harder to change them by the time a TD is reviewing a course.
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I missed this. Was it at the start of the afternoon jump session? (I can catch it when the replay’s up.)
No, that was the one that was pulled up a little later and not allowed to continue.
Nicola’s interview was before XC coverage started yesterday
It’s at the beginning of XC Session 1 replay.
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I don’t have any inside information besides the previews I listened to, but according to DdG interviews, I believe the 5* CDs meet once a year and discuss what went right and wrong and direction, etc.
It certainly sounds like the TD is involved and I believe makes several visits throughout the year.
The riders also have some input at the end. It was reported that at least one fence was renumbered at rider request.
I think I heard all this on the Equiratings Burghley previews, of which there were many! Thanks, Equiratings!
Is it ideal? Not at all. The technology does seem to be reducing the number of rotationals, for which I am very grateful. It’s still a work in progress. These CDs get a couple of attempts a year at this level at most, some only one, so I feel that change is made slower simply because they can’t know how effective a change is (or not) until they try it in this format. And they are human.
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Good Job Cornelia !!!
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Cornelia #10 Emily #20 
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I am in no way saying the falls are ok, I never think falls are ok but I’m just not ready for pitch forks over this course. Maybe I’m just numb to it anymore.
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It’s on Cross Country Day part 1 about 15 mins in.
As I always say to these questions, yes data is collected by National Bodies and it is fed into the FEI stats that are published annually on the FEI website. There are criteria for fence design based on data. British Eventing also publishes an Annual Safety Report based on the work done at each and every BE event, where all fences are measured, for example, and this info is collated with detailed fall report forms filled out by Fence Judges for every fall (fortunately BE have removed the Q about the rider being drunk or on drugs as impractical, also the one about blocks on the saddle because spotting that on a horse galloping home isn’t too likely!). The annual safety reports are published on the BE website.
Talking to Eric Winter (Badminton CD) on one occasion, he said it wasn’t the fences as such that he fussed and stressed but about but the position of the non-jumpables, or the position of a couple of rocks or trees on the track to help subtly guide a horse, even the position of the stringing and he will tweak and adjust these right up to just before the competition starts. Indeed, I’ve seen a CD move stringing during the competition. And the course builders, TD, riders rep, Ground Jury in FEI, even the vets all have a say about fences. They might be modified or removed before the competition starts in the morning. Or removed after falls during the event. You only have to look at video of our sport in past decades to see how the courses have changed.
What I personally find very surprising is that no data is published by USEA and therefore many people just assume that nothing happens behind the scenes.
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There will be fewer entries from the continent in UK equestrian events and fewer UK entries in the EU events due to the long delays in transporting horses in and out of the UK. Blame “Brexit” . Hopefully they can find a solution.
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This course felt altogether fair. Woods’ horse got the zoomies. The French(?) bay misread the Cotswold Leap and got clotheslined but was out of in it a jiffy. Both looked to be Well it is a Horse moments. The other water based falls looked to be a part of the sport.
The stupid fence that a couple of horses just did not read (the blue and white poles where horses didn’t read the spread) was the only crappy question on the course that ended up being a potentially crappy one, nothing like those stupid solar panels at Badminton, for example.
All that to say that I know maybe 1/200th of 300th of a percent of what you know of eventing, but i do know horses and I agree with you.
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I think there was a discussion earlier in this thread about Cola being held at the final inspection, then passed. There was chatter about him being lame. I hadn’t seen any video til now, where someone on the horse and hound forum shared it. If others wanted to see, it’s here.
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