This instance is a very good reason why we should all practice turning and stopping our horses without using our hands and the bit. This rider couldn’t turn but did get the horse to stop through proper prior training. I will add that given who the BNT were, they should teach their riders how to turn without a bit. But WTH, everybody makes mistakes. Good save for the rider/horse. https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/behind-the-photo-bit-happens/
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He very clearly could turn, as he elected to turn the opposite way of the course. Take your shaming elsewhere.
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Plus being in the middle of a round is high stakes and you have to think quickly. Even though her may have been able to make the turn, the horse would’ve been hard to rate. So I’d prefer him pull up than risk crashing 
the rider and mare are both very educated.
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I am confused, what in that article makes one think - that rider does not know how to do turning/stopping without a bit?
A person having their first thought in an emergency being “I have no way of turning” does not mean they do not have the know how to turn. Cleary they did, because they decided to turn one way and they turned that way.
Yes. I think pulling up was very much the right answer.
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Not to mention, practicing this stuff at home in low-excitement scenarios will have a fat chance of working as well on the second to final fence in a show atmosphere.
I think the rider did a heck of a job handling it.
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This. Also stopping and turning with your seat/legs at the walk or trot is easy. At the canter, much less mid jumper course, not so much.
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I actually find it much harder at the trot than the canter, personally. The canter the timing of the aid is more clear to the horse, IMO.
I can ride the Old Man with no tack at all, but I wouldn’t try that at the county fair. lol
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I was taught as a kid to use the leg aid when you sit in the trot, so most of mine have learned that. 🤷
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“Alston thought fast—although he was supposed to turn left to continue to the last fence, he opted to attempt to turn Spider to the right, hoping to make his way back to the in-gate for help.”
“Although Clark couldn’t tell exactly what had happened because it was raining heavily at the time, she immediately knew something was wrong when Alston turned right after the fence.”
"At the end of all of our lessons, I do make it a point to have the kids practice slowing their horses down by just saying ‘whoa’ and sinking into the tack on a loose rein. That practice came in handy here.”
Read the article.
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I read it also, otherwise, I wouldn’t have posted it. “ I had no way of turning her.”. I am not attempting to make anyone feel shame or any other negative emotion. I was citing facts from the article, and concluding that teaching your horse to turn with your body without using the bridle is a good skill. Sometimes, I feel like there are people on this forum whose only purpose in life is to jump down someone else’s throat.
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Friend, I’m not sure you realize it, but your posts in this thread come across as exactly this. Whether you intended them to or not, they read to an outsider as posting this article with the goal of shaming the rider and trainer involved in a situation that ended uneventfully, but could have been disastrous.
I don’t think that’s typical from what I remember from your posts in the past. I hope everything is okay with you.
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[Edit]
Your original post is a masterclass in shaming someone that you think can’t ride, as well as shaming their “big name trainer”. The big name trainer in question is absolutely NOT someone I’m a fan of, and I have called out their behavior on this forum before. The difference is in that instance it was called for. Alex can ride, Alex clearly could turn the horse, and there was no need for you to armchair quarterback recommendations for improvement.
[Edit]
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We removed an inappropriate post, addressed it with the user, and removed a direct response to the deleted comment.
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I have been thinking about this one line that you are so upset about.
If only this rider had said it differently, because again, the rest of the article makes it very clear that they did manage to make a decision about the direction they wanted to go and to go that direction.
How about "in my few seconds of panic I thought I had no way of turning her, but then … "
Or “I did not have my primary way of steering her”.
Or “I did not feel like it was safe to turn her to complete the course so I chose to turn her the other way”.
I do think this article is a great reminder to all of us that we need a back-up plan for when things go sideways.
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I think if he had just said, “I had no way to turn her to the next jump,” the whole discussion on this thread would be a non-issue.
And who knows, maybe he did say that, but it got edited down a little bit for purposes of saving space in the article, or what have you.
The fact is that they had a spectacular photo of the exact moment something went completely sideways, so it was interesting to hear the backstory, especially since it all ended well. Props to both the rider and the horse in that situation.
Plus I appreciated the fact that he mentioned the horse getting extra treats to mark the occasion. 
I seem to recall a similar picture of McLain Ward and Sapphire when her bit broke in the middle of her round at the Olympics, maybe at Athens.
The photo did not show the broken equipment as clearly, but you could tell from the expressions on both of their faces that something had gone horribly awry.
But again, they both lived to tell the tale. Yay.
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Hello, I have been thinking about this a lot. First of all for any of you who were angered or offended or hurt, my apology. I forgot my manners. I was merely trying (albeit awkwardly, to point out that being able to control your horse without your hands in any situation is a good skill. That doesn’t excuse my lack of manners, so sorry everyone.
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