Fwiw I am acquainted with a trainer who sued another person for libel/slander. It was ultimately dismissed because according to the judge it isn’t slander if it’s true. So what was previously just rumour and he said, she said became a finding of the court. They should be very careful.
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Truth and opinion is not actionable in the US. But they can sue and force you to rack up large legal fees establishing the truth defense, so be careful.
this is not legal advice—consult a lawyer—but this isn’t something to go into thinking you will force a decision on the merits.
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She won’t have a leg to stand on - freedom of speech.
However, if she is truly going after people then I really have to say she clearly has not learned a single lesson here.
Marilyn if you or your lawyers are reading this; take a step back and asses your situation. Asses your life. You have a chance to do some serious self reflection and decide what mark you want to leave on Equestrian sport. If you admit that what has been happening is terrible and that you will do everything you can to learn from it and change, and that you will encourage the FEI to figure out how we can better manage these incidents in the sport I think you can save a lot of skin.
Turning and sueing those who only want better officiating and horsemanship will show the world what you truly care about, and it’s not a good look for anyone. No one will forget and forgive that.
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Wow. I can’t believe she is sending cease-and-desist letters. Unreal.
No wonder people don’t want to speak up.
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IIRC, the 2016 crash (as well as FH 2015? I think? the one with the bloody mouth – right, which one with the bloody mouth) both disappeared after the first social media uproar.
I know the crash is still available on USEF, but versions of it on Youtube have all been removed.
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I just took a look at her FB page. She’s taking a hell of a public beating over there. All the comments are being left up, so she’s either finally taking a look at herself or just not paying attention to it.
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They were being deleted until recently. I think the horse and hound invasion is overwhelming the deleter over there.
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If people think Americans are bad I hate to see the people who turn out next time she shows in the UK. Their animal rights people are way more intense and organized than ours.
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They could name the next horse RF Deleter! :lol:
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Perfect!!
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Or RF cease and desist :lol:
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Brilliant!
When the most recent article popped up on my FB, I was like “why is FB showing me old news?” (I’m new to FB). I would never in a million years think someone who ran cross country and came home with a bloody mouthed horse once would come back and do it AGAIN. I literally thought somehow an old article had been bumped for an entire day before I realized that was not the case.
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Freedom of speech only protects us from government censorship.
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I had head from a couple of people whom I respect that even more significant than horse abuse is an underlying character issue. Actions described above corroborate that. To ML and her camp, thanks for reinforcing my opinion.
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That Rolex 2016 video literally makes me sick to the core watch. I guess I forgot how bad it really was. How do you not pull up OR get pulled off course, as that was clearly an accident waiting to happen from early on. And once again, I feel like an official should have stepped in before something happened (even though the rider should have easily made the call that it wasn’t their day). Correct me If I am wrong, but if they can pull a rider off course for dangerous riding, an exhausting horse should fall under that category right?
At the end of the day, I honestly cannot understand how someone can completely disregard their horses welfare…and for what? a win? a competition? to prove something? I just don’t get it.
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I was there when it happened, but couldn’t remember how bad it was. Can’t watch the video since I don’t have a membership.
My brain said it was quite similar to the trip Elisa had at Badminton. I remember watching both thinking "why aren’t you pulling up, or why is no one else pulling you up? " I think my biggest issue with the situation is that the two were so very similar and handled so differently by officials. The only other difference was the name of the rider.
Unless it wasn’t as bad as I remembered, which was why I was trying to find a replay.
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Yes. I mean the horse was CRAWLING over the fences several minutes before the actual fall. Just like Wallace’s horse… Horrific to watch, and another case of officials not doing their jobs.
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Yet only one rider took complete responsibility for her actions.
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If you want to join for free, at least for the last few days a USEF “fan” membership has been free with promo code LRK3DE and provides access to the videos. (I’m guessing it still works; they seem pretty happy to give the fan memberships away.)
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