I was just watching the Bainbridge class from WEF and it seems something happened with Nicola Philippaerts horse Chilli Willi at the last jump. Looked like he landed on 3 legs and the live feed was stopped. Hoping that it is nothing serious and the horse will be ok.
I was not watching it, but I will say they are very careful about stopping the live feed at the first sign of trouble. I think that is a result of the time somebody fell off at Upperville and got hurt years ago, and the camera stayed on him the whole time. That was in the early days of live streams, and I think they learned their lesson from that.
They always have a horse ambulance parked right next to the ring at WEF, and the equine clinic is literally across the street, so if the horse was hurt, there was help right on hand. I hope he’s OK.
Unfortunately the Philppaerts family just posted that it was a fatal injury. Chilli Willi was one of my favourites and I will miss seeing him.
I am so sorry to hear that sad news. My heart breaks for Nicola and everyone who loved and cared for that sweet boy.
Very sad news.
Did he have a problem of some kind at the jump? Or was it just a fluke thing where he landed wrong?
So tragic and I’m so sorry for their loss. Heartbreaking accident.
He rode a beautiful round and was not rushing his horse at all. Looked like he just landed wrong. I was so hoping it was not serious. Just so sad.
I feel so sorry for the family. Chili Willi was an amazing boy that made a fantastic partner, it’s so sad that accidents can happen at the most unexpected times
So sad. What a reminder how fragile these wonderful animals are and how fleeting our time spent with them is.
Two horses were euthanized from injuries in the same week. I saw an article about a horse in the high junior jumper classic that fell and had to be euthanized too
Very sad that it would happen twice at the same show, though not in the same ring, when it’s really a pretty rare occurrence at h/j competitions.