It looks like the kind of mark that a spur rest makes. I’ve seen this happen when a rider uses boots with side spur rests, not the ones on the back. It happened to my friend when she hacked her horse in a new pair of boots - she had no idea and was devastated when she got off. It can really rip up their sides quickly.
I cannot believe they rode, let alone showed this horse like this. I cannot imagine how painful that must be.
The nasty comments to the OP last week didn’t age well…
To me it looks like an old scar as the edges are jagged. As I’ve never seen the mark in person (as none of us have) I’m not going to jump to any conclusion either way.
I’d be surprised if a high level barn would compete a horse with a gaping wound as it’s very visible. However I could be wrong.
My guess as to why nothing has been clarified by the owner/rider is that either they couldn’t care less about what this women thinks, don’t care less about what posters on coth think, it’s a scar so it’s no one’s business, they don’t know it’s caused a kerfuffle because they aren’t on SM, or really they don’t care and can’t be bothered.
Well then why do they wear fake tails if their appearance is not important?
And for the record I agree that an old scar shouldnt be an issue. But the horse in this thread doesn’t have an old scar… more of a recent wound from what I can tell?
A fake tail is very different than discounting a horse because it dares to have a scar.
Though last I knew (having never owned or used a fake tell even when I showed hunters) they are there for weight, to keep the tail quiet. Same reason Western Pleasure people use them.
But that is not what you said.
I feel bad for this owner and rider. Nothing they do now will be right.
because the appearance of the tail is not important but one day long ago a trainer on a horse with a nice tail won a lot and the fake tail was born because riders thought it was important.
I said “should be” because a recent wound brings up welfare concerns. As I said Ive no idea about US hunter rules.
no I get that - it was a rhetorical question.
On a side note a horse with a horrific scar on its flank showed up at a local horse trial. Totally sound, huge scar. The owners said the horse had been showing on the A circuit doing extremely well when it had gotten loose at home and ran through a gate. They got the horse for essentially free because the original owner didn’t want it with the blemish. That horse had zero soundness issues, was bred incredibly, moved a 10, and packed its new kid owner around all day long.
yeah I edited multiple times actually because I wasn’t getting my point across. It is also the norm where I’m from but I don’t know if it is here. Does that make sense?
Also blemish/wound in this context is the same to me. I’m not sure why you’re picking at me? What’s your main beef here? Do we just disagree on this topic? That’s fine with me! 
Lucky for that kid! So it sounds like scars/blemishes are looked down on in the hunter world, if not penalized in all classes? I looked at the rulebook and all I could see was "HU133 CONFORMATION.
Quality, substance and soundness. Judges must penalize but not necessarily eliminate horses with structural faults, defects and blemishes (such as pinfiring) in areas which might impair their activity and durability. "
Her publication is a pay-to-play mag that has exhibited questionable ethics before in the past. I don’t need you to tell me what you think journalistic ethics and integrity entail. It’s my industry, I’ve worked in international newsrooms, and there is no way what she’s done here would fly in any of them.
Anyway, in true Piper fashion of “welcoming criticism” and “discourse,” she’s blocked me and others who have disagreed with her supreme judgment. 
She’s a joke.
Not jumping into the rest of this, but the hunter fake tail is not there for the weight. It’s there to fill out a thin tail, especially since braiding takes up so much volume. I think super heavy tails look weird, personally, but a really thin one looks sad as well. A nice tail balances the horse visually.
Also, scars are counted against horses showing on the line/model and in the Conformation Hunters specifically - I’d have to pull up the rule book and dig around to see if there’s any verbiage for the other divisions.
Who was the rider? What other horses was he riding that week?
Colin Syquia. I find it pretty interesting his posts on Instagram are always thanking the shows and sponsors and owners. I’ve yet to find one post with gratitude for the horse, but would be happy for someone to prove me wrong.
I also feel like we’ve lost the plot here. What looks to be an open pink flesh wound that is plain as day was on a horse at a show and Piper called it out. The attacks on her are wild to me.
You’ve cited the rule for Conformation judging, which is a specific class, or division (HP Conformation or Green Conformation). Regular hunter classes do not take conformation and related blemishes into account, and are judged on “performance and soundness” - unless of course it is a conformation fault that impacts soundness or style (ie, causing paddling at the canter and therefore the horse moves “worse” across the ground than one that does not).
Culturally people feel various ways about blemishes. Some people will pass on a horse with an ugly scar, others will not care. There is no rule in regular hunters about blemishes or scars.
Okay, I went down a rabbit hole on what the rulebook specifically states is being judged in each divsion. Conformation can be taken into account in A/O, pony, and junior hunter divisions but there is no note about conformation in green sections. Welfare rules also state that showing a horse with a “raw sore” is a violation that results in disqualification.
HU128 General — Hunter classes are to be judged on performance, way of moving and soundness. All horses being considered for an award must be serviceably sound.
HU132 Green Hunter — no note on judging specifications, assume this means it falls under HU128
HU136 Conformation Hunter — “All Conformation sections are to be judged 70% on performance, 30% on conformation.”
HU137 Amateur Owner Hunter — “To be judged on performance and soundness. If conformation is to be judged, it may not count more than 25%.”
HU138 Adult Amateur — “To be judged on performance and soundness, suitability to count.”
HU142 Pony Hunter and Green Pony Hunter — “Manners of the pony and suitability of the pony to the rider must be emphasized in all classes… Conformation must not exceed 25% in any class except a Model class.”
HU143 Junior Hunter 3’3” and 3’6” — “In all classes manners will be emphasized and extreme speed will be penalized… Conformation is not to exceed 25% in any class except a Model class.”
And for reference…
HU121 Soundness
All horses must be serviceably sound. All horses being considered for an award must jog for soundness. (Exception: Under Saddle classes, sections or classes with specifications that do not require horses to jog, in unrated classes). See HU118 for methods of jogging for soundness. Horses/ponies that are unsound will be ineligible for an award in that class. The judge’s decision regarding soundness is final.
HU122 Conformation
Quality, substance and soundness. Judges must penalize but not necessarily eliminate horses with structural faults, defects and blemishes (such as pin firing) in areas which might impair their activity and durability. Horses must be stripped for conformation judging in any class. (Exception: Under Saddle classes.)
HU100 Horse Welfare notes that “excessive use of the spurs or spurring resulting in broken and bleeding skin,” “showing a horse with hypersensitive, raw or bleeding sores around the cornets, pasterns, legs or body,” and “inhumane treatment of a horse in a stall, aisle, schooling area, competition ring or elsewhere on the competition grounds, by any person” are prohibited.
That seems like a very bizarre complaint about him? Maybe because the horses aren’t scrolling Instagram? Yes, some riders (or their social media teams) make very cute posts (I am thinking Michael Jung) but that’s hardly a judge of his character.
I was only asking if (I’m thinking Andy Kotcher) if there were any previous allegations against the rider, or examples of bad riding. If that’s the worst that can be said about him, I guess not?
I am a little surprised no one from the horse’s team posted something about what, in fact, it actually was (but I am not holding it against them that was proof of something nefarious).
Yes - I saw that in the rulebook, which is why I pasted the “CONFORMATION” part in. Its good to know there are no specifics about blemishes elsewhere - I did a search for “scar” and “blemish” 
I don’t love Piper’s strategy here — if her commitment is to journalism and transparancy, why delete her original post? — but if the horse WAS showing with broken skin due to a spur rub, or a “raw sore” / open wound on the body, she is correct that is a rule violation that should result in disqualification.
I find it pretty hard to believe that there is such disregard for the rules and horse welfare that a horse with an open, fresh spur rub (only on one side, somehow) won a championship at Devon. If I was on this horses’ team and there was an innocuous explanation, I’d be publicizing that right about now… better for people to know your 7 figure hunter had a sarcoid removed in an unlucky spot, or whatever, than have half the internet gathering their pitchforks. But maybe they are taking a ‘don’t feed the trolls’ mentality?
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