Holy moly! Just WHAT is all in that poor horse? 3 reins? I’ve never seen such a getup in my life!:eek:
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I know, very strange. I get the feeling Erica doesn’t know a lot about horsemanship Their instagram is filled with equally weird and cringey posts “for the haters.”
That poor horse. You’d think they’d value him enough that they wouldn’t want to ruin him mentally and physically but apparently not. That ride was a travesty. If I saw someone ride my horse like that I’d immediately fire them and tell them to GTFO my property. You don’t even treat a car that way, much less a living creature.
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It’s actually just one set of reins, with a running martingale. Then a set of draw reins which they’ve tucked through the neck strap of the martingale.
The bit appears to be a hackabit, a bit, hackamore combo. Some horses go quite nicely in them. I generally stick to the hunter ring so it’s not something I can use, but I have a friend that uses one. Her horse is sensitive and fussy with her mouth, but will still run through the aids and flip her head when she gets wound up. The bit she uses is a plain mullen mouth happy mouth to give her some steering, and the hackamore gives her some leverage and brakes.
Anyway, really disappointed that AK didn’t pull up. He got lucky that the poor horse didn’t get hung up and crash on top of him. I’m not very familiar with him so I’ll leave it at that.
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I must admit I am surprised by the number of people defending him. Maybe gauche to say, but it is reminiscent of those defending RG as well. Because someone was nice to ‘you’ once, or puts forth a certain image MUST mean that they can’t be hiding other disturbing qualities? Or that charm is meant to make you overlook other aspects of them.
There was another rider who entered the Derby after competing in the QEII Cup, however, that rider only competed one round. Therefore, I can see adding the class the next day. Perhaps that was with Richard Spooner winning both in 2002, accomplishing the win in only 1 round and a jump off, or 2 rounds without a jump off, then the class the next day. Or perhaps Robinson and RS were just fitter, who knows. Riding 3 hard rounds, then adding the next day on a clearly exhausted horse? Ridiculous and ungrateful for the biggest win of one’s career. Not pulling up in the midst of disaster? Ruthless.
Other rumors aside, and they are plenty it seems, it makes me realize who I will not be cheering on or seeking services from. Supporting someone who made a mistake is one thing, but that was no mistake. The horse not breaking a leg had nothing to do with skill, it was luck. Looking back and saying, well nothing happened horse is fine, does not absolve one of having placed said horse in danger. Supporting the rider over the horse? SMH.
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I apologize to the groom. Between the NF post and the female voice, I made an assumption.
Eye Candy’s social media branding is enough to make me vomit. An owner acting that way? No words. 
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Sad situation for the tired horse. I’m predicting this horse won’t have a long show career if they continue to over use it & ride it into the ground. Poor horse.
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Eye Candy’s instagram posted screen shots of past faults in the derby, trying to defend Andy’s high faults. The difference is, those horses weren’t chesting jumps and racking up faults because they were EXHAUSTED, and his team knew he was exhausted because they posted a video making fun of him. The greed is disgusting. I am also really troubled by names that I recognize of people liking Eye Candy’s posts, or commenting “Andy is a great horseman”… Now I know who will NEVER get a dime of my money in this industry…
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Not sure if you’re obliquely referring to parts of my post but I actually wasn’t defending him. I was fact checking some of the accusations.
And I’ve met him, unlike some of the people commenting here, but where do you get that “MUST mean that (he) can’t be hiding other disturbing qualities”?. Bit of a leap.
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I think what really raised my eyebrows on that bitting getup were how tightly everything was adjusted (you can see the indentations in the lower jaw) and the mouthpiece (looks like twisted wire or something rather sharp). Plus, draw reins on top of a very high leverage harsh setup. Even the throat latch is really tight. That drop noseband is at least as tight as everything else even though it’s set on what is probably the most sensitive part of the nose where the bone is the narrowest.
I can totally understand how a hackabit might work well for some horses, but looking at this I don’t understand how the horse ever gets an escape from pressure. Each piece on its own I can see (adjustment aside anyway), but all together it’s just… mind boggling to me.
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It is way more than that. The bit appears to be a double twisted wire or something of the sort, a drop nose band with a chain under the chin, another chain holding the top of the hackamore “shank” under the jaw. Both chains look quite snug. Just think how many pressure points there are when he is hauling on this horse’s mouth. On the poll, across the nose, the mouth with a very unkind looking bit, and under the jaw with the chain up higher.
I think of all those in defense of him, what bothers me most are the people saying but other horses did those classes. SO WHAT! Seriously, so what! Navalo was at the end of his career and he was literally ridden into the ground. And Carollo was clearly exhausted before he even left the barn and Andy and his team knew it.
I really appreciated Kate Conover’s post on Roy’s FB among others. But her’s was so honest and dead on.
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I’ve kept quiet…been a 5* groom forever…this was the most disgusting display of a “rider” attempting to gather another paycheque!! Anybody remember his horse he gave to an Irish rider to compete with at the Ottawa Horse Show last year?? Yup snapped it’s leg too…put down in the ring! I’ve been up close and personal with some of his shady sales…broken horses iced so much they didn’t know they had legs…F*#+ YOU Andy …you are a disgusting person!! Pour it on people…take him to task!!
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and really keeps digging deeper and deeper in the subsequent comments on the FB post…
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He should be ashamed of himself for putting that poor horse in the Derby. From what I have seen, he has proven in past rides that he is a terrible horseman (and scary to watch ride) that continues to put himself/ego first.
And that screechy awful woman that shot the “tired” video is just dreadful. She thought it was funny. What a real jerk.
I sure hope FEI does something! Ban him; fine him, rule him off. He should not be allowed in a show arena.
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Does anyone know anything about her background with horses? Some of those posts and comments… :eek:
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If you actually read this whole thread you’ll see people saying Navalo was in multiple big classes and that alone was not OK. I pointed out several other horses did the same classes. “So what”? The argument that doing multiple big classes was wrong in itself was refuted. That’s what.
So so let’s stick to the facts, vs adding irrelevant hyperbole. And the facts are already plenty damning.
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I remember that incident vividly because I was watching the live feed and it seemed like a scary, fluke accident. It was horrific to see, but I don’t remember seeing any news about the outcome of the horse. I had heard that it wasn’t good. 😢
I didn’t know who owned the horse.
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It was terrible to see…no not a fluke. The horse barely passed the jog
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Ya’ll. I CAN NOT EVEN with this Eye Candy woman. :eek:
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Horses can take a bad step and poof there goes a leg - remember Chris Kappler and Royal Kaliber - who injured his leg mid-course. Kris felt the horse land funny, dismounted without completing the course. I didn’t see this Navalo horse go so won’t speculate on how he was injured suffice to say that sometimes it happens to even the best riders.
Andy Kocher is not certainly not the most stylish rider in the world, I don’t know enough to comment on what any professional chooses to use for tack. But any rider worth their salt would sense their horse wasn’t right and pull up. Even if Carollo didn’t compete the day and performed the way he did, AK should HAVE pulled up… I’ve seen classes where a rider early on might just have a rail down - but they know their horse and know that the early rail is a sign horse isn’t on their best game, and save them for another day. AK failed Carollo miserably.
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The thread about this scenario at Spruce Meadows recently got me thinking. How much of horse sport is truly “about the horse”. If I am being honest with myself, I would have to say none of it. All of us who ride, compete, show on some level have to walk a fine line between a partnership of trust and respect in which the horse willingly and comfortably works for us to support our own needs, egos, and competitive drive and overstepping that trust to force a horse to a mental or physical breaking point. The line gets blurred when we “prepare” our animals, when we add loads of equipment, painkillers and anti inflammatory medications and treatments to keep them competing, when we show week in and week out with no break, when we see ribbons and points and trophies as our goal, not a happy, well - adjusted and comfortable animal. To be honest, I walk this blurred line myself. My horses would choose, I am sure, to live a happy life in a pasture and barn with their buddies and no job. They accept a job, and the routine of it. I may go so far to say they may enjoy how it breaks up the monotony of pasture life, and provides some mental and physical stimulation. I try to be in tune with them and ride with empathy and a conservative mindset, so I do not overface them. Do I sometimes fail them? I am sure of it. But the sporting culture is such that modern competition is really not about the horse. There are many good upper level horsemen who treat their animals well. But there are also many who use them as career stepping stones, a glorified piece of equipment, or a shiny object to gain accolades and attention from. And so the outrage at the current scenario, while very sad, requires that all of us look within a little bit, as we all probably are guilty of it not really being about the horse, at some point or another.
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