She doesn’t say what the issue really was. If it was an equine welfare/horse abuse then I think it should be said loudly and publicly. That would be real leadership in the sport. McConnon got away with it for years because no one would step up and say anything until after the fact.
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Agree.
There needs to be more transparency, period.
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I am surprised to see so much frustration with Lauren’s post, and not with the FEI’s social media rules that led directly to it. It seems clear she posted as much as she thought she could get away with without potentially exposing herself to sanctions from the FEI.
@dmveventer posted the policy earlier in the thread, and is explicitly gives as an example a post that questions whether an official knows the rules, and says that the post is not allowed.
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By putting it out there within bounds, others not in her position but who were there can fill in the blanks, or press those in official seats to clarify what she’s alluding to.
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I wish someone would fill in the blanks - what the heck happened?
Given the comment about there being something between two high level female riders, and someone else saying the other rider had a bunch of horses competing, I have a hunch on who it could maybe be, but don’t have nearly enough context to figure it out.
The social media policy is BS. I just skimmed it, and I hate it lol.
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There are two obvious possibilities, just based on the entries alone. How the heck does anyone compete 5 - 7 horses at the same event? Even with the best grooms and support staff in the world, how is that managed?
She was on the wrong end of a major screw up by officials at Rolex a few years ago and was pretty vocal about the officials being wrong. Not sure if she got a sanction but I imagine she definitely had some fei blowback.
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Not directed at you negatively 
Just responding as more that It’s totally possible to share experiences without breaking any rules or badmouthing anyone. Vague posts like that do not come off as classy to me. Maybe to others and she wouldn’t care what I thought about her anyway (nor should she).
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From the FEI social media policy:
Avoid Controversy: FEI Participants should refrain from engaging in or promoting controversial topics, offensive language, or discriminatory content.
I feel like refraining from being offensive and discriminatory and “avoiding controversy” are two completely different concepts. It’s possible to express an opinion about a controversial topic without being rude and offensive.
I have no inside knowledge on what happened, but this social media policy is ridiculous and very much does not “support freedom speech” as the FEI claims it does.
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yes yes yes. Agree there.
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A third yes from me on this!
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Does my continued claim we should burn the FEI down, count as controversial? Seriously, the FEI has done less for horse sport than any other entity other than act as a corrupt governing body who uses poor “data” to justify rules while collecting exorbitant fees from folks who will never actually compete internationally.
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A TD I know is right there with you RAyers. I get to listen to the frustration and anger after every event they are at, and while I don’t compete anymore, I get it.*
FWIW, I just reread the quoted posts above, and my impression is quite different from many others. I think LN did a terrific job of pointing out what needs to be addressed. Admittedly, she used a general, non-confrontation tone, but the issues are identified. The perpetrators are not, and being from the “pre internet” generation, I think that’s the right course of action. Fixing the overall issue without IDing the specific perps online is appropriate IMHO.
Now if the FEI was a useful organization, someone would reach out to her and ask for specific examples. But I don’t think that there should be a public accounting unless whatever happened results in disciplinary action.
- Their contention is that the governing bodies and especially the FEI are all about streaming now, and that actual issues pertaining to the horse, horse welfare and competition are only relevant in so far as they impact streaming. I have no personal experience with which to comment but the arguments and examples I’ve heard have been pretty compelling.
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Sorry, shamrocker, I’m not intending to call you out rudely and I also know how terribly tone is conveyed in text, so I’m wondering if you could give context to how you know Lauren’s post is about one of the riders who was riding multiple horses in each division?
There were a lot of people there (riders, grooms, owners, etc) and people see what happens and people talk.
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Agree. The FEI social media policy is nonsense and shouldn’t exist. Given that their commitment to actual horse welfare can most charitably be described as tepid, it says a lot that they’re more concerned about policing what riders can and cannot say.
To be clear, I don’t think Lauren did anything wrong with her post. Obviously, whatever happened bothered her so much that she reported it to the officials AND it stuck with her for days after the fact. It’s evident that she considers the officials response to be inadequate and this is how she chose to follow up. But as a nobody who’s never competed above BN nor been to any of these high profile events, I have absolutely no idea what or who she could be talking about. My only connection to these high profile events and riders are the blogs and podcasts, and it’s become more and more clear that us consumers are being presented with incomplete or misleading information an unknown amount of the time. And that’s just not something I enjoy listening to or reading. I don’t even like fiction with an unreliable/duplicitous narrator. So I end up skipping articles or podcasts episodes that are just interviews with high level riders and trainers, because I don’t know if I can believe them. It’s not that I believe they’re all lying, but that there’s a nagging suspicion in the back of my head that while they’re talking about how much they 
love:heart: their horses and put their welfare above everything, someone has footage of them harming a horse and is agonizing over whether they should come forward with it. And I don’t like having that feeling, so I just find it easier not to consume that media.
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I suggest you try the RideIQ podcast where Sinead interiews Mike Winter. They spent a good 20+ minutes talking about horse welfare in a lot of depth (Mike rode around Badminton without a whip - on purpose) including social license and where horse sports are heading. It was food for thought.
Edit: it’s the In Stride podcast.
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Seriously, this is exactly what the FEI wants. This whole policy is intended to silence those who have the most insight behind the scenes and shield the FEI from any real accountability. It seems like Lauren is doing as much as she can to bring awareness to changes she thinks are needed in this case without getting herself cut off from the organization her livelihood depends on. It sounds like she also raised her concerns with officials at the time and was brushed off by the FEI reps (surprise surprise…).
The rule is written in pretty vague terms and the FEI gets to decide what they consider “negative” or “controversial.” I don’t blame riders for not pushing their luck, but I think Lauren’s post is more pointed than people here are giving her credit for. It doesn’t name anyone by name (which would be a direct policy violation) but it does highlight the types of problems that came up and hints pretty heavily at what she thinks the FEI did wrong.
If people want more transparency maybe they should air their grievances with the organizations responsible instead of getting annoyed that someone who IS trying to do something about it isn’t doing even more.
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I feel the bolded so much, but I have still been consuming the podcasts & blogs. But I want to know who does not deserve my support. I subscribe to some of the extra’s some upper level riders offer & I want to know if I should stop my support of some of these riders. There are some that I have stopped supporting due to things coming out or seeing things I don’t agree with, but sooooo much of it happens behinds closed doors, I don’t know who to support - maybe sometimes I figure it out, but not until its too late. I wish I knew more.
But, I wonder if there was a yellow card or anything given for the offending behavior? How often does that list get updated? I’m guessing not since Lauren did not feel the officials acted correctly?
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Was that the show jumping situation where she couldn’t hear the buzzer? I was so frustrated with how they handled the situation.
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