I never quite believed this was true until I started playing around with my sister’s POA stallion. I was quickly taught that Gold Chips was a SHOW PONY. Why on earth would we walk through the woods? There is no one there to ADMIRE ME! Hack up the road to the trail head, fine, there are cars passing to ADMIRE ME.
He was quite the character, lol. And, let me be honest, he was drop-dead gorgeous. If he wanted to flaunt it, good for him 
I totally believe that some horses are just not meant to enjoy the woods and the meadows. They can’t find relaxation, they’re hyper vigilant, etc. It sucks for them, as hacking is so great physically for them, and should be a good “arena break”. But some just will never enjoy it!
I mean on the face that looks good.
But it also more or less proves that high-end athletic endeavors are brutal on the horse’s body. If there were no issues, there would be no reason to research how to fix it.
Humans cheering and clapping while there’s a huge wreck on the back side of a steeplechase fence… I don’t think that’s worth the research that comes from it.
I think it’s a tossup between optimizing pastures for rapid growing sugary grass due to lack of land and fencing myself. With “hiring a farrier because he shows up” as a strong runner up. I’ve seen more deaths and misery in horses caused by those three things than anything.
None of this is normal.
I am totally blanking on the horse/rider pair, but I was struck by the rider at Badminton who essentially had the same “kind” of fall as Calvin Bockmann did at Kentucky except it was in the water–horse essentially went down but stayed sternal, rider stayed quiet, horse lurched himself back up (couldn’t see where anything might have hit the ground since it was in the water)…except the rider walked and then trotted the horse for 4-5 strides, did a visual check of all four legs, and then continued. Just landed totally different…and clearly hasn’t caused the media storm. Will have to go back and see if I can find that again.
ETA- found it! Gaspard Maksud on Zaragoza at the Mars Sustainability Bay. About 2:20 into the Cross Country replay.
The commentator does state “his feet are on the floor. It will be interesting to see how that is judged”
What’s interesting about that is I thought that round was a little seat of the pants like Calvin and that pair did end up falling later at the gates. Whether or not the frangible should have gone for them is a different question.
If you’re referring to Gaspard, that’s not correct–they finished the weekend in 25th place with 3 down in the SJ
Oops you are correct I got him and Felix confused.
My thoughts on the CB incident, as I was working the event and watched it live, first my initial reaction, then after hearing the social media response, and now after thinking about it.
Initially, we saw him go down, watched how the horse landed but didn’t actually come all the way down, then get up and immediately keep going. At first I wondered if he would pull up a bit and trot to see how his horse felt, but then it was pretty clear that horse was raring to go still. Frankly, I don’t know if he even realized in the moment that it really was almost a full fall vs a stumble and scramble, I know I’ve had dramatic trips that felt awful but looked like nothing and trips that felt like nothing but looked awful. We watched the rest of his round pretty closely, and while the pair definitely needs some work, I quite love that horse. And I think Calvin will end up being a fantastic rider for the future.
I was actually astonished at the backlash. I thought it was pretty obvious the horse was fine, was clearly continuing on of his own will without being urged on, had no intentions of being pulled up to trot a few steps, and if there had been any injuries they would have showed up and he would have pulled up. Everything I saw just looked like a very very keen horse that wanted to do the things a little bit TOO much. I’m satisfied with the warning he got, it’ll make sure he knows he has homework, but the outrage just seems a bit excessive, though (mostly) well meaning.
On that note, I do think this is a good jump off for the future when there are situations like this. Obviously it WOULD have been better if he had made his horse pause for a second, trot around, then continue. I really don’t think he realized in the moment what had happened, but I do think this could be a good cause for discussion on when you need to stop, check your horse, then continue, and what the reaction from riders and officials should be. At any rate, I think he’s likely thinking about what happened and how he could do it differently, and I’m excited to see them in the future and if he does his homework. I really, really like that horse.
Another note: I watched them trotting around looking at his soundness before he was represented at the second jog. He looked fantastic, idk what happened at the first presenting but I didn’t see a thing wrong with him and I watched him the whole time back behind the strip. I’m glad they checked him so thoroughly, but just in case anyone thinks there was anything funky in his gait, I can attest that on the road and going around on the uneven grassy ground, he looked fit as a fiddle.
I do have to say though…if this is what kills eventing, that’s pretty sad. There are so many other things to be concerned or outraged about, in eventing and other sports. This was just a (possibly too) bold rider on a bolder horse that learned they have some homework, not someone beating their horse around or going around yanking on crazy bits the whole round or any other myriad of things I see as way more concerning.
Moreover the point of the thread is about how public perception in the world of Social Media, in all forms etc., can be a very dangerous tool. And should be handled with care. And even then we will continue to have to fight the idiots who seek clicks and stir the pot to get them.
Em
Ugh this. This is what could kill eventing, and horse sports in general.
^ This is what will kill eventing. There are entire pages who make a not insignificant amount of money from spewing on and on about the abuse in horse sport. They latch on to any event they can because for them it drives revenue and click engagement.
There are people who advocate killing all wildlife predators to prevent suffering of other animals, you can find them on reddit, tiktok etc and they have thousands of followers. Their argument is that allowing nature to continue to be red in tooth and claw when we can stop it is the moral equivalent of condoning torturing thousands of puppies to death every year.
The guy who blew up the fertility clinic in Palm springs is an anti-life person. Life, period. Due to the fact that life = suffering and he can’t bear to think of suffering. He belonged to a community with tens of thousands of members. People are absolutely monetizing this.
I read a really good article in the Atlantic recently on the rise of self-referential morality and moral codes and the loss of a generally accepted objective moral code vs what is right and wrong. It really explained why so many people reach for these positions and cling to them. They never are taught anything regarding what is generally a good and bad action or outcome so they just make something up. And a lot of it is crazy or conveniently self-serving.
Seriously?
I just can’t.
Any interesting quick look at the “impact” some of the internet rabble rousers can cause.
Milestone who made multiple posts (no less than 25 ) after Kentucky/Badminton has a total following of approx 210K (not counting tiktok)
Looking at US based eventers, Boyd clearly invests the most in his social media game.
Boyd - 270k
From there the fall off is pretty steep.
Dutton - 105K
Tamie Smith - 55K
Coleman - 35K
Buck - 20K
Jennie - 17K
Shows how one person with a big following can create A LOT of noise.
Not only that, but the algorithms drive much more traffic to the posts that spark outrage, whether deserved or not, than the ones that just cause likes/congrats/positive affirmations.
Replying to the railbird who is commenting on a standard competition photo crying “abuse” and making claims the horse has a “pain face” because the horse is sweating and the mouth is slightly open results in “increased engagement” … ensuring that the post and the engagement-driving outrage comments reach an even wider audience, often made of people who know nothing about horses and horse sports. And it’s much easier to make a claim of abuse than it is to clear one’s name after said claims.
Meanwhile the rare photo that is truly textbook perfect and shows the rider in impeccable equitation on a horse with a perfectly soft eye over a 5’ fence wearing a plain caveson and snaffle that only gets likes and “wow, amazing!” comments doesn’t have nearly as much engagement and therefore reaches a more limited audience. Unless someone starts down the “it’s morally wrong to make animals perform for human sport” road and gets an argument going, in which case the whole world will now see the post and the associated outrage it has caused.
TL;DR: social media (and people’s related tendency to form very strong opinions regarding things about which they know very little) will probably be the end of equestrian sports.
I thought of this thread this morning. The Vermont 100 goes through my front yard and I either volunteer or crew every year; it’s a major event here!
There was recently a FB post from ride organizers about the very topic of people who have run/ridden. Here’s the answer:
➢ Kathy Broaddus
HORSE: Tidbit 2009
HORSE: TF Red McIntosh 2012
HORSE: Cowboy Bob 2017
HORSE: Fougueux 2018
RUNNER: 2001
➢ Laura Farrell
HORSE: Sven 2018
RUNNER: 1999 & 2000
➢ Krista Alderdice
HORSE Manyone Praise Song Furka 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005
HORSE Danika 2007
HORSE LR Bold Greyson 2008
HORSE Blew Away 2010
HORSE Empiric 2013
RUNNER 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2024
➢ Michelle Rice
HORSE: TEF Lunar Eclipse +/ 2011 & 2013
RUNNER: 2018
➢ Kristen Gonyaw
HORSE: CB Firestorm 2018
RUNNER: 2019
➢ Bill Rice
HORSE: Tashi Samr 2004
RUNNER: 2002
Wow, thank you for answering my question if anyone had ever done it! I salute these athletes who have done it MULTIPLE TIMES and conditioned themselves and their horses for a not-easy 100 mile race.
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