I believe nothing of the kind. My view is that if one has an eventing horse, at almost any level, that horse is well cared for. I see examples at my level every week and I have seen, from the outside, examples at the top of the sport. There are any number of more well known riders I respect, including Americans that show the best in how to care for, train, and compete.
That does not rule out that some are less connected to their horses. There is certainly one ULR that has come under criticism for both the condition of and the manner in which they compete. These are humans, they are not infallible and when they make a mistake, because of their visibility it does need to be discussed so the sport as a whole can improve.
Here we have a described (by some) prick of a horse, nappy for reasons unknown that has real control issues, whether or not it is “good” on cross country. Though the Rider did follow the letter of the rules moving the horse up, the fact that it was moved up so fast, so high indicates more than “He’s ready for it” since those ULR I’ve read and looked up tend to not push so hard on a horse in the beginning. He’s “Nappy” and “We’ll look to take care of it” don’t quite go together with a schedule that would indicate little time to “take care of it”, again, observing the pressures of a Professional Rider, not a personal attack.
More and more these Riders are having to seemingly do more with less. We see Riders like Dutton, Davidson, Martin come in to shows with multiple rides. I cannot fathom they are all owned by one person. Thus we have the pressures of owners wanting to see their horse run in a 3*, another wanting the horse trained faster, another hoping for good placement to get better value on a sale. Maybe the Rider him/her self has a couple that they are bringing along. That is a lot of horses to be “connected to”, to trust with your life and I find it hard to imagine the any Rider with 9-11 horses at a show is truly taking much time to analyze in detail the performance. By that point, it’s a job and they need to get the job done.
Does Buck pat a horse, give it a rub, or some other generic action we all do because we love horses…sure, as he gets off and prepares to get on the next horse on the list. I’ll accept your anecdotal evidence that he’s a good guy, but even good guys have bad days, make wrong decisions, get pressured into doing something, because in that moment the choices are few.
Buck got a YC, because he broke a rule and as far as I know, even in Eventing, ignorance of the rule is not a defense. Those who don’t like roped off areas make a valid point, but that it existed, then yes, it was the responsibility of the Rider to do anything possible to stay out of it, potentially putting him/her self in harms way, because instead of one lady getting rope burns, it might have been two getting run over by the horse. Had he fallen, like the Rider with the loose horse than that tells a different story, but at the end of the day, we ride these horses, they are our responsibility and we are responsible for their actions.
So many here have stated in some shape “How dare they give Buck a YC, he’s the best rider around” and after all I’ve read, learned in researching this is what I feel, I am glad they gave him that card. Looking past his joking, what I’d hope he got from it was being aware of the environment, know how your horse might react in a situation and try to be proactive in lessening the reaction, and even going as far as pulling a horse out of the competition track and getting its mental state straightened out or find it another job. If you think, who am I to question a professional, what do you know little lower level rider? I’ll say this…
I used to fly airplanes. I knew very skilled, professional pilots that could land a thousand ton airplane in nasty nasty conditions, but these pilots, every six months went back and had the skill tested, reviewed, even altered if they showed signs of beginning to have poor judgement. I sat in the cockpit of a small airplane, me with my PPL and two ATP pilots that flew really big airplanes and their lack of judgement and inability to handle a small plane scared the hell out of me that day to the point where I asked, can I land the plane?
People die when professionals get complacent, and while this is clearly not as intense, I find no fault in having any Eventing professional’s skill challenged, judgement reviewed lest they fall off a horse at Novice and break a bone thinking just their skill will make it work. They are not gods, if they want my respect they need to earn it, not expect it just because they jump higher, go faster than me.
At the end of the day, it is all about the horses, the ones with no say, the ones with the only voice they can use, their body, and we better not forget it lest we lose this sport to hubris.
Peace out. My libation awaits the end of the day, as well does my ride.
