Dig this: this story made Fox News! Really, I did not think I’d see the day that the COTH is the source for a Fox News story… Pigs flying all over the place these days! http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment…-on-video.html
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Daily Mail, too. Has she (or her PR people) responded at all?
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It’s an ugly situation.
Is there a need to make it uglier in your turn by digging at the rider’s family, all of which whom, as far I can tell, were not in the ring at any time during her round and thus can hardly be complicit in their (relative) rider’s inexcusable behavior?
Come on G, you’re being mean.
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Don’t read the comments unless you have an appetite for ignorance!!!
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Given the huge backlash to the video and the audience this is now reaching, hopefully this will serve as a very concrete lesson to others that mistreatment will not be tolerated.
Everyone makes mistakes. I wish Mrs. Merton-Johnson the best as she moves forward and learns from hers.
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In this day and age of Technology, folks who lose their temper potentially will have to deal with a very, very different situation than prior to cell phones/video, etc. This incident is a good example for all to learn to deal with your emotions when doing anything with your ponies. One of the most important things in everyone’s toolbox is to always do your best to try and keep your emotions in check. After every incident, your direction should always be to stop, take two, breathe, center and settle yourself. Make sure you are O.K. physically. It takes literally seconds but can be hard to do. This ‘should’ put you mentally in the appropriate place to continue, and be at the top of every riders toolbox and always the very first thing they take out. That being said, we all know there are riders who do not have this in their toolbox, either because it was lacking in their instruction, or perhaps because their resources allowed them to forego being required to learn/do it. Either way, it is counterproductive in every occurrence, usually at the expense of the horse.
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Not all of these points are directed at above quoted post.
- Did she issue a statement of apology (like a few other people that did things in the heat of the moment did when caught on tape?). At some point- yes- people can lose it in the moment, perhaps act in a way that they would not typically act, freaking OWN IT and apologize.
It is called accountability. :rolleyes:
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Hitting with the crop as a correction immediately for bad behavior is different than falling, getting up after you have fallen off and kicking your horse.
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People actually creating alters to express an opinion think WAAYYYYY too much of themselves. I’ll full stop there.
4… Under GR839- Pursuit of an investigation is totally appropriate, you know- since a judge reported it and specifically watched the rider back in warm up (which to her credit no further tantrums were observed). :encouragement:
https://www.usef.org/forms-pubs/s9Se…-general-rules Subchapter GF Welfare of the horse.
- Being a hunter rider has little to do with this. Please. There are plenty of hunter riders that ride horses with tricks. Hunters ARE supposed to look flawless and part of that is the rider but just because a hunter rider can sit like a princess DOES NOT MEAN they can pull out a can of hard core riding skills when needed. Just because you ride a different discipline doesn’t mean those riders are ANY MORE EQUIPPED to handle situations than hunters. Please spare me.
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Lots of people do stupid things in the heat of the moment, but kicking a horse in the stomach is something that I can’t imagine is even helpful in that sort of situation. It wasn’t a correction, it was a little tantrum. Adults who throw tantrums don’t have much excuse.
When I was a kid I had a very dumb young horse who was afraid of doorways, for no apparent reason. I worked with him patiently pretty much every day on it, and thought we had conquered it until one day we went through a nice, wide doorway and he freaked out and rammed himself against me, nearly cracking a rib. The only part of me that wasn’t smushed between him and the wall was my legs, so I swung a foot up into his belly to get him off me. It worked, and we went back to square one with the doorway desensitizing. That was self defense and I still feel bad about it, 30 years later.
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USE(F) has launched an investigation. Question is not if she did or did not this incident, the question is why the judges report and concern did not warrant further action ( have action taken) by the stewards
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I think this is the crux of this matter. Not who she is or how she rides, or what the horse did or didn’t do, but why the judge’s report and concerns seem to have been ignored.
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A serious question. How do you know the “lesson was learned”? I think one element of this that was so shocking was that anyone would have thought the lesson about not taking revenge on an animal would have been learned decades ago in an adult rider’s life. And the other bit about, “Ok, maybe you like to mistreat horses at home (or speed, or lie or steal)… but for God’s sake, keep a lid on those things in public and when you can get caught! Do that because there are people more powerful than you in this world (like cops) and you will meet some consequences of your known transgressions that you don’t like.”
So when a rider in the show ring at a huge horse show breaks all of those rule— ethical rules, common social rules and even explicit rules about unsportsmanlike conduct-- you have to wonder if this person is open to learning lessons at all. I mean, so many known lines were crossed! I look at someone who does that and I wonder if this social media storms makes a whit of difference at all. After all, nothing else seemed to make an impression.
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Fair enough. You raise a good point about what counts as “news” to that magazine. I don’t know where the line is between a story chosen soley to entice readership and generate traffic on the 'web… as this one certainly did, and when the incident is newsworthy because it’s important for the sport.
Again, if the USEF was a more trustworthy “adult in the room” that was viewed as a fair and firm enforcer of it’s membership’s rules, I think this kind of story wouldn’t have “legs”-- for us, or for a publisher who makes a living supplying readers with what they want to consumer.
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I didn’t say that to be mean, I said it because the company has a reputation (marketing goal?) of being family friendly. I don’t think this is going to do their image much good. There’s no personal emotion from me, just an observation on possible negative public attention because of her tantrum.
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I disagree. I’ve been around a long time. The people who are truly cruel to horses are not throwing temper tantrums in the show ring, their abuse happens quietly back in the barns or at home. Targeting an adult amateur who had a temper tantrum at a very unfortunate moment serves as a lesson to be more careful in public situations, but that’s it.
Oh, no, wait, It also teaches trainers that they better not under prep and end up with a horse that is too fresh in the show ring because it’s an unforgivable spectacle if a horse should misbehave in the show ring and have a rider fall off (or god forbid require the use of the crop). I’ve been around long enough to know that the discussion back at the barn after the round in question most likely centered on the problem of the horse not having been “prepped” well enough.
Frankly, fear of having horses misbehave in the show ring and having a fall or a “spectacle” in the public eye (videoed or not) is part of what has made our h/j culture so dependent on “prep.” For example, by current standards it’s a lot more acceptable to LTD, use multiple tubes of PP, use injections of “electrolytes,” and use a long list of “legal” drugs to make sure a horse is dead quiet in the ring VS. having a horse go out into the show ring and do something that requires a spanking. Unfortunately, a lot of methods of preparing a horse for the hunter ring are probably more unkind than the use of a crop (or a flailing kick to the belly), but because the prep takes place quietly behind the scenes it is tolerated.
This situation and the backlash is part of a culture that makes it harder to take a green or difficult horse out in public, because if that horse should misbehave and require a correction, you are going to have to choose between making a proper correction and risking getting internet shamed or letting the horse get away with bad behavior. I have zero faith that the general public–or even many inexperienced horse people–can accurately discern in most instances whether a situation is a temper tantrum, abuse, or a proper correction. There are people out there that even believe that bits and nailed on horse shoes are cruel, so I have no doubt that a video of a rider delivering a proper correction to a difficult horse would find plenty of harsh internet critics.
I can see how the Chronicle has gained publicity for itself by featuring this video and getting links from larger news sources, but it was a low move and clearly not motivated by concern for horse welfare.
It’s very ironic to me all the people who come out of the woodwork to point fingers at the rider in this video, and yet at the end of the day, cruel and unethical trainers, some of whom have been caught red handed and/or featured in lawsuits, always seem to have plenty of clients.
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Emphasis added, because I think this completely misses the point of what most people are upset about.
If she had fallen off, it would not have been a big deal.
If she had stayed on and ridden through it with a ride that was not pretty but effective, it would not have been a big deal.
There is nothing corrective about kicking the horse in a belly from the ground. It is a purely an emotional temper tantrum with behavior that could be abusive.
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This. The whole discussion is over an Adult temper tantrum, which, face it, is something anybody whose worked around horses long enough will have faced and learned to control. Unfortunately this Adult handled it inappropriatly and publically like a spoiled child. Which should have resulted in an unsportsmanlike conduct violation censure/fine. No question. She’s not the only second or third generation trust fund baby or from the wealthiest of those families, that also diverts attention from the rest of the iceberg of abuse.
Like an iceberg. You don’t see most of it, it remains silent under the surface. Love to see more light shone under the surface out “behind the barn” instead of the riding talent of an Ammy acting like a 12 year old with a naughty Pony. Keeping with the iceberg analogy…most of this discussion is rearranging those famous deck chairs instead of plugging the hole.
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geeze, does anyone else feel sorry for this woman? I know it’s hard to feel sorry for someone who is so wealthy but she really didn’t hurt the horse and her behavior was just silly and stupid. My guess is that as soon as she got out of the ring, she felt terribly embarrassed. The horse never looks frightened at all. The kick she delivered was less than what would be given if mounted. I cannot imagine how ashamed she must feel. Fox News?
I wish they’d go after people who sore horses instead! Or starve them! Or slaughter them inhumanely. Or, or, or… Heck, I have seen horses far more uncomfortable out on trail rides with ill-fitting saddles or bridles.
I cannot imagine what it is like for this woman to go out in public now. It’s like her face is on a poster in the local post office! I think I’d quit riding for awhile and go into exile.
No, I am not saying her behavior is okay. Definitely not! But if this happened at a local horse show with a no-name rider, a trainer would admonish the rider and the rest of us would be, like, "What an idiot, what a spoiled brat, what a… what a… " I don’t think we’d be calling the po-po on her. !
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I don’t think that the people rightfully calling out the bad behavior of the rider in the video are the same people who are clients of trainers who are cruel and unethical, at least the ones that I know who have weighed in.
So because unethical/cruel (Bee Honey’s words) trainers have clients- we need to accept bad behavior as the norm, from pros or ammies?
Why the fuss?
It has all the makings of a bad Saddle Club episode: rich heiress, published author (Social Climber’s Bible- I can barely not snort at it), equestrian, runs in the richest social circles, attends galas and events CAUGHT ON CAMERA kicking her horse after she falls.
It is only lacking the poor, brunette groom getting on and galloping the horse to victory.
Most other incidents are not surrounding the rich and elite but are definitely more sinister in the Dick Fracis realm: drugging, name changes, death, lawsuits and threats. Deserving of public outrage but it doesn’t have the media appeal. I wish it did.
Here’s a thought for those feeling bad for this person- she can freaking apologize. That tends to go a long way.
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Yup, the spotlight is fully on her embarrassing lack of anger management while God knows what else went on in those barns in the wee small hours with potentially longer lasting consequences then an annoying and ineffective kick in the belly by a “wealthy person”. We can’t tolerate that from anybody, of course, but calling for her to be suspended while deliberate and clever repeat offenders continue to get off with a slap on the wrist ignore the welfare and health of the horse? Ignores those far greater abuses in favor of piling on a " wealthy person" who did something really, amazingly stupid. Something I doubt she wil, ever even think of doing again and anybody following this will never do either.
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I wish this amount of backlash was applied to Marilyn Little.
https://the900facebookpony.com/2015/10/23/when-does-control-become-abuse/
I’m glad this is getting looked into, I can only hope the rider here is learning from this and will never do it again- honestly, as a heartfelt change in how she reacts to horses, not just to avoid “press”.
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