Unsportsmanlike conduct at Hampton Classic

[vxf111]

@Köttbulle

That could be true, but she has won Derby’s on him, so he can’t be that dirty. It wasn’t a nice move on his part, but she could have sat up and rode it forward. It sucked that he was being an ass, but work on that at home. My green bean of an OTTB runs out at fences when he is unsure of the distance, I don’t kick or smack him at shows (granted its just schooling shows right now, and not the big time), instead I try and regroup, circle and make sure the approach is better.

The dirtiest horse I ever knew was one of the winningest. There was no in between with him. Either you were blue in every class or ate dirt. Just because he sometimes going around well doesn’t make what he pulled any less dirty. And it looked like it wasn’t the first time.

I think people are underestimating how hard it would have been to stick that. It wasn’t what he did on the landing side that got her off, that just finished the job. The horse left from a distance the rider neither expected nor asked for that was pretty funny, not only jumped way up in the air but really round at the same time, landed and stopped forward motion while having a round back with his head down. That’s DAMN hard to sit. That’s not a normal jump followed by playing, that’s a real tough jump.

Again, I don’t think the reaction was called for (or helpful, frankly) and obviously staying on and riding forward would have been better-- but I think a lot of people are way misjudging how hard that antic was to ride and how dirty that trick was. It seemed pretty clear to me that she felt it coming (and so this is not the first time) because otherwise he would have stopped and spun out and not jumped at all. That was not a “horse spooks unexpectedly” kind of thing. That really looked like a dirty trick to me.

[GoneAway]

@Winding Down

so, I truly believe what she did was wrong. But it was also a harmless, stupid display of bad sportsmanship.

Mmmm…“harmless” is debatable.

Kids or other amateurs watching that day, or tuning into that live feed see someone at one of the biggest, most prestigious horse shows on the calendar and don’t see a reprimand of her behavior. So maybe they assume it’s okay to act like that. And if that reaction is okay? What else is acceptable in a moment of frustration (especially at home with no one watching)? Actually kicking the horse in the gut? Hitting it in the in the face? Hitting it excessively with the crop? It might sound silly to make that leap, but that’s how slippery slope works. And yes, I worked actual humane investigations and I saw “real” abuse and neglect so I know exactly what that looks like. I don’t think this display was harmless at all.

Those in positions to influence others (yep, that applies to pretty much anyone willing to step out into a big public event like the Hampton Classic in front of anyone there and the Internet) need to be held to a high standard. It sucks for the AO in this case to have to learn that lesson this way, but if you can’t control your emotions, then don’t show. And while I agree the horse looks like it has difficult habits - if those habits can’t be corrected at home, DON’T SHOW. And if you decide to compete anyway, don’t act all surprised and like a bratty five year old when the behavior gets you tossed. Run the stirrups up, take the reins over the head, and walk out calmly without looking like a petulant child.

Better yet, find a reason behind the horse’s behavior and correct that, or find the horse a new job, or retire it if she’s got the means.

[Irish_Ei_s]

Neither one of them belong in any show ring.
At the Hampton Classic, they are thrilled to take your entries for their supposed Charity show…

Fill in an entry, pay your money and in you go.

[jennifersw]

@beowulf

Absolutely unacceptable but that was a dirty, dirty trick on the horse’s part too. Think it must be a frequent thing at home considering how rehearsed both of their reactions looked. Rider was mad and horse knew the kick was coming…

Dirty, dirty trick? The horse was fresh and propped a little. Either learn to prepare your horse right, or, if you can’t ride the horse, find a horse you can ride. He’s a horse. She’s a human. She let an animal get the best of her. Shame on her. Not him.

[Thoroughbred1201]

@jennifersw

Dirty, dirty trick? The horse was fresh and propped a little. Either learn to prepare your horse right, or, if you can’t ride the horse, find a horse you can ride. He’s a horse. She’s a human. She let an animal get the best of her. Shame on her. Not him.

Thank you. He spooked and swapped, then jumped big and round. He’d have kept going forward if she’d have picked up her shoulder. It was really all pretty innocuous, not dirty. The best jumpers often have a bit of a peek to them. So if he’s a spook, or has a bit of a looky stop to him, then learn to ride it, or get something that doesn’t. Or ride a bike. Either way.

Learn to ride, and learn to fall gracefully. Because if you ride, you will fall off. And if you jump, you’ll fall off more. Its a fact. Gravity doesn’t lie. But bad sportsmanship is bad sportsmanship and isn’t acceptable at any age. Period.

[HJdaydream]

I don’t think it matters one iota in this situation whether you think the horse was “dirty” and if you think she “could have” stayed on. The focus is the incredibly poor display of sportsmanship. There is absolutely NO EXCUSE for this type of behavior, and I honestly don’t see the need to speculate about anything outside of what the video very clearly shows- a rider the is upset about being dumped and immediately tries to take revenge on her horse.

[luvmyhackney]

Please, its a horse, not a robot and yep she could have sat that. Not really surprised she wasn’t reprimanded, based on her last name. Horse looks like it was used to getting kicked or expecting punishment after she hit the dirt.

Should be banned and should not have been allowed to continue at the show. [edit]

[Come_Shine]

Who is her trainer? The fact that her default (no matter how dirty the horse was) was to get up and KICK HIM IN THE BELLY is something that she has learned is okay from someone.

How many of you would EVER even think to kick your horse in the belly? Cmon now.

My coach would have skinned me alive.

[allons-y]

I wonder what happened to the poor horse back at his stall, afterwards…she seems a perfect brat who doesn’t deserve any horse.

[beowulf]

@jennifersw

Dirty, dirty trick? The horse was fresh and propped a little. Either learn to prepare your horse right, or, if you can’t ride the horse, find a horse you can ride. He’s a horse. She’s a human. She let an animal get the best of her. Shame on her. Not him.

You’re responding as if I condone the behavior…

[meupatdoes]

@vxf111

Without justifying AT ALL the rider’s reaction (let me say that one more time, without justifying AT ALL THE RIDER’S REACTION)…

That horse looks like he plays real dirty. On the takeoff side she cantered up to what was going to be the right distance and he did a big prop like he was perhaps going to stop and spin out (or bolt-- a stride out it seems like he was going to pull SOMETHING and in response she put her leg on), then instead jumped big, and was ready to put his head down and porpoise on the landing. Looks like a horse that knows how to get you off on the takeoff or the landing and pulls both tricks out of his bag at shows when he knows he can.

THIS DOES NOT MEAN I THINK IT WAS APPROPRIATE TO KICK AT HIS BELLY OR YANK ON HIS MOUTH

But I get the feeling this horse is dirty, has done it before, maybe especially takes advantage of the show setting, and the rider may have lost her temper. This didn’t look like the first time she’d ridden to a fine distance on this horse at a show and got dumped in response.

THIS DOES NOT MEAN I THINK WHAT SHE DID WAS OKAY. It just means, I think that horse is one that can challenge your nerves. That’s all. I see a lot of people criticizing the RIDE and while I think the REACTION may have been unsportsmanlike, I think the ride reflects a dirty stopper and a horse that knows how to get a rider off in the show ring.

Probably the horse doesn’t want to try for [her].

They have a sense of fairness.

[PaintedHunter]

And she’s no kid either - in the 36 and over class.
The coming off was her fault. The kicking was out of line.

[Rackonteur]

@ilovetheadd27

I can’t believe there’s not a thread on this yet. Thoughts on the incident? Thoughts on outing this rider? Definitely not appropriate at a show or at home. I’ll just leave this here for discussion.

http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/…ampton-classic

P.s.- not trying to be a **** stirrer, i just think it’s something that we should discuss in this forum.

Why do you think that? Are you this person? Is she a COTHer? Does she train any of us, or anyone any of us know?

This is the second thread I’ve seen on COTH recently that was started with the intention of criticizing another rider. I hope it isn’t going to become a trend.

[CupcakeTough]

First, doesn’t matter if the horse was dirty. Jumping up and kicking it in the belly, regardless of contact, is demonstrating unsportsmanlike behavior and should be punished.

Second, I’m an eventer, so maybe I don’t understand the hunter ring, but I did not see that as “dirty” on the horse’s part. To MY view, he was a little spooky, hesitated, and then jumped big. She lost her balance and was on his neck on the landing side. He slowed to a crawl and dropped his head the rest of the way. Frankly, he deposited her rather gently on the ground. She would not have come off if she had kept her shoulders back, chest up, and kept her leg on, sending him forward on the landing. I think the spook at the beginning threw her out of balance and she couldn’t correct it.

[CupcakeTough]

@Rackonteur

Why do you think that? Are you this person? Is she a COTHer? Does she train any of us, or anyone any of us know?

This is the second thread I’ve seen on COTH recently that was started with the intention of criticizing another rider. I hope it isn’t going to become a trend.

Did you read the article?

A large part of the controversy here is that the judge reported it to the stewards, and the stewards did NOT issue a yellow card or report it on the USEF form. This begs the question of why? Does anybody actually think that this DIDN’T qualify as poor sportsmanship? Abuse? If it qualifies as either, then the question is why didn’t it get reported? Why wasn’t the rider yellow carded?

[Soaponarope]

I mean at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if the horse behaved badly or not. You are an AO in the over 35s. You are at the Hampton classic. Put up your stirrups and walk out of the ring. Behave.

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

What I find interesting is the polar opposite interpretations of what the horse did that caused the rider to come off.

On my first viewing, I saw a pretty good approach and a fairly nicely shaped jump that unbalanced the rider and pitched her forward, and it almost looked to me like the horse stopped because she was unbalanced and up his neck. Yet several vastly more experienced sets of eyes than mine see propping and porpoising with intent on the part of the horse. On reviewing I see the rounding of the horse’s back, and I tend to agree that the horse must have done this before to warrant the rider’s reaction because otherwise it was pretty mild as disobediences go.

But for an experienced rider of a mature age to react that way in the show ring… I am officially aghasted.

[BLBGP]

A post on the (LONG) FB thread from someone who said they witnessed it in person says that it was a very cold day and lots of horses like this one were fresh and spooky. They said he came in wanting to spin towards the gate and she had to do multiple appropriate corrections until this happened with a very inappropriate reaction. It didn’t look naughty to me…it looked fresh and easy to ride through with more leg and shoulders back, especially for someone who rides as much and as many as she does. For what it’s worth, this person also said contact was made (it looked like it to me in the video, but it’s hard to tell behind the other jump).

But the big issues are: a.) she felt it was an appropriate correction in general, much less in public and b.) it was reported to the stewards but went on no official reports.

[beau159]

Wow. Just wow.

To go after the horse like that, at a show, in front of cameras? How stupid is she?

Of course, a belly kick like that is not going to actually hurt the horse, but I cannot imagine what she does to him behind closed doors at home if she’s willing to do that in front of a huge audience.

Sure, he humped up a little after the jump, but she shouldn’t have fallen off. Definately an over-reaction to the situation.

Save the schooling for at home.

[Dinah-do]

I think the horse has character. If you can ride A/O you can ride a silly prop like that. IMO.