I have a solution! She should train with Katie Prudent! Make this amateur a better rider and horse person, and have her stop ruining the sport!
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:lol::lol::lol::lol:
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Yes, ma’am! Good for you for calling it as you see it, come what may.
IMO, the whole thing about wanting to do something wrong and not receive any of the earned consequences of that has happened twice here-- once with the rider and once with people posting things they believe will be unpopular under the cover of anonymity and explaining the allure of that.
I point this out because I don’t see why adults can’t be adults; (if not you and now, then who and when), and because I think the sport won’t get better, fairer or more ethical toward the animals until people are know their bad behavior won’t be tolerated.
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Bwahahhahahhaha!!! Oh my how you know COTH! LOL!!!
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i watched some videos of this horse with different riders .to me he is a bit of a packer. his riders weren’t terrible, but they weren’t the best of the best. seems to my amateur mind that he has had to learn to take care of himself. nothing dirty about getting sick of mediocre rides. schoolhorses do the same, protect themselves.
some of you that have kicked or slapped a horse in the belly while tacking up because they cow kicked at you, maybe think about why that horse did that. ulcers, iffy saddle fit, etc. maybe the horse was just being a stinker or maybe his belly hurts.
i was hoping the rider would address the incident.
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@Gestalt That is exactly what I thought watching the videos I found on YouTube of him with different riders. He seemed sweet and saintly, and very forgiving.
So my purely subjective speculation is that I don’t think the fact that he may have had a bad jump was intentional. Again, based on the comments of the people who were there, it was a windy day and they said was being spooky. A horse is a living creature, not a piece of equipment. Sometimes when a horse who usually just does his job (regardless of the confidence or the ability of the rider) is shaky and needs some extra support and a stronger ride than usual from the jockey, things go awry if the rider just expects the horse to go as he does usually, with very little direction.
Trust me, I’ve learned the hard way myself that riding means to “expect the unexpected!” Or rather, I’m still learning that my reflexes and my ability to understand what my horse needs has got to be much quicker.
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I just received this email from USEF.
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[B]Just got this email from USEF.
Lexington, Ky. [/B]– The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) holds the welfare and safety of horse and rider as paramount to its mission as evidenced by the recent Board of Directors’ approval of new, tougher welfare and safety penalty guidelines.
USEF is in receipt of written reports and a video of the incident. These reports and the video provide an account of Ms. Johnson-Merton’s actions following a fall from her horse during competition. USEF has launched an investigation into the full circumstances of this matter. The USEF will conduct this investigation and any subsequent actions in accordance with their regulatory rules and procedures.
The USEF rules are in place to ensure that horse welfare and safety are protected at all times.Federation (USEF) holds the welfare and safety of horse and rider as paramount to its mission as evidenced by the recent Board of Directors’ approval of new, tougher welfare and safety penalty guidelines.
USEF is in receipt of written reports and a video of the incident. These reports and the video provide an account of Ms. Johnson-Merton’s actions following a fall from her horse during competition. USEF has launched an investigation into the full circumstances of this matter. The USEF will conduct this investigation and any subsequent actions in accordance with their regulatory rules and procedures.
The USEF rules are in place to ensure that horse welfare and safety are protected at all times.
^ Jinx!!
For me this raises the question that’s been debated on this forum often over the last decade.
The question of being a well educated, experienced, and competent rider in the classical sense…vs…Riders who are trained to be judged in a ring according to some arbitrarily created “idealized” concept of the “perfect hunter”.
Some adjustment has been made in judging of hunter derbies in recent years, energy and playful exuberant expression “is now allowed”. A horse is allowed to be a horse, and not required move like a robot.
This has been the basis for lengthy debate in recent years. Is the industry producing truly capable and versatile riders… Rider’s with the skills to hunt out in the field, canter up and down hills, jump natural obstacles, cross streams, navigate unlevel terrain, and have the ability to handle the spooks, bolts, and every other thing that real horses do when being ridden outdoors on real trails, fields, and countryside?
My opinion is the Hunter world contains true talented versatile horses and riders. But I think there’s a part of the industry that caters to those who’s only interest is to show and a ring, and attempt to win.
Should the rider in the hunter ring be comparable to the eventer, or the field hunter, riding out in the field?
Hunter riders are riding to be judged in the ring. The debate then becomes one of objectives. If a rider does not need a full set of “classical riding skills” to successfully compete in the hunter ring, is such a rider “as good of a rider” as the rider who can sit though, and correct, just about anything a horse can throw at them?
I personally feel that when a rider becomes so absorbed in “the performance”… that is apperently meant to represent the ideal hunter… But if they can’t break out of their “acting” the instant a horse throws a “real world” piece of horse behavior that “interrupts their act”… is this really riding, and is this really what riding “should be”.
define “should be” any way you’d like…
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Ok, just to throw a huge monkey wrench into the age old debate of “show hunter” vs. “fox hunter” riding ability, note that the person in question is the MFH of a hunt.
http://www.essexfoxhounds.org/about-us.html
I think the horse’s history or the rider’s ability is completely immaterial in this case. The issue was the rider’s reaction, and the (lack of) immediate reaction by USEF. Time will tell what happens next.
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Years ago, I had to swat my horse with a crop three to four times (hard as I could) because the horse was running out to the side of jumps. This cured my horse of the nasty habit. The horse did not like it and some might have considered it cruel or wrong…and this same practice is still around today.
Again…do not agree with what Jazz did…but I can assure you that my hitting my horse 3-4 times with my crop was considerably more painful and traumatic to my horse than what Jazz did (again not excusing her behavior).
She has been shamed enough…leave the poor gal along and realize she has more than learned her lesson. Her horse is fine for goodness sake. Looks like the USEF is going to pile on.
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I agree that there was no presumption of privacy, however, this is the kind of video I would expect a Facebook pot-stirrer to post–not the Chronicle of the Horse.
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I’m looking at this in general terms of how I think the “show world” influences the development of a riding style that is NOT effective for dealing with “the realities of equine behavior”.
Let me say it another way… If the rider is riding in a way that depends on the horse behaving in a predictable way, then that’s leaving the rider vulnerable to the innate unpredictable nature of the horse.
When I view the video in the COTH article, my observation of the video causes me to speculate that the rider was in a poor position to recover their balance and control over the horse. Why was the rider in that position? I think it’s because it’s the “fashion” of the hunter ring to ride that way.
Looking at that rider’s other video that was posted by another poster, I can see that she’s an excellent rider.
If she’s a hunt master, I sort of doubt you’d see her riding over fences in the field using that same style that she’s using in the hunter ring.
As for her behavior after she came off her horse. My best guess without having any further information. Is that I think she may have been upset that her horse did not canter off after the jump in the way that would have kept her upper torso balanced over the horse. I think she may have put her mind into “show hunter mode”, and expected her horse to move in a predictable way.
It’s the fallacy of “Expecting predictability” from an “inherently unpredictable animal”, that is my entire point…
I think her apparent method of disciplining the horse after she came off seemed inappropriate.
I’m personally seeing it in a light of irony though. Again, I don’t have all the details, and I’m not calling my view the truth. It’s a speculative personal opinion that I’ve assessed based on the observation of a video posted by COTH. I’m speculating that what I’m seeing in that video, is a rider who put herself in a vulnerable position in order to competitively compete in a hunter class. Then she came off her horse when her horse “sucked back” after the jump, and the physical forces of inertia and gravity unbalanced the rider’s position to a point that they could no longer remain seated on the horse. The rider then appeared to be upset that they came off of their horse, and attempted to communicate their displeasure with the horse’s actions by apparently raising their foot up towards the belly of the horse.
Has anyone else speculated the same or similarly???
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Can we just quit making excuses for her piss poor sportsmanship? She’s a grown damn woman who should be able to control her temper and understand consequences. I don’t give a tinkers damn that she’s a J&J heiress and master of the Essex Foxhounds (they must be so proud…not), I want USEF to hold her accountable. If my USEF dues are going up, I want them to go after the drug cheats and the people like her and others mistreating horses with vigor and relentless pursuit, it’s time to take out the trash an bring some honor, integrity and sportsmanship back to our sport.
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And then scold people for talking about it on the COTH BB (I didn’t notice what was deleted but some posts seem to have been edited)?!
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Y’all are far more athletic than me, I don’t think I could kick high enough to make significant contact with a horse’s belly without injuring myself far worse than I ever would the horse. Hell I’d probably fall down during said kick and get trampled. :lol::lol::lol:
(not that I would try in the first place, I think the rider’s actions were inexcusable, insert disclaimers here :D)
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It would seem to me that when your first instinct after coming off is to turn around a kick your horse in the belly, there is a problem there. Doesn’t really matter who you are, how rich you are or anything else. That move kind of shows who you are. In this day and age of EVERYONE having a phone with a camera and social media, people should be aware of the consequences if you act like an a**hat to your horse in the center ring at one of the most prestigious horse shows in the country. I just hate people who act like that. And yes, I have been upset at times with my horse but would never think of kicking him in the belly. Totally unacceptable behavior and I don’t feel the least bit sorry for the internet buzz surrounding her.
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You just can’t kick a horse in the stomach at a horse show (and then run him out of the ring - with his stirrups down). You just can’t. It’s not remotely similar to hitting a horse with a crop. There’s a spectrum of what’s acceptable with the crop from discipline to abuse. There is no spectrum for kicking a horse from the ground. She’s lucky he didn’t strike at her. She really tarnished what should be an elegant division. For adults. I was glad to get the email from USEF. At least our membership dues are going to a good purpose. They need to throw the book at her. And btw, it’s in the NY Daily News. Fantastic.
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I bet her family is proud. Isn’t their motto “A family company”?
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