Wow, I was there for that bad behavior, and saw it all as it was in the next door stall to my group. I was impressed because I got a call from USEF in the week following, asking for all the details. The officials took us witnesses very seriuously, and I am THRILLED that there is a result of our complaints.
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Well I’m about to make you sad. Caesar parra has been a known scuzz ball for decades on the east coast.
Except for the housewife dressage riders. I’m so thankful someone has gotten proof. As young women we were all told to stay away.
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There’s a HUGE difference between a professional actively fighting a permanent suspension and an ammy who did not fight a temporary suspension.
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Yes there is, and I think that is why USEF handles national suspensions and leaves the international suspensions (Kocher, Parra et al) to the FEI.
Maybe because one happened at a horse show where USEF has jurisdiction and McConnon’s happened on private property (assuming from the videos I saw)
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So for anyone who jumped on my back and said it wouldn’t be a bad thing to “Self regulate” by posting the abusers and that (Paraphrasing) they would only get what’s coming to them.
Have a gander at this thread and see if you think they actually will get what they deserve from one onlooker posting a video.
Em
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I think she will be disciplined by USEF. Too many people saw what happened.
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Agreed but this was already in process before the video was posted. So did the video add anything to improve the situation? Beyond people finding her and canceling her in return now.
Em
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Awareness. It matters.
Nothing the USEF does will change who she is at the core. Horse people active in the sport need to know so they can make their own transactional decisions if she is in their orbit.
And it highlights the fact that these things happen. Too many people ignore it – publicizing it shows that yes it matters.
Plus it may be a deterrent to others in the future. Don’t come apart and abuse your horse in the show ring where everyone can video you. Or at home where everyone can also video you.
And, not for nothing, there are people who should not be connected with horses or any other animal. They are temperamentally unsuited. If such exposure helps push a few of them into other careers, other fields of endeavor, that needs to happen.
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In the case you linked to on the H/J forum, the rider was a “professional” while the one in the topic of this thread is an amateur. That is where I see a difference.
I have no issue with the “pro” being shown abusing the horse in public. It shows the circumstances in which the abuse occurred and that there can be no excuse given to minimize how egregious it was.
The wide distribution of that video may make someone who planned to send that “pro” one or more of their horses, think twice.
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I don’t really understand what you are asking. It isn’t sufficient for an onlooker to post a video; it is important that the governing bodies also investigate and act. But — as with the earlier example in this thread — I also don’t think it’s problematic for an onlooker to post a video. Do you think the video should not have been posted?
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So you don’t think this is worthy of people seeing? You don’t think that a pro- or anyone- who behaves in this manner should be called out? If more people called out poor behavior, maybe Humble wouldn’t have died at Devon and parents would know what trainers would imperil their child, as predators.
Finding and canceling her- though I am not a fan of malicious intent, I don’t see the issue with people being informed of people’s character. When they show you who they are, believe them.
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The “trainer” posted didn’t just accept a suspension, she’s actively fighting it and filing multiple lawsuits. A video was even compiled to show this horse’s bad behavior with other riders as justification of the abuse. It is of note that this horse was also for sale as a “dressage” horse as at least at some point there was an idea that MAYBE this horse wasn’t suited for its job.
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There are lots of people who are just getting started who may not know the ins and outs of looking through USEF to find active suspensions. If even one person gets a heads up that this is not a good trainer/pro, then yeah - it’s worth it.
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How many here, responding to these threads have never done something as stupid as what the either video or report describe?
I’m not proud. Every day I apologize to every horse in my past. Every time I ride, peanut carries the ghosts of all the horses I failed as I work to be a better horseman. I am lucky to have trainers and mentors who called me out and held me to a higher standard, teaching me to be better.
Public lynching does nothing to lower the “crime” rate and only serves as entertainment for those who attend.
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Oh my gosh, yes! Me freaking too!
Edit to add - to clarify, I have never done what is shown in the recent video. Me falling off was always my own fault, certainly not falling off and beating the horse for it.
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I’m far from perfect and there are plenty of past training choices I’d change if I could, but I can confidently say I’ve never done anything close to the behavior reported in this incident or in the other thread referenced. Hitting a horse repeatedly over a period of time to the point where the steward gets called over can’t be explained away by “not knowing better” - it’s a fundamental flaw in that person’s horsemanship and their overall character. Even if there were somehow a reasonable justification here, social license is a real thing these days and we have to be concerned about how things look to outsiders and not just how they look to educated horsemen.
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Boy, I’m glad there wasn’t social media in my youth. I’m also glad training techniques have grown and developed from the “old” days.
Perhaps what is missing here is a lack of institutional knowledge? Folks who grew up in a world without understanding how bad things used to be?
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I mean I’ve certainly lashed out in anger but never to the extent of what was displayed here… there’s momentary lapses in judgement and then there’s this deliberate, repeated cruelty.
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You do realize that what you perceive at a certain level may be perceived as a different level by others? Nobody perceives the world the same as you do.
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