Oh my God, how absolutely awful to have to see your partner go through this. I am so sorry.
When I just re-started riding as an adult, the pony I learned to canter on apparently did the same thing in his stall over night, catching his leg on the door. The very rough barn didn’t have anyone on-premises to do late night checks and I was the one to find him in the morning, going in to tack him up for an early lesson. Mercifully, he passed from the shock.
I’m fine with staying on topic but when someone attacks an entire other sport with false claims or bases their opinions on one well publicized tragedy and not the entire experience of the sport or what that one ride did to address that incident it should be addressed, especially when those sports are statistically safer than eventing. It does make me wonder what level of competition some people would be fine with, at all.
Regarding safety measures that might be helpful, I was surprised at the use of ice being so prevalent in eventing. The belief in CTRs is that ice during competition can possibly mask injury so water used must be room temperature and people will go around testing it during rides to make sure. Ice after a ride or at home no problem.
??? We use ice all the time in endurance. CTR’s cannot use ice AFAIK.
Strongly agree.
Ahh yes, my apologies. Edited for clarification
No worries 
I will say I was super grateful for my mare’s ice water a couple of weeks ago at a ride- I was stupid hot and I pretty much dunked myself in it lol
Thank you, the mental image of someone climbing into their horse’s ice water made me giggle way too hard.
Thank you.
My horse is in this thread, from 6 years ago.
He did not die as a result of poor riding, poor decisions, poor conditioning, or poor course design. He did not die because the sport is difficult or dangerous. He suffered a fatal cardiopulmonary event, something unpredictable and unpreventable (according to every vet I’ve spoken to). It could have happened to him running around in the field, but I still wonder “What if.” Part of me deep, deep down will always wonder if there was something I could have done. The answer is “No,” but it won’t ever go away. His memory will never ever go away. The painful whinny as he was collapsing will never go away. But neither will my memories of his absolute joy and enthusiasm for his job…the talent he had, his effortless ground covering gallop, the scope and eagerness over every fence. When he left the start box, his ears were pricked sharp, and they never waivered. He finished every course he ever started, except the last.
Despite his death that will always haunt me, and the endless questioning of “What Might Have Been,” I do not blame the sport. I love the sport-- it has given me so much, and I’ve developed amazing relationships with several horses accomplishing some pretty amazing XC courses over 20 years. I have taken two other horses to Prelim since him, and I hope to go Advanced again some day. Big jumps don’t scare me. Big tables don’t scare me. If horse and rider are properly prepared, talented and skilled for the level, the risk is within reason IMO. I understand others feel differently; but if you sat on a horse like Ranger, you would understand why UL eventers see the course as “possible” what you feel is impossible.
I feel very defensive, but choose not to respond when people comment that I must not love my horses because I compete at upper levels. I breed horses, I raise foals, I start them. I get them off the track, do their first rides, their first jumps. I pour everything I have into them, I know them inside and out, we are friends and partners, and it is that solid relationship that I depend on to be safe and prepared at the higher levels. I am keenly aware of my responsibility to myself, my horse and my sport every time I leave the start box. It’s still difficult to hear uninformed opinions who want to “fix” the sport by eliminating the upper levels, without actually improving the root cause of accidents (poor preparation or bad decision making).
Most of the things we do with horses are inherently dangerous-- in fact, the two worst injuries I’ve had, a lacerated liver and later a bruised spleen, happened on the ground working around yearlings and 2yos. I treat more injuries from horses doing dumb everyday things (like running into the fence, leg through a gate, panicked in the trailer, etc) than from incidents under saddle or over jumps. I’ve had two mares die during foaling from ruptures. I’ve had a broodmare die from severe pulmonary disease. I lost a very cherished mare from a kick to the forehead by her pasturemates when boarded in a 40 acre field. We do everything we can to give them the best life possible, and they will still find a way to break our hearts.
I’ve asked twice now how to empower the individuals at the show to pull people off sooner.
If not that, a stiffer penalty for poor riding perhaps?
But didn’t receive any response except “that’s not possible.”
Ok if that’s not possible, let’s stop doing it then. If keeping people safe involves doing this stuff, then “it’s not possible” is not good enough.
Fixing the sport doesn’t happen on course. It happens at home.
It happens by RIDERS choosing to be educated, informed, and aware of themselves and their horses. It happens by trainers growing a backbone and saying Little Suzy, you aren’t ready to move up. And then it must happen that Little Suzy and Suzy’s Mommy actually LISTEN to the trainer and respect that opinion not to move up. (instead of trainer shopping for one who will tell them what they want to hear). It happens by riders buying APPROPRIATE horses, and riding them at appropriate levels. It happens by riders being dedicated to their horse’s fitness, and their own. It happens with daily horsemanship and attention to detail, putting in the time so you notice early when something isn’t right on that day.
It is a culture of responsibility, patience, and skill; something you won’t accomplish with any number of rules, regulations, or qualifications. Someone will always be “qualified” but poorly prepared, and that person is perhaps more dangerous than someone with fewer qualifications but more experience and better judgment.
I am all for Dangerous Riding penalties, and support the “List” that circulates among officials to look out for repeat offenders. The rules are there to help prevent the idiots from causing their own accidents, but they should be used more if needed. It will always be a subjective call, though-- I’m sure many of us have had an “ugly jump,” and then got our stuff together and rode better the rest of the way. One bad fence shouldn’t get you yanked off course-- but repeated dangerous mistakes should. And if the TD comes to talk to someone after the finish, the rider should feel like a puddle of shame and embarrassment… if the rider shrugs it off with disregard like officials don’t know nothing, well, THAT rider shouldn’t be allowed back out of the start box.
I’m going to repost my comment about the horse that jumped into the wall below. That horse knew how to say no, had proved he knew how to say no, and made a terrible decision in a situation where he easily could have done something different. The horse (rightfully, IMO) never evented again, and I have never seen another horse do that. That situation does not prove anything about what event horses are or are not trained to do, and the way that situation was handled proves that eventers want nothing to do with horses who exercise judgement that way.
Seconding this—part of the reason why I want to event my horse is because he’s incredibly honest but also not shy about saying no in situations where he can’t get over a fence (or thinks he can’t because I brought him in crooked and he can’t get a good enough read, which, fair enough). He’s not dirty, he doesn’t stop or run out “just because,” but he’ll absolutely save himself if his mom does something stupid. I never get mad at him for that, I never beat him for that, I never do anything to train him out of that reaction because I want him to have it. I wouldn’t want to run XC on a horse that didn’t. My trainer doesn’t want to run XC on horses that don’t. When it happens he gets a pat on the neck and a thank you and then we come around and re-present in a straight line and when it’s clean he goes over every time.
I’m in full agreement with @EventerAJ. I’ll always be pushing for improvements in competition safety, but so much of this starts (and largely ends) at home. It’s having the right trainer, picking the right horse, being willing to accept when it’s not right or you aren’t ready, etc. etc. etc. I try my best to be a good steward of the discipline and encourage others to get into those good situations (and be brave enough to leave bad ones, which can be hard even for the most diligent person), but all any of us can do is try to push the culture in the right direction so that those bad self-professed “trainers” aren’t the ones defining the reputation of our sport.
How do we make this happen? How do we set the bar in a new place where riders are encouraged to self-police? If we can’t do that, then we should put a hold on jumping big solid stuff until we can. The horses are paying the price.
Also, how do we hold course designers accountable when they intentionally make courses designed to punish a horse? I can’t believe someone who loves horses would do this, and be paid for it no less - but we know there are designers and tracks that aim for just that.
I can’t be the only person who remembers Ace Ventura wanting guardrails built at Tevis to keep horses on the mountain trail and not in the ravine below.
Is the outrider’s horse that died at Radnor 3 Day years ago on here? Talk about a fluke!
How awful! I don’t think I’ve ever heard about that.
Can I love this 100 times?!
It was very sad. A “cardiac event”. Scared alot of the participants and their connections to death because no one seemed to know what horse was down.
Yes, off topic, but by a sheer numbers game I do think you would find more horses have perished at h/j shows this year than at eventing competitions. However, these deaths aren’t happening directly related to the riding activity. They are just from random freak accidents and random horse issues. Horses live at h/j shows for a whole week, sometimes for weeks or months on end. They colic there, they have heart issues, they get laminitis, they get slip in the trailer, they break their leg being an idiot in turnout. It’s unfortunate but it has not real connection to the actual riding. Eventing competitions are fewer, they last less time, and a lot of eventers trailer in and out every day.
I don’t think USEF is hiding a secret horse serial killer or that 300 ponies died from improperly groomed footing or something crazy. I think the data is just boring and probably not organized in any sort of meaningful way.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
