My sincere heartfelt sympathies for this child and her loss.
But it can happen and as others say the fence can be a simple inviting straight forward fence that doesn’t need ‘fixing’ and shit can happen.
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More answers about what?
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What happened out there. Did the horse trip, did it attempt to jump it? Did it see it? Bad distance, heart failure, etc?
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It looks like a speed bump type of fence - very small for that level I would think. One that can cause an accident because it’s so small. Just speculating.
from USEA report:
“I did not witness [the fall] myself, but definitely the way it was described to me, it was very forward, end over end, and that’s the best way I could describe it without actually seeing it,” said Charlie Musco, the technical delegate at the event. “It was a very straightforward fence. It was a surprise and shock to all, but [there was an] excessive rate of speed, again from the fence judge witness, and I just don’t think the horse could cope with that kind of speed over an obstacle of those dimensions because it was only 38″ tall. It was very unfortunate, but unfortunately every once in a while these things happen.”
sad, and apparently in the TD’s opinion, rider error
“only 38” tall" … is that not only 2 or 3 inches below max height for Training XC?
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Yeah. I suppose another name for those types of fence is “trip haphazard.” They (the fences) all need to be respected, especially when they don’t fall down. Condolences to all of Toby’s connections.
Let’s not forget that a Junior rider was involved here.
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So will the rider get a DR for this? Or is that only at FEI level?
Fast and flat is always a recipe for trouble.
But should a horse and/or rider have to pay for it with his/her life?
This would be a common rider error - and at Training level and 16 years old, we can’t expect perfection – but is the penalty too harsh when the fence is solid?
Like others, I see that jump as very simple, very inviting, very straightforward. But yet there’s an equine fatality at it. Do we accept this as ‘one of those things’ that happen in the sport?
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2 or 3 inches can make a big difference in how a horse/rider responds to a fence, add in the width, approach, placement on the course etc.
One of the more interesting things I learned at a course design seminar was the value of keeping fence dimensions true to the level, particularly at Prelim and below. I shake my head when I hear people describe a BN/N course as “maxed out”; any course at those levels should be 85-90% at the level, not 2-3" below. What is gained by having a Beginner Novice course that is half 2’3"?
Height of a fence doesn’t directly correlate with riding well/safely. In the case of the fall at Pine Top, perhaps a taller/wider/narrower fence might have held the horse/rider off more.
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So what could have been done to prevent this? Should the course designer be held accountable for putting a fence that was too small to be respected? If the rider was going too fast, should there have been a more proactive reaction from the TD/ground jury before the fall?
I think it’s a good idea that event management/USEA look at what they could do differently at the organizational level, rather than blaming rider/horse/bad luck.
Lately it seems we are frequently left wondering why officials don’t step in sooner. I have no idea if that’s relevant in this situation, but it seems to be a recurring theme at high level events that everyone is aware of something going wrong (bleeding horse, horse with no gas left), but for whatever reasons, there’s no interest in stepping in, just waiting for the crash or the finish.
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And then there are the examples of the horse that trips being ridden on the flat in perfect footing and the rider ends up with a head injury. Yes I think we have to accept some of the risk.
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Keeping in mind we have no idea of the terrain, lighting, etc. around this fence, I don’t think the fence itself can be blamed. My trainer has jumped it several times and says it rides well. Unless we want all fences to be collapsible.
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Even collapsible has its risks. I was at a hunter jumper show in the early 90s where a pony refused a coop but sort of went through it. The child fell off and her head got underneath, the coop collapsed and it crushed the poor child. It was the only fatal HJ crash I have ever seen. Awful.
i can’t recall the show, it was somewhere in Virginia.
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That sounds horrifying to have watched and I can only imagine how traumatizing this was for the family to witness. Yes they do have risks but they significantly decrease senseless deaths that could have been prevented for horse and rider. Hell I’ve seen people break their backs going over XC and miraculously regain function and ride again. Can’t help but think these jumps could have been designed to prevent injury, nevertheless death.
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Yes, we just need to be careful to analyze what jumps are safer to be collapsible and which ones may result in unintended harm. It is not obvious to me that everything is safer collapsible…or that every collapsible technology is effective and safe. I would want the engineers to decide that with research.
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This really hits close to home, since I actually ride at T so it is much less theoretical than an issue at 3/4**** to me.
I am torn in this situation because I would really like to know what may have happened- not because I want to drag a poor kids name throughthe mud, or because of some weird voyerurism, but because, if a mistake was made, I don’t want to make the same one. Maybe the horse was running off with her, maybe she made a mistake and was intentionally going faster than she should have been, or maybe for whatever reason the horse didn’t see the jump. Even a fence at max height at T it seems most horses can clear from a wonky spot.
Once schooling I made the mistake of approaching a jump when the horse I was on was clearly not listening. I will never do that again.
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I agree with this, especially since I’ve heard time and time again at T and below the horse can essentially step over the jumps. When I read the report I wondered if any other jump judges earlier on course had reported excessive speed at other fences or if the horse locked on a took off with her just as this one.
I feel for the girl. What a terrible accident and while I am glad she is okay physically, I sure hope she is doing okay mentally and emotionally. I don’t know how I would deal with something like this.
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If it was a T/P division, perhaps the rider was intentionally going at P speed (and misjudged what that speed is) with the intent of upgrading to pure Prelim next year.
Sounds like this fence was fairly early on the course so there may not have been time for the ground jury to determine whether the horse / rider combo appeared dangerous and needed to be pulled up on course.
As a N/T rider, in my mind, my safety net is feeling 100% certain that my horse will not attempt a jump that we may not clear. Most of us are happy LL smurfs and a serious judgment error will happen occasionally. I expect at this level, either my horse overrules me and makes the adjustment to clear the fence or quits / runs out / dumps me.
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Would the optimum time be faster for T/P vs. T? I know XC would run over the training course, but I don’t know if there is or can be a difference in optimum time.
