This is a really interesting aspect as to why some people are drawn to eventing rather than some other horse sport. Can you quantify how much of the adrenaline you get while riding xc is derived from fear of catastrophe?
There was a woman that was very aggressive on a FB post about Jeffie basically ripping people apart for even discussing the safety issues & saying that everyone was ignorant. It got so bad that I deleted my post. She wouldnât quit. Until we can actually discuss that there is an issue it will be hard to solve. What drives me the most nuts is that those of us that have been around in the sport for 30 or 40 years, and have some actual knowledge, get skewered by these folks that started a few years ago & seem to know EVERYTHING about EVERYTHING!
6 Likes
I guess that woman doesnât get it then. WTF is wrong with our sport (or our safety measures), when an experienced pair riding below their skill level, jumping a straightforward and not-large fence, dies?
7 Likes
Story of my life. I canât even begin to explain the abuse I have taken over the years for commenting on EN Fb posts, CoTH FB posts, and here.
Unfortunately for our sport, these deaths keep happening and being pushed aside and eventually someone really famous will be the subject and then eventing will be dead too.
2 Likes
Nah, I donât think people will care. Remember when what? two of the top three were in intensive care simultaneously?
And the comments were still that nothing was wrong and people just needed to be better.
What I guess Iâm saying is, we are awful people :lol:
:no:
3 Likes
I really wish they would report if the riders who were killed recently were wearing air vests. From my research which is obviously not that accountable, they were all regular users of air vests. It seems a bit much 4 people have dies in a month in schooling falls or falls where they should have been able to complete the fence. My suspicions that air vests actually create danger are growing.
2 Likes
I just found this statement from the USEA on Boston 25news. I think it is of interest in this conversation
ââčââčââčââčââčââčThe CEO of the United States Eventing Association also gave a statement to Boston 25 News: [INDENT]The United States Eventing Association was devastated to learn of the death of one of our members Jennifer âJeffieâ Chapin. She and her horse suffered a fall while warming up before the cross-country phase of competition at the Green Mountain Horse Associationâs Festival of Eventing on August 11 in South Woodstock, Vermont. The USEA Board of Governors and the USEA Safety Committee are working with the United States Equestrian Federation (the governing body of equestrian sport) to learn as much as we can about this tragic death. The USEA Board is meeting this week and Jeffieâs loss is a central part of our discussion. We will be remembering her, but also working diligently on how to prevent future tragedies. Jeffieâs death is the second rider fatality at USEA recognized competitions in the last decade. The USEA and others in the United States and internationally have worked to reduce risk in the sport of eventing extensively over the previous 20 years. We are working to extend those efforts to reach beyond the field of competition to warm-up as well as practice and training at home. Our sincere condolences are with Jeffieâs family, friends, and for all of those impacted by her death. The sport of eventing is a tight knit community and losing one of our own cuts deeply.
[/INDENT]
2 Likes
This is great, except I think the safety commitee is riders and not researchers, but better than nothing.
Is thatâŠtrue? It seems like itâs been way more.
3 Likes
2nd in 3 years, 6th in 15 I think based on below. List doesnât include the most recent 4 yet. Guess I should update it 
Maxime Debost FRA Sept 17
Santiago Zone ARG Oct 16
Nikita Sotskov BLR Sept 16
Philippa Humphreys USA May 16 (Jersey Fresh)
*Caitlyn Fischer AUS April 16
*Olivia Inglis AUS March 16
*Guillaume Pucci FRA June 15
*Sabrina Manganaro ITA Apr 15
*Francisco Seabra POR/ESP Feb 15
*Benjamin Winter Ger Jun 14
*Jordan McDonald Can/GB Jun 14
*Cathal OâMalley Ire Apr
*Tom Gadsby NZ/UK Aug 13
*Bruno Bouvier Fra/Por Mar 13
*Jo Rugman GB Mar 11
*Sebastian Steiner Aut/Ita Sep 10
*Robin Donaldson GB Aug 10
- Elena Timonina RU May 10
*Dirk Grouwels Bel Mar 10
*Ian Olding Ire/GB Apr 09
*Jade South GB Oct 08
*Emma Jonathan GB Aug 08
*Stephen Moore IRE Aug 08
*Karen Rodgers IRE Apr 08
*Franz Graf AUT Apr 08
*Shannon Bloomfield GB Jan 08
*Eleanor Brennan GB/USA Nov 07
*Maia Boutanos FRA Sep 07
*Tina Richter-Vietor GER Aug 07
*Anke Wolfe GER Aug 07
*Elin Stalberg SWE Jul 07
*Julie Silly FRA May 07
*Jo-Anne Williams GB Apr 07
*Amelie Cohen FRA Mar 07
*Amanda Bader US Feb 07
*Kim Hyung Chil KOR/UAE Dec 06
*Mia Eriksson USA Nov 06
*Sherelle Duke IRE/GB Aug 06
*Caroline Pratt GB Sep 04
*William Booth USA Sep 04
*Cindy Burge USA Jun 04
*Samantha Hudson GB Aug 03
*Rhonda Mason 00
*Mark Myers Aus Apr 00
*Jemima Johnson GB Apr 00
*Peter McLean GB Sep 99
*Simon Long GB Sep 99
*Polly Phillips GB Aug 99
*Robert Slade Aus/GB Jun 99
*Peta Beckett GB May 99
*Keith Taylor USA Jun 98
*David Foster IRE Apr 98
*Tasha Khouzam AUS Mar 98
*Roberta Scoccia US 98
*Linda Riddle US 98
*Amanda Warrington USA Sep 97
*Sam Moore Ire/GB Sep 97
*Anna Savage AUS May 97
The statement was very specific about â2nd death in USEA competitionâ. Donât have time to research further at the moment, but I am guessing maybe they are excluding deaths that occur at FEI/international levels even if in conjunction with USE competitions?
2 Likes
That was what I was kind of thinking. Which would make sense I guess. I still swear I had heard about more, but maybe not. Kind of sad that there have been so many that I canât actually remember.
1 Like
The parsing is disingenuous. Ashley and Phillipa donât count?
3 Likes
They want to make sure people donât know about all the other deaths that werenât related to competition⊠:rolleyes:
7 Likes
Another way to look at the USEA statement: tI think they can comment only over incidents at venues they control. At least Iâm betting thatâs what their lawyers would say. (Control might be the wrong word. Havenât had caffeine yet, but you know what I mean.)
6 Likes
I donât believe that it is. âSecond rider fatality at USEA recognized competitions in the last decadeâ is pretty clear, and a fair limit to what the USEA can involve themselves with. Phillipa and Jeffie died at USEA recognized competitions (one on course, one in warm up).
Ashleyâs death was tragic, but one of the frustrating things about it is that it happened at home, where the USEA committees were unlikely to be permitted to gather data and information as they would otherwise be able to at a competition (regardless of warmup or actual course, I would expect that the full showgrounds are under their purview and incidents there can be investigated as such). The USEA doesnât get to investigate member deaths outside of shows in any other context, so unfortunately I doubt they were permitted to do so just because she was riding at the time. I donât like it, but I accept that is most likely the case.
It feels like there have been many more because the community as a whole has lost many others in recent years, but not in the US. The other North American lost over that ten year period (Jordan McDonald) died on course in Great Britain.
6 Likes
I donât see anything nefarious in USEAâs statement addressing only fatalities which have occurred at USEA events (and they did include FEI levels at USEA events, because the other person who killed in competition, Philippa, was riding in a 3*). I donât see any attempt to misrepresent things as less serious by manipulating numbers.
As tragic as Ashleyâs accident was, it didnât occur at a USEA event or sanctioned training session, or even at a facility that holds USEA events, so although it was a fatality related to the sport of eventing, the situation in which the fatality occurred wasnât one over which USEA has any bearing.
4 Likes
Oh I wasnât suggesting there was anything nefarious at all. More just like, wow, was it really only that many, I thought I had heard about more that were USEA, but I was thinking of FEI levels in the US.
ETA: Just saw where you said the other one was FEI in the US. Either way, there have been way too many.
2 Likes
No worries! I was responding not really to your comment, but more to a few other commenters that seemed to believe that USEA was intentionally âexcludingâ some fatalities in order to make it seem the fatality rate is lower than it actually is. I donât think thatâs the case.
I agree that it does âseemâ like there have been more in the past 10 years ⊠but I think itâs because we hear about accidents that happen all around the world, as well as ones that happen during schooling at home. The ones over which USEA has any sort of jurisdiction make up only a fraction of the total number.
Maybe itâs time to come up with a separate organization (not USEA or FEI) that investigates all fatalities related to eventing, around the world, whether in FEI or national competition, or at unrecognized events or schooling.
7 Likes
I think in this thread we conflate horse deaths with rider deaths which is reason my thoughts went to âonly two - that seems lowâ.
5 Likes
