This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 at 9:02 pm and is filed under USEA President. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
Dear Members of the Equestrian Community,
This past weekend at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day, Laine Ashker suffered a serious fall during the cross-country stage of the competition. She is currently in critical condition at the University of Kentucky hospital in Lexington. Laine’s horse and another involved in a separate accident had to be euthanized.
These accidents come just a month after Darren Chiacchia, an Olympic rider, had a serious fall at an event in Tallahassee, Florida. They also come in the wake of a recent article in the New York Times about 15 rider fatalities in cross country that have occurred worldwide over the last two years.
These accidents have hit us hard in the sport of eventing - we are all riders who care deeply about the horses, their welfare and the image of the sport. For us, the issue is also a personal one.
This spate of accidents has raised important and potentially troubling questions for those of us who govern the sport: Why are so many riders and horses having accidents? Is there more that can be done to make cross country safer? Is the sport just too dangerous?
There is no question that eventing is a demanding and yes, risky sport. Riders cross undulating terrain at high speed and jump a series of challenging fences - all while atop a 1,000 pound horse. So there is a constant need for us to ensure that every precaution is being taken to reduce the risk of injury to riders and horses.
Although we have implemented several measures to improve safety over the last year, clearly more needs to be done. In the coming days and weeks, we will be redoubling our efforts to identify additional steps we can take to make sure that riders and horses can compete as safely as possible. We would like to ask your help in this effort - whether you’re a rider, trainer, coach, veterinarian, or simply a horse enthusiast.
We invite each and every one of you to the USEF/USEA Safety Summit to be held in Lexington, KY June 7-8. We will break the issue of safety down and examine the causes and potential solutions with some of the best minds in the game. In the meantime, if you have immediate thoughts about how we can improve the safety of cross country, please email them to us at: safetythoughts@usef.org and/or safety@useventing.com.
Over the last few days, we have received emails from people who were at the Rolex event over the weekend and were disturbed by what they saw. They are asking hard questions of us and questioning whether they should continue to support the sport of eventing. To them and to you, we want to say that we too are disturbed by what we see. No matter how much we tell ourselves that injury is a part of our sport, it is always traumatizing to see a horse fall.
Therefore, we are working closely with FEI to do whatever we can to better protect riders and horses and to repair the public image of our sport. We are proposing today that within the U.S. the following five initiatives be put into effect:
- If a horse has a rotational fall, horse and rider are suspended from competing for three or six months
- If a horse has a rotational fall, horse and rider lose their qualification at the level at which they are competing.
- If a rider falls off on the course they are eliminated.
- Open oxers on courses at every level are made frangible.
- If a horse falls related to a jump both horse and rider are suspended from competing for one month.
We don’t have all the answers, we are deeply concerned about what is going on in the sport of eventing and we need your help.
Sincerely,
David O’Connor, USEF President
Kevin Baumgardner, USEA President
7 Responses to “Joint Letter from USEF President David O’Connor and USEA President Kevin Baumgardner”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Bad Behavior has blocked 859 access attempts in the last 7 days.
May 3rd, 2008 at 1:39 am
Dear Messrs. O’Connor and Baumgardner:
I applaud the USEF and the USEA for promptly addressing the safety issues with our sport. There are no easy answers. I wonder, however, if our governing leaders trying to protect us from ourselves? Looking at your proposed rules from an adult amateur perspective, I am very disheartened. Based on my experience and observations, most amateur eventers are well trained for the level in which they compete and have competent horses and experienced trainers. Most eventers do this sport with the expectation of eventual mishaps, falls and injuries, but we value our own safety enough to regulate our own competition fitness in order to minimize these risks.
Your proposed rule changes seem to be an abrupt over-reaction to recent events. If one is going to ride, one is going to fall eventually. And the “punishment” you propose for falling does not fit the “crime”. I compete regularly at the preliminary level at horse trials and like to train young horses to move up the ranks to that level. Perhaps these rules would more aptly apply to CIC* events and higher?
Furthermore, the proposed rules as stated are highly subjective with too much room for interpretation. They need further clarification and conditions to be effective. For example:
Proposed rule #1: If a horse has a rotational fall, horse and rider are suspended from competing for three or six months.
At many horse trials, volunteer jump judges are inexperienced and may not accurately assess a rotational fall. And if there is a rotational fall with no injury to horse and rider, why is it fair to suspend them for three to six months? I, for one, would likely suspend myself for a short while after a rotational fall. I would like to believe that most of us have enough sense to evaluate our fitness and competence after a rotational fall and act accordingly. I don’t desire a regulatory body that is trying to protect me from myself.
Proposed rule #2: If a horse has a rotational fall, horse and rider lose their qualification at the level at which they are competing.
This rule needs clarification. I have competed at the preliminary level for several years. If I have a rotational fall with a novice horse, where do I stand? Do I go back to beginner novice? Or training level? If Kim Severson has a rotational fall with a novice horse where does she stand?
Proposed rule #3: If a rider falls off on the course they are eliminated.
Is there any serious eventer who has not fallen on a XC course or even on a stadium course? Stadium rules for prelim and above already prohibit a fall. But to most of us the XC phase is the whole point of our sport, and a fall on course, especially at the prelim level and below, is not usually serious enough to prevent the rider from continuing. Small accidents and bobbles do happen on course. What if a novice rider’s horse trips and unseats its rider? That rider should have another chance to pop back on and keep going. A simple fall is already penalized enough with points; it should not result in elimination, especially at the lower levels. I would hope that riders have enough sense to retire on their own volition after a fall if they feel that their ride is not going well that day.
Proposed rule #4: Open oxers on courses at every level are made frangible.
This is the only rule that makes sense. Except for the cost factor, which I will assume can be managed.
Proposed rule #5: If a horse falls related to a jump both horse and rider are suspended from competing for one month.
This rule is the most preposterous of all. Are you seriously going to suspend Karen or Kim or Jan or Phillip or Mara or Stephen for a month if they fall on course while jumping a green training horse? And this situation also relates to my earlier comment about whether a volunteer jump judge can accurately assess whether a fall is related to a jump or not. What if a horse bobbles one stride after a jump and the rider falls? Many volunteer jump judges would not recognize the subtleties of the difference one stride makes.
I know the USEF and USEA understand these complex issues and are trying to fix a very serious and impossibly difficult problem. Our sport has already seen major changes over very recent years. Please do not further change the character of our sport and discourage amateur riders who are safely enjoying this sport. All of us who compete expect to have falls and injuries sooner or later. And I believe the majority of us are concerned about our own safety and are capable of assessing our abilities, particularly with the help of a qualified trainer. Mistakes will happen. As David O’Connor so aptly stated “You can not make eventing safer than life itself.”
Sincerely,
Catherine K. Rochester
Aldie, Virginia
May 4th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Dear Messrs. O’Connor and Baumgardner:
I have responded once to your proposed initiatives set forth in your April 29 letter to members. However, upon further reflection I would like to offer some additional thoughts/questions.
I fail to see how suspension of a rider from the sport in the case of a fall will further the safety of the sport. Suspension does not force the rider to ride better or horse to perform better once re-instated. Perhaps you might explain the thoughts behind this concept and how it relates to increasing safety. Or are these proposals a band-aid to fix public relations issues and the public’s view of our sport?
Also, are there lower level amateur riders that participate in any ad hoc committee or task force you have addressing these issues? If not, might you consider adding a few to get a different perspective?
Sincerely,
Catherine K. Rochester
Cool Spring Farm
Aldie, Virginia
May 7th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
To All Amateur Eventers:
I am not writing to organizers or the omnipotent committee suggesting these rules, their lack of public response to concerns on the subject speaks enough about their views. I am more concerned with amateur, low-level eventers and the results these news rules will have on them.
I realize that the sport is under serious scrutiny from riders, spectators, activist groups, as well as many others, because of recent accidents. These accidents are tragic, but I agree with previous posters that the new rules are more of an overreaction to the shock of the past season than any serious means to preventing accidents in the future. My biggest concern is that these rash moves will have the biggest affect on the majority of eventers that will never compete above the preliminary level.
On a practical note addressing suspension for a fall of horse, rotational or otherwise, like Ms. Rochester, I fail to see any reason or clarity in these rules (1 and 5). How many individuals have a rotational fall and for that matter, how many have a second? The punishment of a rotational fall comes in the aftermath of the accident. I would think the fall itself to be enough of a punishment. Honestly, how would a suspension of any kind prevent a second fall? We should not be looking to chastise riders for a mistake; they do not go out looking for a rotational fall. This matter of punishing a mistake will not produce the desired outcome.
The second rule I favor because it forces horse and rider to step back and regain confidence at a lower level. If you move up to preliminary and have a bad go, it would make sense for you to go back and reestablish confidence at training before trying again, and this rule would ensure that. But as Ms. Rochester states, this rule needs clarification. If you are qualified for a higher level on a different horse, do you lose qualification for both horses at the level or just one? How is disqualification to be determined?
The third rule is my biggest concern. I easily understand the warrant for such a rule at preliminary and above, there is more responsibility at the upper level because the size and complexity of fences requires riders and horses have the experience necessary to navigate small mishaps. Such strict punishment for lower level riders is completely and utterly unreasonable. Lower level riders fall off for a myriad of reasons. They are less experienced, many times with inexperienced horses. What if I am unseated because my horse props at a ditch or jumps too big over a log? These falls are not safety hazards but rather learning experiences. I am not willing to shell out hundreds of dollars in entries, gas, and hotel expenses if a miscommunication between my seat and the saddle will eliminate me outright. Isn’t the age-old adage when learning anything new that the best way to continue the lesson is to remount? Elimination for a fall of rider applied to the lower levels greatly discourages new entrants to the sport. Falls and subsequent eliminations should be left to the discretion of the ground jury and not a blanket rule clearly misapplied against the lower levels.
The rule for frangible pins makes sense, but I fail to see the need below the preliminary level. This I truly want to know, how many times has a frangible pin been necessary at the novice level? Requiring this at the lower level may drive our smaller events, that many eventers depend on, out of business. Then where will we go?
As amateurs that don’t usually go to bat with the big boys, it is our responsibility to understand what these rules mean to us. I would be very hesitant to take any green horse to a recognized event, fearful it would make a mistake and I would be unduly punished. We need to let the governing bodies know our concerns and fears. A frenzied panic should not be the basis of rules that will undoubtedly change our sport. Amateurs make up the majority of the sport and as such, we should have a say.
Sincerely,
Ashley Jones
Lexington, VA
May 8th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Dear Eventers,
Let me place my commentary in perspective. I graduated from Morven Park Institute back in the 1970’s where I acquired a perhaps now antiquated or exaggerated purist sense. I gave up serious riding almost 20 years ago, due to three grade 3 concussions. I still do a little groundwork with rider friends; less and less often, I go to a three-day event or dressage competition as a spectator.
Why less and less often? I’ve been truly saddened by the deterioration of dressage. Curb reins lined with rubber? Cookie-cutter spurs? Nevermind the percentage of horses that are not collected, but rather overflexed. Why do so many horses go with their noses so far behind the vertical? What’s with the need to grip the reins during a dressage test as if one is water-skiing or trying to keep a run-away wheelbarrow from going over a cliff? There’s way too much quick-and-dirty training, too many horses ridden incorrectly during the dressage phase– If eventing is to become safer, it’s time for a return to correct, demanding dressage judging. I’m frequently shocked when I read scores for rounds I’ve watched, and often shocked when I see horses in levels of dressage tests that are at the very edge of the horse’s capabilities. Whatever happened to schooling consistently at home at a level or two higher than the level at which one is competing?
Then there’s cross-country. Eventing has forgotten its origins, and the result is that horses and riders are being killed. Fifteen riders dead in two years of eventing around the world? Two horses dead at Rolex? And that’s not the first Rolex in which horses have suffered for their riders’ sport. Whatever happened to the idea that the second day of a three-day event was the phase which demonstrated the horse and rider’s ability to travel miles across country just as a horse and rider might once have had to travel when carrying out some mission? Some will find this hokey, militaristic, or old-fashioned. Or perhaps not glitzy enough, too esoteric, or not enough fun for spectators. But eliminating Roads and Tracks, as well as the old Steeplechase section of Day Two, has forced the building of X-C country courses that are trappy, tricky, technical–and often absurdly artificial. Take Rolex. What is a Flower Basket doing on a X-C course? How about gargantuan ducks? A lighthouse? Big carved squirrels? Are these natural objects in a natural setting, likely to be encountered when galloping cross country? One horse killed, one rider in critical condition–falling at a Flower Basket. It breaks the heart. Some elements on courses have become strange blends of outsized miniature golf course obstacles and stadium elements. Send competitors on Roads and Tracks again. Send them over steeplechase. Modify these if necessary–but let the cross-country phase demonstrate stamina and versatility, and return X-C to a proportionate element of the larger test. As I recall, even the best of riders got lost on Roads and Tracks, or incorrectly judged their horses’ pace. Let horses and riders have the chance to jump more freely over the steeplechase–and the X-C will not have to so trappy and technical that horses and riders are killed when they are in error. Save the trappy and technical for stadium–where it belongs.
As to the changes proposed by David O’Connor, USEF President, and Kevin Baumgardner, USEA President, I applaud this first look at monitoring the safety and integrity of the sport.
I’m not entirely sure that immediate suspensions resolve all the problems at hand. Perhaps some fine-tuning is possible, by having riders and horses accumulate “points”–as in the punitive points one acquires on driver’s licenses–so that an accumulation of episodes demonstrating lack of preparation, recklessness, or lack of skill would result in a variety of suspensions.
I’ve listed some suggestions below. The number of allowed stops and falls should be generous enough to keep within the spirit of the sport. (Riders do fall off. Horses do run out or stop.) But we’ve all seen riders, and horse and rider combos, clearly not prepared or unsafe, and perhaps a point system might be able to flag some of these and relocate them to a lower level and keep them there until they earn their way back up. (If eventing has a way to promote riders and horses from level to level, it apparently also needs a way to demote them when appropriate.)
Points assigned to riders:
1. Stops, refusals, run-outs. Calculated per number of obstacles or events at particular level.
2. Rider-only falls, calculated per number of obstacles pr events at a particular level.
3. Rider and horse falls, calculated per number of obstacles at a particular level.
Points assigned to horses:
1. Falls. (By attaching points to the horse, a horse that has one fall might be fortunate enough to acquire a stronger rider and thus continue at level.)
A very long response, but perhaps there’s some small contribution to the conversations and negotiations that must come soon. Eventing was a great sport– It’s not a great sport now, but could be one again–
Sincerely,
Barbara Dimmick
May 9th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Dear Ms. Dimmick
I enjoyed reading your comment(s) especially about “leaving the trappy and technical in stadium where it belongs”. Why does the cross country have to be so dangerous? Why can’t there be break-away fences? If so many riders and horses have been killed, I would think that the sport needs to be reevaluated.
May 28th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
15 deaths of eventers in two years? This is a serious problem and very sad. Not to mention the number of injuries to the horses. How many were euthanized or suffered career-ending injuries? The Eventing world, just like the world of Thoroughbred racing after the death of Eight Belles, must take a very hard look at itself. It looks as if it is a dark day for both equine sports and time for changes at every level. We, the horse-loving public, are sick and tired of witnessing disheartening deaths of horses and will opt out of attending such grueling events. Bring back TRUE horsemanship, and curb the very large and harmful egos that ultimately ask these magnificient creatures to put their lives on the line. No matter how wonderful the care they receive while alive on this Earth, Euthanization due to injury is death and dead is dead. It must stop!
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Steve Milne
Buteo Farm
Po box 117
Bethlem Ct. 076751
203- 906 -3619
203- 266- 6709 5-16-08
To Whom it may concern,
Please read discuss and use any and all of the following.
These are notes of course, not finished ideas.
I am happy to develop or be involved in the development of any of these ideas or others if I can help, if they might help.
Allow me to introduce myself and offer a little about me so you can see how my perspective came to be. While no member of my family rode or owned horse and we lived in town, I have always wanted and needed them. My mother tells me that she could keep me quiet for hours by tying a piece of string to the arm of the overstuffed couch and letting me ride. I started riding at 8 years old (now 49). I was in pony club, and I now teach Pony Clubs. I have ridden and show hunters and jumpers in AAA shows up to the open jumper level, eventing up to prelim and dressage to forth level. I have evented in 22 stated East, West, North and South. I have hunted both locally and in the south. I have worked with and shown in the breed divisions of Arabians and Quarter Horses. I have done fine driving and a small amount of Combined driving. I have and still ride and train western horses. Currently my riding and teaching is about 80 percent eventing from the local level up to young riders. In the past I have helped train advanced riders, and grand prix jumper riders, god willing some of the current crowd will get there. I am a full time trainer and instructor who uses conditioned response training methods.
I am currently building the cross country courses at Kent School and have fulfilled most of the requirements to become a certified cross country course designer
I was involved in a campaign to change the long format 3 day events about 20 years ago. Our suggestions at that time were to shorten phase B and slow phase C. At the time we made no great progress. But gradually changes were made. I am not entirely happy with the changes made but I do believe that the number of catastrophic injuries has dropped significantly. I hope the changes we make this time make a smaller change to the character of the sport.
I came to horses first and horse sports second. I am not stuck on eventing because it is all I know. I’m here because it is a great sport for horse and rider.
1. Protect the sport its riders and horses
2. Add a level between training and prelimenary
This is a safe sport
Complacency is dangerous. Ignorance makes it dangerous, poor training and riding make it dangerous.
I’m not suggesting that there are no injuries only that they are about the same as any other high performance sport and that virtually all were avoidable.
I was one of the people who was slow to agree that there may be a problem. I thought we were having bad luck. And maybe we are, but it cannot go unaddressed without damaging the sport. It should not go unaddressed as a philosophy of constant improvement and safety is paramount to the sport, the training of the horses and protection of riders.
A Part of protecting the sport it to make changes that enhance rather than detract.
To that end making the sport easier is foolish. Adding another level between training and prelimenary is a good step as it makes the assent more gradual and offers everyone riders, horses, and organizers something positive. This does not take anything from the top in fact it may allow horses to climb the levels faster.
3 The balance of scoring is at its best
The imaginative attractive courses are not a problem. The narrow fences are not a problem. The time is not a problem. These things allow the cross country portion of the event to have a reasonable and balanced effect of the scores. In fact the scoring is as good as it has ever been. Every facet is important and it affects the outcome every week. This was not always true.
Long or short format at every level people let their competitive desire get ahead of what they and heir horses are capable of. This is not unique to eventing. It is why suburban fathers get in fistfights at little league games. Of course people do not make a decision to behave this way, so there is no point in asking people not to. We should take the riders healthy competitive nauture into account. The rules and climate must make this excess overly expensive.
4 Eventing is a good sport that most horses seem to like
Horse die, as do we. Know one gets off this planet alive. Horses have a much shorter life span than humans so we will all see or friends pass before us. Sometimes they die quickly, sometimes slowly. While we cant keep them alive we have a huge responsibility to their comfort and quality of life. I come from a school of thought that respects all the horse can do for us, as pets. Which is becoming their largest job. As sport horses, work horses,and art. I support all uses of horses that do not hurt the horses and gives them a happy life. To this end I think eventing is about as good as it gets. Horses are designed and have evolved to run. It is easy for them to understand and to enjoy. Horses for the most part get into and seem to look forward to eventing, especially the cross country portion. The fact that they became as large as they did allows us to become part of their galloping nature.
5 Build solid impressive jumps that horses can bank or climb off
The changes made, moving to the short format, slowing phase C in a 3 day , and the extended vet box time reflect our care of the horses well being. I am sure there is more to do. But, I do not feel we are generally remise as a sport.
The study of jump safety being done in England is interesting and the use of Frangable pins is good. It was noted a number of years ago that cross country jumps are easy because horses can climb over or bank them if they need to and show jumps are harder as the horse can become tangled in them. There is some truth in that and that design should reflect that. In fact I watched an Intermediate horse bank the second element of a combination into the water an Morven Park this spring. Imagine the result if the jump collapsed. Further if some fences collapse and others don’t horses may become casual and get into serious trouble. Horses jump well if they are impressed. This is why it easier to teach young horses to jump solids before rails.
We keep modifying the jumps to make them safer. Changes such as no more square picnic type tables, very few vertical jumps. Many jumps with ground lines. All edges filed or rounded. Heavy timbers and logs.
So what makes the horse flip? When the horse is too slow with the front legs the leading edge of the jump stops or slows the front of the horse while the hip continues up and over. If this is true the leading edge of jumps need to allow the horses to slide up and over. I can think of several things that would do that. Grease the horse or the jump or both. Build the leading edge out of low friction material. Do not use molding the horse might catch on. Horse also flip if the arc early and land front legs on the back of a jump most often an oxer. The oxers are now built to collapse with the use of frangible pin construction so that is not such an issue. The tables and other width fences then should be made that the horse can slide off the back increasing the odds of landing standing.
There is a catch 22 here. The easier the jumps get the less respect they garner. It is good that they are impressive so riders school well, plan well and move up prudently.
6. Earn the next level using the point system we have now.
The main problem as I see it is, many riders (less each year) are not as sophisticated as the courses they are required to ride. Earning the right to move up helps make sure riders and horses are ready. Perhaps horse and rider teams should have to earn their way up using the point system we already have in place. Any horse and rider team can enter beginner novice, and novice. Thirty points allows a move up. An elimination (not TE) would costs ten points, two stops and or three rails loses ten points. Each three months without competing loses ten points. The progress might look a little like this : A horse comes out and places low in a horse trial and gets 3 points. Next time he wins and gets ten points, A couple of seconds and another low placing and the horse and rider are eligible for the next level.unfortunately the rider takes time off for work, three months, and looses ten points so the horse and rider team needs another one or two good runs to get back to the next level.
This keeps the horses and riders current makes sure they do not step in at too advanced a level without holding back the very competitive horses and riders as they will only need a month or two at the lower levels.
If in fact if training is at fault with some or may horse and rider teams this requirement may cause them to look harder for competent trainers and then listen at lessons and put in the time it takes to become good, rather than the very common “lets have a go” way of thinking. I think weekend riders should have a part in the sport. They should have to progress at a rate that is safe for them. Lets just say it takes 3000 hours to ride in a competent manner (this is a totally arbitrary number) a rider who rides 30 hours a week could do it in ten weeks. A rider who rides two hours a week will need 1500 weeks to be at the same level if we discount fitness. Part of the problem is the idea that professionalism is somehow bad, that we should just have fun out there. If we read fun as fulfillment and become as good and skilled as possible then I agree but to encourage causal riding at a competitive level does no one a service. To this end the lowers level competitions that allow greener riders to be truly involved such as Adult Teams, area awards, AEC and others is great. A great deal of what drives this sport are people who have limited time and skills. They should be encouraged to participate at their level.
7. Speed faults with a ten second window
Speed faults should be employed at all levels, and the window should be small in the upper levels. Perhaps ten seconds. Perhaps 2 seconds. The speed faults should be at the rate of one per second and while the time faults at 1 per four seconds this will add to the competition and cause people to avoid going too fast. The smaller window and the greater the penalty for going too fast makes taking some time faults more desirable than the alterative.
8. Dealing with falls with time off and or loss of point forcing the horse to drop a level until the horse and rider team have gained back enough point
As far as mandatory time off for a rotational fall, I understand the punitive benefit. But I am scared of the potential damage to the progress of the horse’s training. What about a rotational fall loosing 30 points and a fall of horse and rider looses 10 points. Perhaps some combination of the two (some time off and a loss of points), so that people cannot afford to be casual but training problems are not left to fester.
Dangerous riding and any yellow card offense should also lose points.
Horses with a lot of experience will have enough points that they will not have to drop a level. This is a good balance as any horse can make a mistake. A horse that has proven himself over and over should not suffer the same treatment as a green horse which may be ready for the level.
9. Use a Census to gather information not archived to study the sport and potential danger areas.
While the ideas of earning and loosing points, adding a level, a tight time window, safe solid jumps and encouraging people to think and plan will help. I have no idea if it covers the reasons horses and rides are dieing. The wild speculation and firm statements that are without substantive fact to back them up only harms the sport and minimizes the truth when we hear it.
Of the reasons stated above the only one that can be applied to the top riders who have been killed or injured is complacency. While that may be true sometimes it is not anywhere near enough of an answer.
Everything needs to be evaluated. The courses, the levels, and the riders proving they are eligible to attain and stay at each level are a start. But there is so much more.
Does the short format effect the training?
Are horses making mistakes because they are not fit.
Do the saddles hold the rider in too long?
Does current bitting damage balance.
Does the influx of warm bloods and their different skill sets make a difference.
Is the xc warm up well set up, should solids be mandatory.
Does the very full calendar increase risk?
Should riders be taught how to fall?
Do the trainers prepare their horse and riders well? Should trainers gain and loose points based on their riders performance? Perhaps year end awards for trainers based on points earned by riders.
The FEI is gathering information as we should be in the USEA. But I am afraid that we do not have archived the depth of information required to get thier answers. If a census were sent to all members asking about these things I think we could maybe find some good directions to go. An email campaign would not be prohibitively expensive.
It should include questions ask about the rider age, level, aspirations, falls and near falls, strengths and fears when riding, Competition budget, events attended, lessons taken, coaching at events, warm up plan, number of jumps, size of jumps type of jumps, do you wear a watch when competing, do you want to make time, do you usually make time, what critera do you use to move your horse up, type, size, age and training of horses, number of horses owned, aprox cost of horses, Have you sustained injuries, how were they treated, how did you get back into competing, and so on. And on, including the questions above.
The census should go back twenty years. This will only be an unreasonable challenge for the Bruce Davidson’s of the sport.
Could the on line census form be linked to a data base from which one could down load the information directly or automatically.
In conclusion take a good strong vital growing sport and make it stronger and safer at the same time. With changes like these. and a study of all aspect of the sport until we find a common denominator.
If we cannot find one we have to say it is the riding and training and luck at fault not the sport.
Steve Milne