Posted on 05/01/2007 7:28:28 AM PDT by Help!
See video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqUPoQj5hV8
Tryon Under FEI Investigation Following Rolex Kentucky Le Samurai’s injury before the last fence at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event left spectators at the event and around the globe, who were watching on the Internet, shocked and upset. He jumped the last fence almost on three legs, and Amy Tryon, who had been in the lead after dressage, dismounted immediately upon crossing the finish line.
Members of the ground jury met later on April 28 to investigate the incident for alleged abuse. They reviewed written statements from the fence judges, watched the videotape and interviewed FEI Veterinary Delegate Dr. Catherine Kohn. They could not reach Tryon, because she had left the show grounds to be with Le Samurai.
Ground jury officials then referred the matter to the FEI Appeal Committee because the matter falls under their duties, according to article 164.4.5 of the FEI General Regulations, “In serious cases, immediate disqualification with one or more horses from a competition or from the whole event with referral to the Secretary General (for referral to the Judicial Committee.)”
Tryon was disqualified from the competition. She released a statement on April 29: “Le Samurai is resting comfortably at the Hagyard Equine Medical Institute [Ky.] and has the best care that could be provided anywhere in the world. I wish to express that I am totally devastated about the injury he sustained yesterday but cannot comment further pending a review by the FEI. I’d give anything if this had not happened. I love this horse. Le Samurai is very special to me, and we share a deep bond that is beyond competition. Although we will no longer be competing together, we will always be partners. I thank everyone who has generously assisted with Le Samurai’s care and been so supportive.”
The FEI Judicial Committee (Ken Lalo of Israel, Erik Elstad of Norway, Jens Adolphsen of Germany, Patrick Boelens of Belgium, Leonidas C. Georgopoulos of Greece, Helen Huggett of Great Britain and Philip O'Connor of Ireland) may take any action, ranging from a warning, to a fine, to a suspension for any period of time or for life, if she is found to have violated the rules.
What a very reasonable position for you to take! Thank you. Let's assume that someone is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt before we lynch the accused.
Hey, she said she’s coming around to my way of thinking about this situation...
Becky
Some of us have to work for a living, and lunchtime was over five minutes ago, so I’m now back on the clock and can’t spend time debating these issues interminably with a person who apparently cannot be swayed by appeals to mere logic and fairness. In any case it is unclear that you have the background knowledge to debate the issue. I’m not saying that I’m absolutely persuaded that Amy Tryon was correct in her behavior, just trying to suggest, as Hair has done, that it’s appropriate to reserve judgment until the investigation is complete. Emotional overreactions do not contribute usefully to the discussion.
You can try and make me look as looney as you want....it doesn’t change the fact that you have not addressed my points...which tells me you can’t, but you’re not a big enough person to admit it.
Becky
Well shoot. It was pulled off of youtube.
“Amy said she felt the horse take a bad step at the top of the hill. Then he started to get a bit better and then he locked onto the fence in front of him. At that time, when you’re traveling at 25 mph, it happens in a matter of seconds. She felt it was safer to try to jump the fence than to try and pull up.”
He continued: “If you have got an injury, it takes time to pull up so you don’t make the situation worse. When Barbaro had his injury, he went a long way before he was pulled up. Secondly, she didn’t know at the time what the injury was — or if it was an injury. In that moment, you don’t know whether a bandage or boot has slipped. You don’t have the advantage of a video. All you know is what you’re feeling in your hands and with the horse underneath you.”
1st she was not traveling at 25mph, the horse was trying to slow down, even broke to a trot for a stride or two, several times. Did you see the video?
2nd, this business of it being dangerous to pull up, is a crock....ever seen barrel horses. They will be at an all out dead run, and as soon as they pass the timer line, with the horse "locked on" to the gate, they are stopped.
3rd, when Barbaro was injured the jockey immediately started pulling him in, this woman did no such thing.
4th, there was more then 30 seconds from the time the injury happened before that final jump, she had plenty of time.
Becky
I’m really not trying to start a brawl =)
However, I have been in a similar position as Ms. Tryon (well, I was going novice, not ****). My horse felt not quite right, but MY HORSE WANTED TO KEEP GOING. We jumped another fence, too, because I just couldn’t tell if he had stepped on a rock, or what. Turned out, he had a serverly bowed his superficial digital flexor tendon. One musn’t underestimate the power of a thorougbred’s heart; especially when there is adrenaline coursing through their body. They often disregard their physical pain in order to do what they love to do.
Also, it really IS damaging to pull up quickly, which is why barrel racers often have hock and stifle problems. But especially when she didn’t know what was wrong, pulling up that quickly could’ve damaged ‘whatever it was’ even worse. Plus, by the time Ms. Tryon would have figured out something was wrong enough to pull up, the last fence was dangerously close (the jump was 16 seconds after injury). Horses can’t stop on a dime without causing damage (see above paragraph). (And they really DO lock onto jumps.)
Lastly: Yes, Edgar Prado did a FANTASTIC job pulling up Barbaro without getting himslef, his horse, or the rest of the field injured. But there weren’t any jumps on the race track, either.
Are we sure that the damage wasn’t already done before the final fence was taken?!?
I’m not even saying that Ms. Tryon did the right thing or made the right choice, but we should keep an open mind, because unless we have been on a 4**** course with a spirited horse and have had to make that split second decision, we should not judge others. Or come at them with pitchforks and torches.
I’m sure if you’ve ever been in a high-level competition, you understand the following:
1. The pace and adrenaline of competition reduces a rider’s ability to have perfect clarity of thought.
2. A rider’s interpretation of what they’re feeling/seeing is influenced by a VARIETY of things. In addition to considering issues with bandages and shoes; his possibly being stung; we also don’t know if taking a few “bad” steps may have been something common with this horse. I have a mare that does it occasionally. I’ve done a complete set of diagnostics and she checks out fine. We don’t know why she does it, she just does. No lameness ever ensues. Perhaps Sparky was the same...we don’t know.
3. A rider’s interpretation of a horse’s behavior will be coloured by the unique behavioral/personality issues that they’ve encountered. Her previous interviews, as well as comments from his prevous owner describe Sparky as a “handful”. He was known a being a headstrong horse that often does what he wants. In the confusion of the moment his track record of being unpredictable could have caused her to mis-interpret the severity of the problem.
4. Tryon is co-owner of the horse. If you look at her string, for the forseeable future, he is the MOST important competitive horse she has. She is not a wealthy woman and it is unthinkable that she would jeapordize his health.
The other co-owners are the owners of Rebecca Farm. They bought the horse a few months ago. It is insane to think that Tryon would risk her relationship with these important new clients by deliberately injuring their horse.
It would also be insane to assume she would deliberately aggrevate a serious injury for the sake of finishing the cross country, only to have to drop out of the competition immediately after the finish. Nothing is awarded for withdrawing an injured animal.
Her choices during those brief moments would suggest that she interpreted his behavior as something that was temporary...and thought he would be able to finish and go on to compete successfully in the show jumping the next day.
5. The “deer in headlights” expression she had after the ride was likely nothing more than her experience of shock and horror when she found out what had truly happened...and realizing the HUGE mistake she had just made. The fact that it was all done in front of an international audience would have compounded these feelings. If she had made the choice to lame the horse with forethought, it would have been more likely that we would have seen her show EXCESSIVE attention to the horse...feigning concern to cover her tracks.
But again, how logical is it to assume that she knowingly pushed an injured horse? Doing this fully aware that she would have to drop out of competiton after the “win” and then face international criticism for abuse? This line of thinking is patently illogical. You might see this type of thing going on somewhere in the horse world...but not by a widely respected Olympic competitor who has a career and future to think of.
I would go so far to agree with you that there was a judgment error involved in the ride. However, there is a VERY wide gulf between a judgment error and deliberate abuse.
P.S. I’d be careful criticizing the comments of Mark Phillips. I dare say he knows a bit more than any of us on this message board.
I’m not trying to start a brawl either....I just happen to disagree with just about everything you have said.
When my horse doesn’t feel quite right I get off and check. A horse trained at that level should be able to be stopped.
Becky
Did you see the video?
Becky
Anyone have the video??
Thank you for correctly accessing the situation. I was at the finish line as this happened, and standing there was completely different from watching it in slow motion on the you tube. Every spectator in my vicinity thought he had just twisted a shoe until it was too late. Think about it, when David O’Connor, Mark Phillips and other great horse men and women say that they would not have done anything differently and know that Amy’s decision was the best for the short amount of time she had before the fence then you may want to believe it. So unless you have any other great wisdom or insight I suggest you not judge her, especially considering her reputation as a great horse person.
I thank both of you for adding your wisdom and experience to the commentary on this sad event.
Sorry, you are wrong again.
They were just showing this event on NBC, and I just happen to catch Amy’s run.
As she came around that curve before the last jump the announcer said,” Oh, Amy is having some difficulties”, before she took the jump, and immediately on the horse landing the jump he was in the process of saying “this horse has obviously sprained something”.
I can argue with anyone about when a horse is lame or not especially when it was so very obvious way before the jump. Any spectators who thought it was just a twisted shoe, are the ones who need to gain some knowledge.
It’s also polite to ping someone when you are bad mouthing them.
Becky
It's interesting to hear that you consider yourself qualified to argue with the likes of David O'Connor and Mark Phillips, who have a different view of the matter than you do. Perhaps you would care to enlighten us about what qualifies you to do so. Whom did you train with? How many horses have you brought to the FEI levels?
An announcer saying, "Amy is having some difficulties" hardly substantiates the view that she deserves to be cited for animal abuse and prevented from riding again.
I did not ping you because I was not directly discussing you, but all of the non-professionals who are attacking this woman and convicting her without all evidence being presented. If you choose to include yourself in their number, so be it.
I consider our discourse closed. You may have the last word, if you like.
I’m no “horse” person, but did happen to catch a bit of the “cross-country”
competition on NBC.
I missed the part about the injured horse, but that sort of equine
competition sure beats the heck out of the usual races like the Derby and
the stadium-enclosed jumping competitions that I ususally see on TV.
It was cool to hear William Shatner do the voice-over for one of the
adverts for one of the horse association; IIRC, he puts on an equine
charity event for the House Ear Institute in Los Angeles.
Your big names can have any opinion they want. You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to recognize a lame horse, especially a seriously lame horse. I’m perfectly qualified to recognize a seriously lame horse, I’m qualified enough to know that she had to have known, and if she didn’t she doesn’t belong in that level of competition.
What are your qualifications to say I can’t make a judgement...have you been in the FEI level? Or do you sit and let others do your thinking for you, just because the are “experts”? All the evidence was in, there was a video, it was all there and perfectly visible, enough evidence that any person could make a judgement.
My point about what the announcer saying was not “amy is having difficulties”, but that he recognized the horse was seriously hurt, not just a twisted shoe. Funny you didn’t address that point.
You consider my discourse closed, because you STILL cannot fault my point, that is, if you are riding a sound horse, and it suddenly goes seriously lame, if you care about your horse, you will get off and check him, rather then urging him on when he is trying to break to a trot, and further taking a big jump.
Becky
Tryon was disqualified from the competition
And as far it goes, sounds like the FEI has determined already this is a serious case...she was disqualified!!! They are just trying to determine the level of punishment....so what are you defending anyway?
Becky
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