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.