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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.