NY Times article on eventing

[citydog]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/09/sports/othersports/09equestrian.html

Sorry if this has already been posted--I did a quick look and didn't see anything.

[Mary in Area 1]

Other than the error in saying that Baron Verdi was going Intermediate, I don't think the article was misleading. Seems like she understood the crux of the matter and got her facts straight. Hope it doesn't cause undo bad publicity.

[Jazzy Lady]

I think that was very well written. It was not sensationalist, it showed both sides of the story, gave some history and the writer obviously did their research.

[RAyers]

Not a bad article! Katie seems to have presented as much of the sides of the debate as possible. I think she did a good job, given the extensive nature of the subject.

Reed

[JER]

A job well done by KatieNYT. :)

Really, this was a tall order. This is a complicated, arcane sport with complicated issues, some of which are hot-button emotional issues in the news.

I liked the discussion of frangible pins (and their lack of use) as well as the need for data.

The only thing I would question is the use of the headline "Equestrians' Deaths Spread Unease in Sport" over a photo of Darren C. He ain't dead.

On the plus side, there's now a writer for a major paper who's given herself a quick education in our sport -- perhaps there'll be some more eventing coverage in the future.

[clivers]

An interesting read. Thanks for the link!

[poltroon]

Nice job, Ms. Thomas.

[arnika]

Nicely written by Katie Thomas. Good background investigating overall and a good sense of the issues involved.:yes:

Thank you for such a well balanced article.

[Blugal]

With the exception of the statement that eventing horses cost between $25,000 to $1 Million. That sure does paint us as elitist.

None of the 10 event horses I've had cost more than $4000 (including commission), and this is far from abnormal among my fellow competitors.

[BigRuss1996]

My favorite part is where they say that the Frangible Pin is not used much in the US because of it is SO expensive and then they go on to say it costs $70.00.....umm... compared to the cost of the fence and the cost of a riders life I think 70.00 is minimal.....even if they bought a dozen and did 6 fences a year that is only $840.00. By all means though we need those cheese wedges with the mouse more then the pins. I can guarantee those cost alot more then the pins.

[west5]

I'd agree that in general it was well written.

I do think the article made it sound as if the deaths were occurring at all levels of eventing rather than with the most experienced riders. Even the younger riders have been more skilled than people might understand from the description.

This may only matter to those of us adult/older ammies who wake up to crazed emails from their mothers warning them to be careful!

[denny]

It was only a matter of time before all of this became public knowledge.
We`ve know for some time that eventing was drifting increasingly into dangerous territory, but there had to be that "tipping point", and Red Hills seemed to be that moment.
Now this national/international scrutiny will add impetus to what those of us who have been beating the drum for some time have already known.
We have to take back our sport.

[jumpforjoy]

What Denny says...exactly.

[Classic Melody]

People will find things to quibble about - the prices of the horses (which she probably got quoted from an ULR who lives in a different world than us ammys), and the description of Baron Verdi's course as "intermediate" - which if I had to guess she meant to mean the horse was at a generic intermediate level, not the specific level "intermediate," since this is for a general national audience.

Overall I think she did a terrific job of presenting the issue fairly, and perhaps most notably allowing Mark Phillips to make an ass of himself again. I love the illustrations that accompany the article. They help complete the story by noting the rotational falls are potentially deadly but rare.

Now who are the COTHers who were quoted? :lol:

[west5]

As an FYI to those who are reading it on-line from a link which is how I read the article first from my hysterical mother.

When you receive the paper IN PERSON it is not the pretty photo of Darren jumping the fence but one of Andreas Zehnrer with both his head and his horse's head crushed at the base of a log at the 2004 Athens Games.

This photo is included in the on-line slide show for anyone who want to take a look.

The article and photo takes up almost the entire bottom half of the front page of the New York Times. It is a big deal, very few "sports" related issues get this type of placement in the paper.

Ugh, now everyone I know who has never actually seen the types of jumps or heights that I compete at is going to be all over my case.

[denny]

And I think the best hope we have of taking back our sport is for all of us to join the USEA and get solidly behind Kevin Baumgardner and the task force, get personally involved, whether regionally or nationally, help redefine the competitive levels, insist that we who are actually riding those xc courses be listened to, and generally take more personal responsibility for making this sport what WE WANT.

[TBCollector]

Entirely possible I missed it, but does it discuss anywhere the phasiing out of the long format and reasons for it? Just as a matter of explaining the sport's evolution? I think this is important, though not necessarily (the) reason for all the injuries we're seeing.

[DLee]

No mention of horse deaths. Probably a very good thing.

[eponacowgirl]

Lots of comments on the article, but I see that Middle TN's own CookiePony was quoted!

[J. Turner]

Thank you, Denny.

Yes, the article was okay and fairly accurate, although one of the photos showed Cian O'Connor doing the show jumping phase. OK, we know he doesn't event.

I wondered why they didn't mention that Princess Anne is an Olympic medalist in eventing and her daughter events too ... I don't know if she has an Olympic medal, but I know she won Europeans and maybe World Championships. Why didn't she mention that Capt. Mark was a rider and competitor at the Olympic level. Why is everyone throwing it in his face? Don't the riders have to take some responsibility on how they train and approach the courses?

It would've been nice to get a quote from David O'Connor. It would've been nice to get quotes from riders like Bruce, Mike P, Denny, Jimmy who have ridden over generations of courses and horses.

I don't know if this is the place for suppositions, but here goes ...

The old pictures show these monstrously huge jumps (not technical) that they fly over. The same kind of jumps some of these people have had accidents.

It's so terrible. Such a sport, which can be daunting and punishing if the rider doesn't have good judgement, is amazing. My hats go off to the masters of the sport.

I hope we can save it and more riders from death.

You know what's weird. People used to ride mainly TBs and TBxs. Many OTTB - cheap ones - were used. I'm sure many were very sucky at dressage. Now with dressage so influential, perhaps a different personality horse ... a horse with a different mindset is necessary. Maybe those horses don't have the right kind of mindset and athleticism for these courses.

I know my OTTB is all heart. But not blindly so. He's very smart. He will rarely refuse a jump. BUT he will if he knows it will risk life and limb to either of us, which is usually the result of my riding. I say he has self-preservation policy. I wonder if there were more refusals back then, or maybe these TBs were handier, quicker, more athletic?

Maybe the trainers/riders now don't allow the horse to use its judgement - but expect the horse to blindly jump where no horse has jumped before? Sort of like automatons? I want to win, but not at the cost of my life or quality of life. I'd rather have a refusal and live to ride another day. Perhaps Teddy O'Connor, though he had two stops at Red Hill, was more intelligent than us all - a quick, bright horse who looks out for his rider and himself.

[J. Turner]

My favorite part is where they say that the Frangible Pin is not used much in the US because of it is SO expensive and then they go on to say it costs $70.00.....umm... compared to the cost of the fence and the cost of a riders life I think 70.00 is minimal.....even if they bought a dozen and did 6 fences a year that is only $840.00. By all means though we need those cheese wedges with the mouse more then the pins. I can guarantee those cost alot more then the pins.

Is there a picture of this cheese wedge fence somewhere?

[pdiddy]

I am pretty certain that she did contact Jimmy Wofford, as well as some other big names, for interviews. Perhaps they declined the interview or did not want to be quoted for the story.

[flutie1]

"... generally take more personal responsibility for making this sport what WE WANT."

Exactly right.

[ise@ssl]

I agree with Denny (he'll gasp I'm sure).
We've had several horses that we've bred go into 3 Day and have a wonderful 3 yo mare by Innkeeper that we feel is one of the best we've bred to head in that direction. But we have grave concerns that the changes made to 3 Day are causing more problems and setting standards that are resulting in more injuries to riders and horses (and worse).

Taking out Roads and Tracks was a mistake. Weighting Dressage more heavily did set into motion a different type of horse required - but not adjusting the cross country to match this change in type may be where some of the critical problems are taking root.

The competitive riders are the ones who know the partnership they have with their horses is critical and they also know what combinations work with respect to the phases.

I just read the article when my husband picked up the NYT and am glad it's not sensational in tone BUT the front page of the NYT is giving the problems in Eventing a BIG AUDIENCE. I hope the eventing community will use this as a springboard to argue their case to the powers that be - for CHANGE.

[CANTEREOIN]

I thought she did a really good job. When I heard that the NYT was looking for comments I really worried about the result. Our sport needs changing but I still believe that we can do it within ourselves. We don't need the animal rights folks to grab on to this as a cause.

[Fence2Fence]

It was well done. The pictures of the crashes are disturbing, as they should be. The illustrations of what eventing is and what a rotational fall were very well done, imho.

[colliemom]

This may only matter to those of us adult/older ammies who wake up to crazed emails from their mothers warning them to be careful!


Yes, I received a link to the article from my mother, with the message "This scares me to death."

[bambam]

Well I was expecting much worse- given my concern about the possible "cruelty to animals" spin and the fact that the first email I got this morning was one from my mother saying eventing was on the front page of the NYT and it "did not warm the cockles of a mother's heart", I was braced for much worse. :lol: Given the picture that was apparently with the paper copy, it makes a little more sense that my moms are worried. That picture plus the first page talking about rider deaths ain't great for the sport, but it could have been so much worse. The article was pretty balanced actually.

"and generally take more personal responsibility for making this sport what WE WANT. "- Denny
absolutely!

[asterix]

For those of you dreading the email, you should know that the "full package" in the online version is more distressing than the print version...although I did cringe when mr. asterix flipped the paper over and saw the pic of Andreas crashing.

I DO think that having either that picture, which did not result in injury, much less a fatality, OR the pic of DC and Better I Do It, under the headline about "deaths," was misleading.

The online package includes a slideshow of crashes and a graphic illustrating rotational falls, neither of which appear in the print version.

[M. O'Connor]

Some of the online photos are not so accurately captioned. Cian O'Connor, not an eventer to my knowledge, is shown for the showjumping example, and I'm pretty sure that some of the event venues are not described accurately--with all those logos, sure looks like a Rolex obstacle vs. a World Championships one, but maybe Rolex was there too. The illustrated graphic on rotational falls is much more artsy than informative--you would be hard pressed to tell from the illustration what is being described.


It's #5 on the "most emailed" list, @ the moment, btw.

[Pixie Dust]

can't you see it's a conspiracy by the NYTimes??? All lies!

(Sorry, I couldn't resist. Good article.)

[beeblebrox]

"Blugal

None of the 10 event horses I've had cost more than $4000 (including commission), and this is far from abnormal among my fellow competitors."

And that is a big change too. I would have never thought a training level horse would be 25K (15K to 30K for many T horses now) and now you see them. They are horses that can win the dressage and unless gross error from rider can go clean! MONEY talks now in this sport!

[cmannphoto]

Some of the online photos are not so accurately captioned. Cian O'Connor, not an eventer to my knowledge, is shown for the showjumping example, and I'm pretty sure that some of the event venues are not described accurately--with all those logos, sure looks like a Rolex obstacle vs. a World Championships one, but maybe Rolex was there too.


Photos 1 and 2 are from the 2006 WEG in Aachen
Photo 3 I am not sure but could be Red Hills
Photos 4, 6, 7 and 8 are from the 2004 Olympics in Athens
Photo 5 is from Lexington

I caught a lot of flake about sending the crash photo to the NY Times and I have heard various comments over the years about posting crash photos. Everybody in the eventing world has to face reality and realize that falls happen and they are caught on film and/or video. I even helped Darren once when he had a fall. My images showed that the horse did not realize there was a drop and he did not have his feet under him when he landed and crashed. Darren thought the sequence of images where very helpful in determining what went wrong and thanked me for letting him know that I had them.

If you look to the right at the sponsors ads you will see one for Horse Source Photos and if you go to the site they have a gallery just of OPPS!!! images and not just eventing. Just admit it that we all stop to look at accidents.

I thought the article was well done. I remember taking photos of those pins in Lexington years ago and then not hearing anymore about them. The sport needs to get its head out of the sand and make some changes to address these problems. Look at NASCAR and what they did after Dale Earnhardt’s not so bad looking crash. In a very short time they made it mandatory for all drives to wear then Hans Device. A lot of drivers complained and some did not but in the long run it made that sport safer.

I have to say the photo editor asked a lot of question when they contacted me for photos, they even called back to double check that Andreas Zehrer and his horse were not injured.

[pwynnnorman]

I was hopeful when I started reading this thread, but, boy, did I cringe to hear they put that Athens double head-bang fall on page one. I wonder how long it took someone to find the most dramatic-short-of-blood-and-guts visual in their vault. [Just read the post above! I won't delete this as it was my impression, but it was really neat to hear from cmannphoto about the background of those shots.]

The good thing is that if you just do a Google search for "eventing" you get organizations and something having to do with computers on the first page of hits. The bad thing is if you do "eventing" and "horses," YouTube videos of wrecks are middle of the page.

Any other way out there to gauge general public impressions?

[fooler]

I am pleasantly shocked with the article.

It is more accurate than many with very little sensationalism.

Thank you Katie for the balanced article.

FYI - Each frangible pin costs 'only' $70.00 and you should keep a few spare pins just in case. I think the greater problem is after you have set up each fence prior to the competition, you also have to making certain your jump repair crew can quickly and correctly reset the pin & fence. As I understood from the initial articles in the Eventing mag, resetting a frangible pin is not easily and quickly done.

[bambam]

, boy, did I cringe to hear they put that Athens double head-bang fall on page one. I wonder how long it took someone to find the most dramatic-short-of-blood-and-guts visual in their vault.

the one good thing is that, according to my worried mom, the caption does state that neither horse nor rider were hurt
Other than being worried- my mother's other comment was on the statement of prices being from $25k to $ 1mill. She told me she was glad I got a cheapie.

[BigRuss1996]

Having spoken at great lengths with a BNT rider who rode at Burghley about the Frangible Pins ...apparently they had them at alot of fences at Burghley including one that was hit numerous times and he said that actually it wasn't until about the 8th rider horse combo crashed into the fence that the pin really functioned as it is designed and in one of the cases after it started functioning it DID in fact prevent someone from having a rotational fall. Not only that they ended up in the placings as currently there is no penalty in place for if you knock down a fence on xco due to the pins.


I am pleasantly shocked with the article.

It is more accurate than many with very little sensationalism.

Thank you Katie for the balanced article.

FYI - Each frangible pin costs 'only' $70.00 and you should keep a few spare pins just in case. I think the greater problem is after you have set up each fence prior to the competition, you also have to making certain your jump repair crew can quickly and correctly reset the pin & fence. As I understood from the initial articles in the Eventing mag, resetting a frangible pin is not easily and quickly done.

[Velvet]

I read that article, and I read the full comments by Capt. Philips on the USEA website (that were quoted in the article). I must say that I was very unimpressed with the comments made my Mark in his letter on the USEA site. I thought that the NY Times article showed the reason people have concerns about the sport, and they also showed that it is an inherently dangerous sport.

In Mark's open letter to the USEA members, he jumps on annoymous posters online not realizing the impact their comments have because they reach thousands of people around the world. Um, yeah, he has a voice through the USEA, what about those who never used to have one that would be heard--especially if it was in opposition to the powers that be in the USEA? I didn't agree with him, much.

I did, however, agree with a lot of comments made by Bruce, on the same page of the USEA site. He is STILL competing and has been in the sport through all the changes. I would take his opinions as being the most educated. I also think that out here there are many, many people who are and have been in the trenches for a long time and have valid opinions that should be heard by thousands of people, whether or not they use their real names. :yes:

My thought on selecting the winner? Get back to the old way of creating and riding cross country (forward and flatter), keep the stadium the way it is, and raise the standard of the dressage portion! :D

[Jealoushe]

Having spoken at great lengths with a BNT rider who rode at Burghley about the Frangible Pins ...apparently they had them at alot of fences at Burghley including one that was hit numerous times and he said that actually it wasn't until about the 8th rider horse combo crashed into the fence that the pin really functioned as it is designed and in one of the cases after it started functioning it DID in fact prevent someone from having a rotational fall. Not only that they ended up in the placings as currently there is no penalty in place for if you knock down a fence on xco due to the pins.

hmmmm now THAT is interesting.

One event - horse hits = severe injury or other possibilities -- which leads to rethinking horse/riding/course design etc

Another event - horse hits = placing -- which could lead to qualifying for things, points, prize money...etc

I dont think these pins are the answer. They may halp save lives YES, and YAY! But definitly not the only thing to be done.

[mg]

Is there a picture of this cheese wedge fence somewhere?

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2874254970066718914pblMBp

[LAZ]

BigRuss--

I thougth if the frangible pin broke and the fence came down the rider was credited for a fall (or some other major amounts of points). If this is not the case it most certainly should be.

Other thoughts on the frangible pin--if it's a pain to reset so be it--people will figure out how to get it done more efficiently it is used more frequently, and if not, well, too bad, it'll take the time it takes to get things back up and running. Well worth it in either case if it prevents even one crash.

[bip]

BigRuss--
Other thoughts on the frangible pin--if it's a pain to reset so be it--people will figure out how to get it done more efficiently it is used more frequently, and if not, well, too bad, it'll take the time it takes to get things back up and running. Well worth it in either case if it prevents even one crash.

Good point, it couldn't be more of a "pain" than having the ambulance drive out onto course or have someone medivac'd away!

[vali]

I thought the article overall was fairly well-balanced, but I thought she actually minimized the risk of falling, which is described as "less than 1/10 of one percent." At every event I've been to, there are multiple falls, so that can't be accurate. Perhaps the statistics were for serious injuries?

[Outyougo]

"Some eventing organizers say the use of frangible pins is not widespread because they cannot be used on all fences and are perceived to be too expensive to install.

“I know that they’re quite expensive, and your average organizer finds the cost prohibitive,” said Katie Lindsay, the competition director for the eventing association’s 2008 national championships. “So they will avoid building the type of fence where you can use the frangibles on.” The pins cost about $70 per fence, according to Mr. Costello, who is the United States distributor for the pins."

Some how the $70 per fence seems a real bargain About $1800 for a course entry fees run $150 m/l--If 50 horse run the same course it is about $35 per horse if the pins are only used (and all broken ) one time. The use of theses Pins for another $35 seems like a good insurance value when horses cost 100 times that

[JER]

UPI has a version of the story out on the wire: http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Sports/2008/04/09/equestrian_accidents_spark_safety_debate/6652/

[mjedge808]

I hope that in light of the NY Times and other articles eventers and eventing enthusiasts can stand up together. Now is not a time to point blame and accuse anyone, but to stand up for what we want this sport to be from Beginner Novice to FEI. And I feel that it is so important to talk intelligently about the issues at hand and show the entire world that all of us, from first-time amateurs to the pros like Darren, are helping our sport grow in the right direction. To show that we want what is best for our equine partners and our fellow eventers, and not just for the rest of the world to know, but for all of us to know, too.

I am sure that if anyone can, EVENTERS CAN!

I am very happy that the majority of the posts I have seen have been such good conversations and not attacks or 'troll feedings'. Kudos to everyone, but let's keep it up!!

Eventers are such a special bunch ;)

[pwynnnorman]

Did someone say there are comments about the article posted somewhere?

[denny]

Regarding changing the mindset of Eventing`s powers that be, I was greatly amused by a comment that was apparently made by Kevin Baumgardner recently.
It was to the effect that "the same people who control the sport now are the ones who have controlled it for the last 30 years.--And the only other place I can think of where that has happened is Cuba.."

[KayBee]

To me, it seems the reporter missed THE key point that people here were arguing: specifically that, in XC, the distance covered has decreased as the technicality has increased. The "spurts and starts" pace required to negotiate the (increasingly) technical questions may very well be leading to fatigue (and possibly an overstressed cardio-pulmonary system) for the horse as well as higher potential for rider error.

She also missed that most seem to see this as a problem at both the highest AND lowest levels of XC -- that the accidents (and deaths) have occurred at all levels and the increased technicality is trickling downward from the top.

Also, this made me roll my eyes:

Top competitors and coaches argue that the sport’s growing popularity has attracted inexperienced riders who take too many risks, and amateur riders complain that courses are being designed beyond their skill level in order to challenge elite riders. (emphasis mind)

Yep. Amateurs. What a bunch of whiners... ::eyeroll::

[citydog]

Wow--it's the #1 most e-mailed article on the Times website at the moment.

[J. Turner]

Wow--it's the #1 most e-mailed article on the Times website at the moment.


How do you find that and how do you email?

[rennyben]

Did anyone else find it ironic that the quoted amount for an event horse was "$25,000 - $1 million" and yet the frangible pins at $70 are too expensive?!?!? I thought that made eventers look like idiots.

Let's see.... "Hmmm... my cool, grippy eventing reins cost over a $100, my neato GPA helmet to protect my head costs $400, my special KK bit to keep my horse soft in dressage is $100. Oh, this cool pad to protect my horse's back is close to $200... and I almost forgot -- I wouldn't be caught dead in the plain old back protector, so I forked out $300 for this nifty one in my custom colors. What? a pin costs $70??? Forget it. Waaaay too much." :winkgrin:

I do not know enough about frangible pins to comment on their effectiveness or ease of use. But, I do know my copay at the ER is $100 alone. If every competitor had to pay a one time frangible pin fee of $25 cost shouldn't be an issue. I wouldn't "like" paying the fee - but I'd do it.

Hope I didn't go too off topic. I did think the article was well done. I thought she meant intermediate as in between beginner and advanced. Your general readership might think Preliminary meant beginning.

[CookiePony]

I am pretty certain that she did contact Jimmy Wofford, as well as some other big names, for interviews. Perhaps they declined the interview or did not want to be quoted for the story.

When I spoke to her she said that she had interviewed David O'C, and that he had given her the 4% figure for the use of frangible pins in the UK.

ETA: I sure didn't give her the dollar figure for the cost of event horses. I have never paid over $3500 for one!

[LeniH]

If you read the list of fatlaities and their descriptions, which is online, almost half were at novice level. It is not a problem with only elite riders.

[IFG]

I believe that the Novice referred to by the NYT is the British Novice. This is equivalent to Preliminary in the USA.

[LeniH]

I don't know the breakout between the US and Europe. It would be interesting to know it.

[Kementari]

My dad emailed me this article, and asked me what I thought of it. I told him that short of writing a novel, I'd have to fill him in when I see him next week... It really is bringing eventing to the masses - I'll be interested to hear my dad's reactions...

[TB or not TB?]

I don't know the breakout between the US and Europe. It would be interesting to know it.

In the past 10 years, there were 4 competitors at Training or below worldwide (though it's called different things in different countries); 3 were T and one was Novice (again, that's USA Novice). All the 30ish others were Prelim and above.

8 were American.

[IFG]

In the past 10 years, there were 4 competitors at Training or below worldwide (though it's called different things in different countries); 3 were T and one was Novice (again, that's USA Novice). All the 30ish others were Prelim and above.

8 were American.


To further clarify the cause of the US Novice death (3' level). From what I have heard (not through official channels), the death was due to a heart attack. I was at that event. The weather was ungodly hot (over 90 degrees) with incredible humidity (also over 90%).

[Robby Johnson]

Did anyone else find it ironic that the quoted amount for an event horse was "$25,000 - $1 million" and yet the frangible pins at $70 are too expensive?!?!? I thought that made eventers look like idiots.

Let's see.... "Hmmm... my cool, grippy eventing reins cost over a $100, my neato GPA helmet to protect my head costs $400, my special KK bit to keep my horse soft in dressage is $100. Oh, this cool pad to protect my horse's back is close to $200... and I almost forgot -- I wouldn't be caught dead in the plain old back protector, so I forked out $300 for this nifty one in my custom colors. What? a pin costs $70??? Forget it. Waaaay too much." :winkgrin:

I do not know enough about frangible pins to comment on their effectiveness or ease of use. But, I do know my copay at the ER is $100 alone. If every competitor had to pay a one time frangible pin fee of $25 cost shouldn't be an issue. I wouldn't "like" paying the fee - but I'd do it.

Hope I didn't go too off topic. I did think the article was well done. I thought she meant intermediate as in between beginner and advanced. Your general readership might think Preliminary meant beginning.

Rennyben, I giggled a little reading your message because it has some merit in terms of what people will and will not spend money on. However, I think if you look at it this way ... $140 per fence to install frangibles, building out fences that will use frangibles exclusively (that means they'd all need a pole on the top, so that changes everything to a vertical face: goodbye rolltops and logs or, at least, hello to their new modification), 20 fences per course BN-P, 25 I-A (as an estimate), then you're looking at $8400 for an organizer just in the pin materials for a BN/N - P course. That doesn't include rebuilding fences, paying new course designer, etc. Let's say you do run BN-A at your event, suddenly you're looking at an additional $7000 just for pins. $15,400 is a lot of money for anyone, much less organizers who are grateful to see a positive margin once all of the bills are paid.

Just something to think about. Flutie can add more value to this discussion, I think, in terms of overall costs for course building. I don't disagree that frangibles should be used more, if not exclusively.

Many of you may not know that in the past year I've embarked on a journey into the world of pilates. I have practiced for many years but in the past year I've been trained to teach Essential and Intermediate workouts on both the Reformer and the mat. It's very interesting, as all niches are, with some similarity that might be useful in this discussion.

"The Method" that Joseph Pilates perfected over his lifetime and called "Contrology," is still practiced in its original form by many of his disciples and descendants. When I have done classic Method, I will admit my body - particularly my core - feels VERY worked out. My neck also aches from the degree of thoracic flexion that is required in the classic repertoire. There are other schools of certification, however, that have adapted the Method to meet modern exercise and medical science theory and practices. One such is Stott Pilates, based out of Toronto (and through whom I've trained and will test to certify this summer).

Important why? Joseph Pilates, who died in 1968, believed the ideal position of the spine was straight. We know the spine has natural curves to it, and the ideal position is neutral - meaning the ASIS (hip bones) and the pubic bone are on the same horizontal (or vertical) plane. To achieve this position the muscles of the abdomen must be recruited and developed to hold the spine in place. This can be done without using the extreme imprint (pushing your lumbar spine into the floor) that is inherent in many classic Method exercises.

In both methods, the exercises are essentially the same, with safety modifications and preps adapted for the Stott method, but the basic principles are the same. Focusing on the principles (pelvic position, breath, thoracic position, scapular position and cervical position) is what translates to benefits of the work - not going to extreme positions. Think about that - isn't that what riding should really be about? If you are riding at a high level and not exact with the principles, you're in danger, period. A freak accident can happen, yes. But we should still expect the safest conditions possible and if that means a fence that breaks to relieve a rotational fall, then so be it.

I am inspired to know that practicing a safer method will give me a lifetiime of exercise options (and benefits) and the idea of hurting myself through exercise in an effort to prolong my life is just flat-out counter-intuitive.

If we can modify our sport to meet modern safety guidelines - and thereby give the Big Fat Elephant hanging out by the start box a permanent place to live - and still maintain a strong competitive zest, why aren't we doing more to integrate frangibles?

Would you be willing to pay a higher entry fee to ride over a course that is deemed safer by the addition of frangibles?

Interesting discussion for sure. I thought the NYT article was very well done and pretty much straight to facts. That's the job of a reporter and if the resulting brouhaha is moreso a reaction to feeling exposed, then my best advice for everyone is to suck it up, acknowledge it, and figure out some practices that will prevent stories like this from occurring in the future.

[groom]

I don't disagree that frangibles should be used more, if not exclusively.





That's called Showjumping.

[Robby Johnson]

That's called Showjumping.

Have you ever seen a fence with a frangible pin installed? They're still built solid and are designed to give if the fence is hit with a hard enough force. To the horse/rider, the fence appears solid.

[asterix]

How do you find that and how do you email?

If you are logged in to the NYT site and find the article, there is an email this article icon attached to it. They also have a little floating box on many pages (not the home page, I think) that says "Most emailed articles" with links to the articles.

Thanks to the poster who put up the picture of the cheese wedge. I am definitely getting my soft cheese Tshirt. It's somewhat academic, however, as there is no way my horse would EVER jump the mouse head :lol:

The baby horse, maybe -- he seems to be less imaginative and more deconstructive in his thinking ("oh, I see there's a jump in there. OK."). Perhaps the WB vs. draft influence -- genes will out!

[pwynnnorman]

I assumed the following is a frangible pin:
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2179138530066718914eUochN

Is it?

BTW, talk about a topic getting a lot of mileage. Folks probably got Robert Banner's email that mentions the 100,000 visitors to the COTH BB recently. Well, that Community Webshots album I have with the pictures of The Fork got almost 25,000 views in the past week! Who ever wudda thunk it, huh?

Oh, BTW2, isn't it safe to assume that the course designer sketched a skinny (a deep skinny) where the cheese is and then the builder and/or organizer decided to make it cheesy?

[asterix]

Funny, pwynn, when I got that COTH email I instantly thought "I bet I know where the spike came from!"

[IFG]

Funny, pwynn, when I got that COTH email I instantly thought "I bet I know where the spike came from!"

Yeah, I finally re-subscribed. Seems only fair.

[Robby Johnson]

You're right, IFG, plus, I do miss my weekly horsey fix.

[subk]

I did too. Guilted me into it...

[cyberbay]

Well, for the life of me, I can't understand why the paper of record would devote so much space on its FRONT PAGE to a minor rural sport, with 50,000 adherents, at most.

Maybe it's the lull before the PA primary, and stories are needed. I wouldn't let my guard down at all about this. Eventing has an enormous elephant in the room (is that the saying?) and it still seems like no one is quite doing anything about anything at the moment. Maybe more time to study the issues is needed, but with the event season about to go into full swing, I hope the powers that be find some satisfactory changes to implement.

I did think that as a one-time hit about the sport, the writer did a really nice job and gave no quarter to hysteria. Again, horse sports need to put forward to the public the image of horse sports that reveals the enormous strengths of being involved with horses and the value of competing. All the public is seeing is accidents, danger, and terrifying outcomes. Mix that with the encroaching suburban mentality of "convenience and safety," and, oh, boy, not a nice situation.

[subk]

Well, for the life of me, I can't understand why the paper of record would devote so much space on its FRONT PAGE to a minor rural sport, with 50,000 adherents, at most.
Have you seen a stock quote lately? Horses are colorful and they have to try SOMETHING...

http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/charts/chartdl.aspx?D4=1&ViewType=0&3=0&D5=0&Symbol=NYT&ShowChtBt=Refresh+Chart&DateRangeForm=1&CE=0&C9=0&DisplayForm=1&ComparisonsForm=1&CP=0&PT=9

[imissvixen]

[QUOTE=cyberbay;3136344]Well, for the life of me, I can't understand why the paper of record would devote so much space on its FRONT PAGE to a minor rural sport, with 50,000 adherents, at most.QUOTE]

It is the most emailed article on the New York Times website. My friend's sister writes for the NYT and when she has an article in the Sunday magazine we have tried to get it to show up on the most emailed list. It isn't easy.

They NYT is very widely read, eventing is an Olympic sport, and people love horses. And the NYT is a the best newspaper out there bar none and they know what works for front page stories.

Btw, all you reporters out there who were getting criticized, as long as you aren't paparazzi, I want you to know that I appreciate the job you do. Keep it up.

[J. Turner]

I assumed the following is a frangible pin:
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2179138530066718914eUochN

Is it?

BTW, talk about a topic getting a lot of mileage. Folks probably got Robert Banner's email that mentions the 100,000 visitors to the COTH BB recently. Well, that Community Webshots album I have with the pictures of The Fork got almost 25,000 views in the past week! Who ever wudda thunk it, huh?

Oh, BTW2, isn't it safe to assume that the course designer sketched a skinny (a deep skinny) where the cheese is and then the builder and/or organizer decided to make it cheesy?

I spent all of last night (admittedly while watching American Idol an Don't Forget the Lyrics) looking at just about every single picture in your albums. I want a pony! But I weigh 170. Guess I need to lose some weight first.

That looks like a frangible pin, but even if it gave, wouldn't the ropes be stronger???