[JER]

From Horse & Hound: Belton inquest calls for better BE rider representatives

The story has a good photo of what is very clearly a WTF obstacle.

"I am concerned that young and less-experienced riders felt a reluctance to report concerns about the course to their rider reps, for fear of seeming foolish or being thought a troublemaker," said Dr Fisher.

The coroner was concerned that only two fences on the Belton course were fitted with frangible pins designed to break on impact.

He asked BE to increase the types of jumps which can be made breakable.

....

The coroner's final request was that BE controls the use of model animals and mannequins as fence dressing.

Note that this is a coroner's inquest -- an actual investigation and hearings held outside the control of BE or other sport orgs.

[GotSpots]

JER - what is it about that table to coop combination that gives you that reaction?

[JER]

The figurines on top of the second element.

(Or did you not realize those were fake humans?)

[GotSpots]

Whoa. Yeah - I missed that completely. Never mind.

[JER]

Whoa. Yeah - I missed that completely. Never mind.

(To properly prepare our horses for fences like this, we'd have to start with Barbies on BN fences and teach them to jump progressively bigger people as the fences got taller. )

[Rallycairn]

Good grief, I didn't realize there were now fences with the mannequins/statues ON THE FENCE not on the "standards" which is plenty spooky enough. Yes, let's make it so we have to override our horses' natural instincts not to plow right into or step on other living beings. Good God, we need a coroner to tell us this?

Sorry, I'm a total smurf so maybe this is ho-hum to a lot of people but geez!

[Badger]

So the horses were supposed to jump life-like fake geese and fake people? Who was the course designer?

[Badger]

And was the designer responsible for the decorations, or was that someone else?

[BAC]

So the horses were supposed to jump life-like fake geese and fake people? Who was the course designer?

The article says Sue Benson was the course designer and she said she will not use fake people/animals in the future.

[Meredith Clark]

Good grief, I didn't realize there were now fences with the mannequins/statues ON THE FENCE not on the "standards" which is plenty spooky enough. Yes, let's make it so we have to override our horses' natural instincts not to plow right into or step on other living beings. Good God, we need a coroner to tell us this?

Sorry, I'm a total smurf so maybe this is ho-hum to a lot of people but geez!

That was my reaction as well!

[bambam]

Glad she realized fake people were a bad idea before she designs the course for 2012

[RAyers]

Glad she realized fake people were a bad idea before she designs the course for 2012

Yeah, she now has to go and do a casting call to line up a bunch of "extras" to pose at a variety of fences on course. Talk about added costs to the horse venue!

[bornfreenowexpensive]

So the horses were supposed to jump life-like fake geese and fake people? Who was the course designer?

I think you were supposed to jump either to the left of the people or the right (making it an accuarcy question).



but still not nice.

[Badger]

Looks like Sue Benson was the designer and the biggest complaint was the striding between the elements:

"The combination was made up of an angled pheasant feeder (12), followed by two long or three short strides to a table (13a) then another two long strides to another angled pheasant feeder (13b), in front of which were two lifelike wooden figurines. "

http://www.idealhomemagazine.co.uk/i...le_283083.html

[JER]

Looks like Sue Benson was the designer and the biggest complaint was the striding between the elements:

"The combination was made up of an angled pheasant feeder (12), followed by two long or three short strides to a table (13a) then another two long strides to another angled pheasant feeder (13b), in front of which were two lifelike wooden figurines. "

Italics mine.

'Two long strides' to the figurine-festooned fence means your horse has to keep moving forward to make the distance while trying to sort out whether the humans are real or fake or moving or still.

BTW, Sue Benson is the designer for London 2012.

[BAC]

BTW, Sue Benson is the designer for London 2012.

Wasn't there some controversy about another course design she did several years ago? I seem to remember reading about it in my British Eventing mag, but it was early in her designing career, and I don't remember details.

[JER]

Wasn't there some controversy about another course design she did several years ago? I seem to remember reading about it in my British Eventing mag, but it was early in her designing career, and I don't remember details.

You're thinking of Bramham, where she was the designer for 10 years.

Her final year there, IIRC, caused a bit of an uproar.

[bambam]

Yeah, she now has to go and do a casting call to line up a bunch of "extras" to pose at a variety of fences on course. Talk about added costs to the horse venue!

I bet that is a large part of the reason for the recently reported 34 million in cost over-runs for the 2012 Greenwich eventing venue

There were reported complaints/scratched heads about her selection as course designer for the Olympics.

[LisaB]

I can honestly say that probably my horse would be the only one charging at those children. I guess she was designed for abused Amish horses who don't like people in their way.
Un-f***-believable that they thought the combo was okay #1 and then to put PEOPLE on them! Honestly! Horses have been bred for eons to trust and love us and they now want us to jump them???

[JER]

Light bulb moment: People are the perfect safe jump material.

People are collapsible, deformable AND frangible. And they provide cushioning when you land on them.

And there's loads of science behind that statement. What material has been studied more thoroughly than the human body? Think about the anecdotal history of accidents, all the evidence from various wrecks and wars, etc. Who needs TRL when you have all of human history on your side?