Wow, rider responsibility quote: Why you need a subscription to COTH.

[pwynnnorman]

This is just one tidbit from the COTH commentary of last week. Not only does it provide a valuable viewpoint, but it also shows how valuable a communication organ the sports only weekly pubication is. I think it is just so outstanding that this perspective comes right on the heels of the event that prompted it. Short of these BBs, there's no other way to get accurate, timely pespectives on our industry than COTH.

By pushing so hard to achieve goals, we’re pushing right past the point. Do you know why Amanda [Warrington (deceased). It's her husband presenting this view.] didn’t make the team? Because she didn’t live long enough. Because she pushed so hard to get there that she died in the process. It’s horrible and it’s tragic, but it wasn’t the sport’s fault. Nobody made her run that horse. I never told her not to run the horse. We sat at home and tried to figure out how to make the horse go better instead of saying maybe this horse isn’t an advanced horse. Maybe he’s good at the intermediate level.

[Mod 1 note: I checked with the main office and got the go-ahead to post the full text of the article, which follows.]

Horseman's Forum



No One Can Fix Eventing Except The Riders
May 9, 2008 Issue

The writer has a unique perspective on the serious responsibilities that every upper-level rider must assume.

I feel like 250,000 people out there are yelling that our sport is bad, and there are about 250 riders saying it’s not the sport that’s a problem, it’s individuals. And we’re whispering, and we’re not being heard.

Every article you pick up, every outside influence, is saying that we need to change the sport—we’ve got to make it safer, we’ve got to do all these things. To me it really isn’t the sport that needs to change, it’s the way the sport is being played. You can’t make enough rules to make somebody think.

For instance at Rolex Kentucky, what prompted Emilee Libby to pull up at Fence 7A and not continue? Was it the fact that she had a bad fall or had seen a bad fall? What made her make that decision? That was the best piece of horsemanship I saw all weekend.

The first thing we have to do is stop looking to the organizations—the U.S. Eventing Association or U.S. Equestrian Federation—and stop looking to rule changes, and accept personal responsibility.

It’s like when you stop at a stoplight and the light turns green. Do you just take off, or do you look left and look right before you take off and make sure no one else is coming the other way? I mean, I look both ways before I go. That’s the kind of personal responsibility that we need to take at this level.

At lower levels, it’s different. We’re working with the Instructor Certification Program, and everyone’s
trying to up the standards at the lower levels. But at the top, you’ve gotten there. And you need to have some self-awareness, self-preservation.

In the races, at Saratoga [N.Y.] one year, there were some rumors that the officials wanted to take the
second fence off the backside because that’s where most of the falls occur. But then the falls are just going to happen at the next fence, because everybody is making a move there. They can’t keep changing the sport. Riders who aren’t paying attention are going to keep finding ways to fall.

Learning From Tragedy

I lost my wife Amanda at an event 10 years ago. Let’s use her example as a teaching tool. She made a mistake. I made a mistake, and the sport didn’t make a mistake.

By pushing so hard to achieve goals, we’re pushing right past the point. Do you know why Amanda didn’t make the team? Because she didn’t live long enough. Because she pushed so hard to get there that she died in the process. It’s horrible and it’s tragic, but it wasn’t the sport’s fault. Nobody made her run that horse. I never told her not to run the horse. We sat at home and tried to figure out how to make the horse go better instead of saying maybe this horse isn’t an advanced horse. Maybe he’s good at the intermediate level.

When you are team-bound, when you are goal-driven, you don’t look at life that way until it’s too late. I’m trying to tell people, sometimes it’s better to go home and come back another day. Sometimes it’s better to look at your horse and say, “You know what buddy, I love you, but maybe the four-star, or the three-star or even the two-star level is above you,” and not push your horse or yourself past the point you can do.

I don’t understand why people think that they have a god-given right to go around Kentucky as fast as they can or as fast as they want to. It’s your job out there to take care of you and your horse first. If you don’t like a course, don’t run it. If you think questions aren’t fair, don’t run. Most people don’t do that. Some said this year looked like a soft Kentucky, and I said there’s no such thing as a soft four-star. Maybe this one wasn’t as tough as others, but it’s tough. Don’t mistake it.

Amanda had five advanced horses—Regal Style, Chevalier, Broadstone Harvest Moon, Exodus, and Drizzle was on his way. Berlioz [whom she fell with] was just trying to catch up to the others. Maybe it’s my fault. Maybe I should have said, “Hey Amanda, you know, the horse really doesn’t want to do it.”

But I was 27 years old; she was 28. You don’t think that way. You think, “I need more horses so I can get on the team.” And she would have made the team—Chevalier did go to the Olympics when Bobby Costello took over the ride. It wouldn’t even have taken any more time. But she didn’t get to make the decision because she was too ambitious.

Know When To Call It A Day

You have to be aggressive in this sport. It is X-C; there is an X in front of it. It is an X game. This is an adrenaline sport, and you have to be on the edge. It is tough; it is a thrill. You can’t come out and ride it like it’s the hunters either, but you have to know by the time you get to the upper levels, that there is a day that you have to pull up.

It’s part of the game to say, “This is not my day” and go home. I did it at the Fair Hill CCI*** (Md.)—my horse had two more stops to go [before being eliminated], and the stops he’d had were not horrible, but my horse said, “You know what, I don’t want to do this.” And I said, “OK, let’s go home before we get hurt.” And I went home and didn’t get hurt.

When you have consistent things telling you that you are having a bad day, you’ve got to make the decision: Do you want to pull up, or do you want to go home in an ambulance? I’ve got to tell you: pull up! Walk your horse home. There is no shame in retiring.

Go home, school, figure out what’s going on, and maybe, your horse isn’t a four-star horse. Maybe your horse isn’t a three-star horse. Maybe you’re not a four-star rider. Maybe you’re not a three-star rider. Those are facts you have to face, but don’t kill yourself trying.

Laine Ashker has been going fast since early March, in Florida—she’s had the fastest time cross-country consistently. And is it my fault, me, Danny Warrington, is it my fault for not calling up Laine and saying, “If you don’t slow down you’re going to fall?” But she’s winning; she’s qualified, and everything looks good.

But how many people besides me see this and don’t say anything? No one says anything.

It’s not the sport’s fault because she’s met the qualifications. It’s not the design of the course because everybody else jumped relatively well around Kentucky this year. It is a four-star—there should be a 50 percent finish rate clean. Not everyone should jump around a four-star clean, otherwise it’s a training level horse trial. I don’t think that’s unreasonable at that level. But it should be because a rider retires or makes a good decision, not because a rider keeps pushing until he or she goes home in an ambulance.

You’ve got to wake up and say, “You know what, my day is not going good, and I need to pull up. This isn’t working out.” And live to fight another day. It’s not up to your coach or the USEA or USEF to tell you that. Because you should know. By the time you get to that level, you should know.

Accidents are always going to happen. But if the horse and rider have the right mindset, you’re going to see fewer of them.

I don’t think you can make rules to stop them. They have to stop themselves. You can’t stop every drunk driver from getting on the road. As the rider, you feel that it is not your day. Not every horse is an advanced horse, and not every rider is an advanced rider. As riders, as horsemen, we need to really understand that. Just because you’re qualified to go doesn’t mean you’re ready to go.

Waylon Roberts had a great round, and he’s 19. He comes from a horseman’s family. We can’t make rules that say you’ve got to be at least 25 years old to ride around Kentucky, because that’s not fair either. But you have to have a serious amount of experience before you attempt something at that level. So many of these younger riders go out without the mileage to feel if the horse is tired, or understand the difference between tired and off the bridle.

Let’s Help Ourselves

If we as competitors who love our sport would shout out what is really wrong with the sport, which is the way some people are playing it, then we might have a chance against people who are trying to shut us down. And instead of whispering about what’s wrong, addressing it.

That’s sort of why I’m coming forward and saying that Amanda’s accident had nothing to do with the fence, the day, the footing or lighting or time, or anything but that we were pushing a horse to go advanced that wasn’t really ready or maybe wasn’t an advanced horse.

The reason that I’m talking about Amanda’s fall is that maybe there are others out there who feel that their fall was due to poor judgment on their part, that they may speak out. Because the world believes that the sport is the problem. And I believe it’s the greatest game on the planet when you play it right.

Learn from mistakes you see around you, and don’t expect the organization to do things for you.

Coaches—if you don’t think your kid isn’t ready to go novice, training, preliminary, intermediate, or advanced, don’t let them. Don’t send them out there if they’re not ready. That is a very tough thing to have to live with, and believe me, you don’t want to live with it.

The word “no” has to come out of your mouth. The words “you’re not ready” have to come out of your mouth. The words “your horse isn’t that quality” have to come out of your mouth. If you lose a customer and he goes to somebody else, if we all agree that we’re not going to do this anymore, maybe we can help ourselves help our sport instead of looking at the organizations.

And one more point: I hear people talking about horses that have had these issues, like Amy Tryon last year at Kentucky, or Jonathan Holling’s horse who had an aneurysm at Red Hills (Fla.). And I want to say to people: if you haven’t had a horse break down underneath of you, if you haven’t had a horse have an aneurysm, if you haven’t had a horse flip, if you have not ridden advanced, maybe this isn’t something you need to be talking about. Because you don’t have the experience. And all you have is an opinion.

Because I’ve had all of those things happen. I lost my wife. I’ve had horses break their legs and break down. Between racing and eventing, there’s not a lot that hasn’t happened to me. And don’t judge people until you’ve been in that situation. I mean that in a positive way: I don’t want everybody to have those situations. But listen to the people who have. Don’t push when you shouldn’t push. There’s a day to pull up. There’s a day to go home, and there’s a day to fight again.

We don’t have to change the sport. We have to change way the sport is being played by the players.

Danny Warrington


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Danny Warrington is an advanced-level rider and professional teacher and trainer at Warrington Eventing near Fair Hill, Md. He was married to international rider Amanda Warrington, and he rode steeplechase races for 10 years.

[Highflyer]

I thought that was an amazing commentary. It was incredibly brave of Danny Warrington to write it. I can't imagine how hard it must have been.

[Lori B]

I just read that this a.m. with my coffee. I thought it was the most thoughtful thing I've read about eventing. Maybe ever.

[seeuatx]

That is probably the single most eloquent statement that I have read in all of this. I cannot imagine how difficult that was for her husband.

[ZEBE]

Can you point me to the full article or posting. I must have missed it and would like to read the whole thing.

Danny's comments are so profound - those thoughts should be a reminder to everyone.

thanks very much


Barbara C-K

[RunForIt]

Originally Posted by ZEBE

Can you point me to the full article or posting. I must have missed it and would like to read the whole thing.

Danny's comments are so profound - those thoughts should be a reminder to everyone.

thanks very much


Barbara C-K

me too - can't find the article in this week's or last week's COTH.

Hey Barb!

[CookiePony]

When the NY Times interviewed me the reporter asked about a "culture" within eventing that might contribute to accidents at the ULs. At the time, I told her that I really didn't know whether there was such a "culture". This article gets at a possible answer to the question, though.

If Danny Warrington is right, how would we go about changing such a culture of pushing horses and riders beyond readiness/ability?

[CookiePony]

Link to article: http://www.chronofhorse.com/index.ph...30805083900724

[RunForIt]

...and read again and again - to feel, and to think, and think some more.

This line, at this moment, for me, sums up the state of eventing:
"You can’t make enough rules to make somebody think."

As Danny so eloquently points out, there are many UL riders who are making things work for horses as well as themselves...I keep coming back to the question of rider responsibility for the horse - if the horse or the rider (the best of both species are not perfect) make a mistake, should there be the very likely possibility that the mistake will take their lives?

[Firefox]

Danny, you have hit the nail on the head!! I admire your courage to put that out there and to speak up for our sport!

[RunForIt]

Going out to ride...and to think.

Thank you, Danny. A finer tribute to Amanda could not happen.

[pinkdiamondracing]

Finally someone is stepping up to the plate with a logical reason for some of these horrible accidents that keep happening, IMHO.

I know a certain eventer who, after flying all the way to Burghley to compete, did not like the way her horse was getting out of the ground on XC midway through the course, and after a fence or two, decided the best thing for her horse and herself was to pull him up, retire and live to fight another day.

To me, that was the smartest move she could have made-- sure, it hurt to see all the time, work and money go down the drain, but guess what? She is safe, her horse is safe, and that's what's important at the end of the day.

I am so very proud to call this very compassionate eventer who truly loves her partner my sister. Her horsemanship and dedication to the well-being of her horse at her young age is a shining example of what the future of our sport holds.

Sure, I would love to see her on the Team someday, and who knows?? Maybe she will be, but not if it comes at the expense of either her or her horse's well-being.

This does not mean that I think the accidents which have occured have been because those riding did not care about the horses they were riding, but rather as an example of the point Danny is making-- that maybe the prospect of making the Team comes at too high a price for both rider and beast.

[bip]

Originally Posted by RunForIt

This line, at this moment, for me, sums up the state of eventing:
"You can’t make enough rules to make somebody think."

I disagree with this. You can't make enough rules to make EVERYBODY think, but you can have rules that either make more people think, or they change the incentives and things that motivate people to behave a certain way.

I feel like the quote above is just saying "we can't do better", but we have to. If we don't do everything within our power to reduce the death/injuries, how can we support/participate in the sport in good conscience?

[IFG]

Wow did that take a lot of courage. He has done the sport a major service.

[asterix]

The link doesn't work unless you have a subscription. I would love to see this, though. We see Danny out coaching all the time and he is really great to watch. Mr. Asterix spent all day as xc warmup steward, came home, and told me "that guy" was the best teacher he'd seen in a long time (this is from a pretty unhorsey guy...).

And pinkdiamond, that decision by your sister was class, class, class. I have so much respect for her.

[RunForIt]

Tigger Too died today at Jersey Fresh of a heart attack.

[FlightCheck]

I had chills reading that letter....thank you Danny

[Kementari]

I don't disagree with what he says, but...

It would all be well and good if this was a sport that didn't involve a(nother) living animal. Then we could yell at people about taking responsibility, and when they didn't (because some won't: ya can't fix stupid) it would be their own fault if they were seriously injured or killed.

But those people aren't just killing themselves; they're killing their horses, too. And the horse can't sit down with his rider and say, "Hey, you know, I just really don't have the stuff to go advanced." If the rider ignores all the warning signs, there still needs to be some sort of safety net in place to help the horse. And that has to take the form of rules (standing around shaking our fingers at people may be easier, but it doesn't work nearly so well...).

Now, what those rules should be is certainly up for debate: change course/jump design, change qualifications, change speeds, more penalties for DR, more vet checks, etc... But the fact is that we will always have riders who make poor decisions, and we should do everything possible to protect their horses.

[meventer]

I read a draft of this earlier in the week and admire Danny for being the one to stand up and be truely honest.

I think its a lot like drunk driving. There are a ton of laws and penalties but people do it anyway. You push the limit and you get away with it, so you do it again. Or the "its not gonna happen to me" symdrome. But it's your personal choice to get behind the wheel and drive drunk. And when you do, you not only endanger your life but those of everyone else on the road.

[JER]

Thanks for the heads up on this as it takes a while for my magazines to find me.

If we follow Danny Warrington's line of thought, we'd have to agree there's an inevitable, and thus acceptable, number of rider deaths and serious injuries in eventing. It's not unlike other risk endeavors like flying or climbing or driving, in which there is a critical window with a higher death/injury rate, due to limited experience of the participant and an increase in the amount of risk undertaken by the participant. I know this is very true in aviation. In eventing, this would translate to a higher proportion of serious accidents to less-experienced riders at a particular level. (I don't know if the stats bear this out, I'm just conjecturing based on what DW wrote.)

Is this ok with everyone? This is a serious question -- it might only be 1 or 2 deaths a year or maybe even 1 death every other year, depending on the data. What is an acceptable death rate? We all participate in activities, most obviously driving a motor vehicle, that carries a well-studied level of risk.

A few months ago on one of the safety threads, I posted the death rates of children from motor vehicle airbag deployments. This death rate was the rate that lead to new legislation about airbags, front seats and small people. I don't have the number with me right now but it was very, very low. This did not stop authorities from taking action.

So, next question: What is the acceptable death/serious injury rate in our sport due to rider error? If we decide that rider responsibility is the real culprit behind the recent spate of falls/deaths, is it ok that horse deaths/injuries are a by-product of rider errors? Or should we look for ways to give the horse the best chance to save himself from rider errors?

There are no easy answers to any of these issues. Nor is there any one cause.