Following the ruling of the FEI Tribunal, Amy Tryon answered some of the questions that have arisen regarding the incident with Le Samurai at the Rolex Kentucky CCI.

Few equestrian events have garnered the kind of emotion that was elicited after the Rolex Kentucky cross-country on April 28, when Amy Tryon jumped the last fence and completed approximately the final 30 seconds of the course after her mount, Le Samurai, had sustained what later proved to be a fatal injury.

Broadcast live on large screens to the almost 50,000 spectators that day at the event, aired on the NBC footage a week later and shared all over the Internet, those final strides of Tryon’s course have had event riders, fans and spectators disagreeing over what happened, why and what the punishment—if any—should have been. 

On July 20, the Fédération Equestre Internationale’s Tribunal determined that Tryon was guilty of unintentional abuse, sentencing her to a two-month suspension and a combined fine and reimbursement of legal expenses of approximately $2,000 (see July 27, p. 108 for more information). Tryon chose not to appeal, so the suspension began immediately. Following the ruling, Tryon was free to talk about the situation for the first time.

“I apologize to the FEI, to the Broussard family [who owned Le Samurai], to my husband Greg and to my fellow competitors,” said Tryon through tears. “I have been, my entire life, in defense of animals, and I never would have caused intentional pain. I realize my actions were wrong, and I want to sincerely apologize to everyone.”

Tryon doesn’t spend much time on the computer, so she hasn’t read public opinions about the matter on any online forums. Although much has been said online, the FEI Tribunal’s decision specifically stated that any information found on Internet bulletin boards or sent in by the public could not be admitted at her trial. Most of the letters and e-mails Tryon has personally received have been supportive of her.

“I understand that some individuals are not pleased with what occurred, and I completely respect that as well,” she said. “The people I ride and work with completely understood what occurred and that it could have been any of us in that situation. It was me, and I take responsibility for that.”

For Le Samurai’s owner, Rebecca Broussard, supporting Tryon was never a question. “I saw what happened. It was an accident, and she didn’t cause it, and none of her actions made it worse,” said Broussard, who is now actively looking for another horse for Tryon.

In the events that she contested between Rolex Kentucky in April and the FEI’s decision in July, Tryon, of Duvall, Wash., said she hasn’t encountered any negative reaction to her presence.

“Everyone has been overwhelmingly supportive, even more than I would have dreamed,” she said. “If there’s going to be a negative reaction, it’s not something I can control. I can only control what I do.

“In every aspect of life, people will have their opinions, and I’m not going to change them,” she added. “To defend myself would only add fuel to the fire. It’s sort of like politics—people have a very emotional response to things, and it’s not my place to tell them they’re right or wrong.”

One of the biggest challenges Tryon has encountered since the incident, which was the first “breakdown” of a horse beneath her in two decades of international competition, is that it has been extremely difficult for her mentally to compete again.

“It was a huge, devastating loss [to lose Le Samurai], but as a professional, I have to keep going,” she said. “It was very difficult to compete at Jersey Fresh [CCI*** (N.J.) in May] with Poggio [her Olympic and World Championship mount], but it was something I needed to do, and I had a great group of people supporting me, including Mark Phillips. You have two choices—you can quit or you can keep going, and to me, quitting isn’t an option.”

Tryon was not allowed to comment on the situation before the trial, but, being a generally quiet person by nature, she said that wasn’t difficult for her.

“What’s difficult is not being able to correct the facts that aren’t true,” she said. “The biggest misconception is that [the injury] didn’t occur in one step. The injury did occur in one step, and it was not exacerbated by anything I did. It was the snapping of the suspensory under the fetlock, and the consensus of the vets who cared for him confirmed that it was not due to tiredness or fatigue or jumping the last fence.”

Dr. Kent Allen’s testimony on this fact can be read in the FEI’s summary of the Tribunal (www.horsesport.org).

“There was also a rumor that we’d taken him to one clinic and not liked what they said and then taken him to another, and that’s not true,” she added.

Accepting The Judgment
Tryon believed that the FEI Tribunal process was fair. “They tried very hard to take everything into consideration. It was done in a fair manner, and they listened to what I said and what Mark Phillips and Karen O’Connor said on my behalf,” she said. “I was willing to accept what they handed me. I felt I wasn’t in a position to judge either way.”

In terms of a reaction from the U.S. Equestrian Federation or U.S. Eventing Association, Tryon said that the USEF was very supportive of her in a statement to the FEI regarding her record as a competitor but remained neutral in declaring whether she was right or wrong.

“David O’Connor has been very supportive of me, but I think that is on a personal level,” she said. “I’ve had no contact with the USEA, although through my husband, I understand that they’ve sent some supportive e-mails.”

Not one of Tryon’s owners has withdrawn their support, and neither have her sponsors, although Charles Owen has requested being temporarily removed from her website due to the overwhelming number of e-mails they’ve received, both positive and negative.

Looking Ahead
In terms of using the accident to learn and prevent it from happening again, Tryon said Phillips has suggested that some sort of “time-out” might be created to allow a rider 15 or 30 seconds to dismount and see if a shoe is lost or check out a problem while on course.

“I’m on the [USEF] Safety Committee, and I’m very concerned about the welfare of horses and riders,” said Tryon. “But in a sport that combines speed with animals, you are going to have variables, and accidents happen. I can second-guess myself and think of changes that could be made, but that wouldn’t change the
outcome.”

Once her suspension ends on Sept. 20, Tryon might bring some of her younger horses to the Fair Hill CCI*** (Md.). “I’d love to have them at Fair Hill, but I hesitate to make plans too far in advance. If they’re ready to go, fantastic, and if not, that’s OK too.”

She also has one- and two-star horses who might do a CCI this fall. “They will all have a two-month break, and that’s OK,” she said. “We’ll see how they come out of it. For Poggio, I have no plans until next year.”

And as the top U.S. finisher at the 2006 World Equestrian Games, Tryon is obviously considering the possibility of competing in the 2008 Olympics, and her quiet ride around Jersey Fresh in May ensured that Poggio is qualified.

“Poggio [her 2006 individual bronze medalist and 2004 Olympic team medalist] is 15 and as well as he’s ever been,” she said. “If the Olympics is in the cards I would love to go, but I have nice young horses too. I know it’s hard for some people to believe, but my career has never been about making teams. It’s about being able to produce horses and finding out what they do best. But I’d be honored to go to the Olympics.”

For Le Samurai, Tryon and Broussard would like to create a lasting tribute, but they aren’t sure what type of memorial would be best yet.

“Losing ‘Sparky,’ I don’t think I’ll ever get over it,” said an emotional Tryon. “It will get easier, but it’s not something you ever get over. I hope to do things in my career that people will remember other than this, and I hope to let my actions speak louder than my words as I go on with my career.”

Beth Rasin