It’s not often that a rider experiences a major tack malfunction in the show ring, let alone that the show photographer captures the very moment it happened in real time. But that’s exactly what happened to amateur jumper rider Alex Alston at the Upperville Colt and Horse Show (Virginia) when his horse’s butterfly bit broke over the second-to-last fence in the first round of the 1.45-meter Show Jumping Hall of Fame Junior/Amateur Jumper Classic. 

Alston and Spider, an 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare owned by Alston Alliance LLC (Cardento 933—Sassy, Luidam), were well on their way to a clear round when about halfway through the course, something didn’t feel right to him. 

“I was having to work extra hard to get her to turn and get the feeling of bending, especially to the right, which is the side that the bit broke on,” Alston said. “When I went to turn back to the [second-to-last] fence, I measured the distance, her front legs came off the ground, and then everything dropped. I wasn’t quite sure what was happening at first, but I saw the bit go flying out of the corner of my left eye—I’m legally blind in that eye—and when she landed, I was like, ‘What do I do?’ I had no way of turning her. That jump was near the end of the [jumper] ring, and the ring fence was coming up quick.” 

Alston thought fast—although he was supposed to turn left to continue to the last fence, he opted to attempt to turn Spider to the right, hoping to make his way back to the in-gate for help. “I just landed and said, ‘whoa,’ ” Alston said. “I took my leg off as much as I could. Spider listened so politely to me; I kept saying, ‘whoa,’ and she started to canter in place.” 

As she slowed down, Alston unclipped his safety vest, thinking that he might need to dismount quickly. “The thoughts were racing through my head: ‘Do I jump off now, while she’s slowed down?’ But then I was worried she was going to be loose, and we would have nothing to catch her with. So I stayed on and just kept trying to get her to halt.”

His trainers, Missy Clark and John Brennan of North Run, were standing at the in-gate watching the pair compete. Although Clark couldn’t tell exactly what had happened because it was raining heavily at the time, she immediately knew something was wrong when Alston turned right after the fence. 

“I realized something had broken when I saw Alex’s hands up in the air,” Clark said. “In that type of situation, a lot of horses will speed up and then you have no control. We were at the in-gate, just telling him to say ‘whoa.’ At the end of all of our lessons, I do make it a point to have the kids practice slowing their horses down by just saying ‘whoa’ and sinking into the tack on a loose rein. That practice came in handy here.”

As Alston and Spider cantered slowly back to the gate, Brennan came into the ring. When the mare saw him, she slowed to a walk. Alston took that opportunity to dismount, and Spider remained at the gate with them. 

“Thinking back on it now, it could have gone south so quickly—she could have gotten caught up in the reins, or in the remainder of the bit, or we both could have gotten hurt,” Alston said. “She was very polite. Honestly, I think she didn’t know what to do either. I think she thought she won the Olympics once I jumped off—everyone was patting and loving on her. She always gets treats, but she got extra that night!”

Alston has been riding “Spidey” for less than a year, but he’s worked hard to build a relationship with her. 

“We know each other’s personality well—I spend a lot of time with her in the barn,” Alston said. “She sees me and nickers; we’re very close in that way. She’s very special to me. Showing-wise, I’m still getting to know her, but that will come with time. She’s got a lot of blood, but she’s always on your side and she’ll fight for you in any way she can.”

In Clark’s lifelong career with horses, this is the first time she’s ever had a bit break on one of her horses in the show ring. Looking at Spidey’s butterfly bit afterward, they learned it had broken in the right corner.

“Equipment does fail—you can’t predict for a situation like that,” Clark said. “Stirrups break, things break; it happens. All you can do is try to think in the moment and stay calm. Luckily Spider was listening to Alex, and she was an angel; she’s such a lovely horse. Alex also remained calm—both horse and rider couldn’t have handled that situation better.”

Jessica Duffy, who has been photographing for Erin Gilmore Photography since 2022, didn’t even realize she had captured the moment Alston’s bit broke until she was editing photos later that evening. Because of the pouring rain, Duffy’s viewfinder had been fogged and her camera had its “rain jacket” on during the class. She was relying on her own muscle memory to help her take the photos. 

“It was a wild photo,” Duffy said. “It’s definitely one of the craziest photos I’ve ever captured in competition. But it looked like she was a chill mare and really listened to him.”

Once Clark saw the photo, she insisted on purchasing a copy of the photo for memory’s sake. “The picture was honestly amazing: Spider was in perfect form and Alex was in perfect form,” Clark said. “It was an epic moment that, luckily for everyone, ended well.”