When Fleur de Lis stumbled on landing from the C element of the triple combination in the CCI** show jumping at the Jersey Fresh International (N.J.) on May 10, Tamie Smith wasn’t sure what happened.

The bay gelding nearly unseated Smith but they stayed upright. When the dust cleared, however, “Milton’s” left front shoe was dangling from the clip on his girth, not on his hoof. He’d gotten his shoe clipped to his girth guard and had to pull it off to get his leg unfolded to land.

It began innocently enough. Flipping through the media catalog of photos from the Gucci Paris Masters show, I came across one that showed a horse wearing quite an unusual piece of equipment. Katharina Offel's mount Quebracho Semilly had straps hooking around his hind legs and attaching back to the saddle...

When Grégory Wathelet jumped the fourth jump, he saw the crownpiece of the bridle slide forward. “Uh, oh,” he thought.

Wathelet, of Belgium, was on course in the Prix du Qatar during the Longines Global Champions Tour Paris on July 5, and Conrad de Hus’ bridle was slipping off forward over his ears. “I didn’t really think about [pulling up]. I wanted to finish because I wanted to qualify for the grand prix the next day,” Wathelet said.