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RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Emilypepper22 — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 15:24:55 GMT

hey that is so scary. it looks like the horse is doing a handstand and it is on its nose. I think that it is scary looking. I would rather see an operation than that!!! ~Emilypepper22~

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

ride*to*live — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 13:28:53 GMT

iluvguszpony (4/29/2008)

I love the Rolex and cross country but I do agree that something needs to be DONE about the safety issue and not just considered. Cross country could be made so much safer with just even the simplest modifications.

agreed

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Polo Player2008 — Sun, 04 May 2008 20:35:13 GMT

Seriously. The ones that are complaining how horrible it is don't even do it! Eventing does has its risks but so does EVERYTHING with horses! Even grooming a horse has risks. You can easily get hurt doing that! Chill people! People are working on making it safer and it has already taken steps towards it! EVENTING ROCKS!!!!

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

iluvguszpony — Fri, 02 May 2008 05:27:21 GMT

Mustangolover2010 (5/1/2008)

To be honest I dont think jumping that high is cruel

ITs just the speeds they are going

& how the jumps are made (dont fall when hit)

If they would slow down & have jumps that fell, it would be alot safer. Smaller jumps would be fine, but those that are like 6' tall need to be able to fall if the horse gets a bad run at it.

I agree. If the riders had enough time to set the horses up properly w/o having to worry about time penalties, it would be a lot safer. Or maybe even sort of the other way around such as making the jumps smaller and safer so that they can go fast. Either way, some changes need to be made in order to reduce injury. The risk will always be there, whether you are on a trailride or competing in the Rolex but at least we can make sure that the risk won't be from things that we can control.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Mustangolover2010 — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:53:11 GMT

LOL

Yeah shows you how much i know.. I thought there were higher jumps.. but I i thought wrong.. oh well.. i really dont know much about english, other than what i hear from people. I do want to give it a try.. but for now I'll stick with western.. lol

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Whiskey87 — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:40:09 GMT

There has been talk about reforming cross country jumps forever. I remember when I was a kid reading a magazine article (possibly in HI) where there was talk about changing the way that the jumps were built. There was talk that the jumps would stay "solid" (as is kind of the point of cross country), but would be built so that if a horse impacted them they would give. Either they would be built of man made material that would give/move upon impact (such as a synthetic hollow logs instead of real one), or ones where the pieces holding the jumps together would give under certain stress allowing the jump to fall apart.

Why this never happened I don't know. Probably the call from the public for them died out before any real progress made. Plus there is the side lobbying for the "tradition" of cross country courses.

It's just a shame that it always takes extreme circumstances for any kind of progress to be made.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Purcocious — Thu, 01 May 2008 17:56:39 GMT

Mustangolover2010 (5/1/2008)

To be honest I dont think jumping that high is cruel

ITs just the speeds they are going

& how the jumps are made (dont fall when hit)

If they would slow down & have jumps that fell, it would be alot safer. Smaller jumps would be fine, but those that are like 6' tall need to be able to fall if the horse gets a bad run at it.

Actually, the max. height for an advanced course is 3'11" ... no where near 6'. The only time you find a jump close to 6' in jumping is on a grand prix show jumping course where, obviously, the rails easily fall. Just a little random knowledge lol.

Oh, and some falls are because the rider is too cautious and crawls up to the 'scary' fences. Sometimes for tricky jumps you need that momentum, and slowing down can be just as dangerous as rushing.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Mackenburg — Thu, 01 May 2008 17:49:46 GMT

People, if you want the video, I need your email.

I can't send the file through the PMs, so when you PM me, include your email address. I won't post it on an online video source because it will just get deleted.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

3mares — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:03:37 GMT

that is crazy

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Whinnies — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:54:05 GMT

Thats terrible. It stinks that the videos were all gone and blocked.

I wanted to see what happened. I think it's so tragic how these people make there horse do these things. And I know, its life. And we accept challenges but if you know your horse well, you should know that feeling when your horse feels unconfident in a jump. But they jump it anyways

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

halsgal — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:50:02 GMT

[quote]Mustangolover2010 (5/1/2008)

To be honest I dont think jumping that high is cruel

ITs just the speeds they are going

& how the jumps are made (dont fall when hit)

If they would slow down & have jumps that fell, it would be alot safer. Smaller jumps would be fine, but those that are like 6' tall need to be able to fall if the horse gets a bad run at it.[/quote]

I agree, in show jumping at least the rails are VERY light esp on the high jumps (actually makes it 10 times harder because a good wind force can rock those rails . . . ) but yeah, those high jumps need to be maybe, idk, a 3 ft. solid jump with fallable (is that a word?) rails on top.

But will it change? idk.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Mustangolover2010 — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:47:48 GMT

To be honest I dont think jumping that high is cruel

ITs just the speeds they are going

& how the jumps are made (dont fall when hit)

If they would slow down & have jumps that fell, it would be alot safer. Smaller jumps would be fine, but those that are like 6' tall need to be able to fall if the horse gets a bad run at it.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

halsgal — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:22:55 GMT

[quote]Mackenburg (4/30/2008)

[quote]flaming (4/30/2008)

[quote]Lovin Western Pleasure (4/29/2008)

I will never partake in eventing or stadium jumping for that matter. In my opinion, I think it is cruel to make a horse jump and land continuously at those heights. I cannot imagine what stress the front legs take on the landing.

That's my 2 cents folks. Go ahead and flame me for it, I'm standing by my opinion .[/quote]

I could say the same thing about soring horses in Saddleseat, using rollkur in Dressage, riding 2 year olds at crawling speeds in AQHA futurities, etc. I most certainly do not agree with any of those, they are abuse, like you find the higher levels of stadium jumping and eventing to be.

But those horses that compete at those levels are treated like royalty. I cannot debate that it puts a lot of stress on their legs, because quite obviously it does, but they recieve the best of care to stay healthy, fit, sound, and happy.

Not flaming your opinion in any way, just stating mine :][/quote]

No kidding.

Those horses probably see the chiropractor more than I ever will, and they probably have a better diet than me [/quote]

yeah, not to say that there are probably 25 mexican stable hands back there after each ride pampering those horses from top to bottom, AND they get the best vet, chiro, acupuncture, etc. etc. etc. that you could humanly imagine . . . and the best technology in equine health care available . . . idk about abuse . . .

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

iluvguszpony — Thu, 01 May 2008 05:33:17 GMT

Mackenburg (4/30/2008)

flaming (4/30/2008)

Lovin Western Pleasure (4/29/2008)

I could say the same thing about soring horses in Saddleseat, using rollkur in Dressage, riding 2 year olds at crawling speeds in AQHA futurities, etc. I most certainly do not agree with any of those, they are abuse, like you find the higher levels of stadium jumping and eventing to be.

But those horses that compete at those levels are treated like royalty. I cannot debate that it puts a lot of stress on their legs, because quite obviously it does, but they recieve the best of care to stay healthy, fit, sound, and happy.

Not flaming your opinion in any way, just stating mine :]

No kidding.

Those horses probably see the chiropractor more than I ever will, and they probably have a better diet than me

Agreed!

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Mackenburg — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:23:20 GMT

flaming (4/30/2008)

Lovin Western Pleasure (4/29/2008)

Not flaming your opinion in any way, just stating mine :]

No kidding.

Those horses probably see the chiropractor more than I ever will, and they probably have a better diet than me

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

horsemads — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:58:29 GMT

Yeah your soooooooooo right

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

♦homer's♦girl♦123 — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:04:41 GMT

dont know WHAT is going on with Rolex, but the last time I went (Windsome Adante's first win out of three Rolex comps) no one got hurt as bad as she did. No horses were put down and it was a great year. Yes there were falls but none were life threatening. I think that Rolex is TOO COMPETITIVE. It's too much strain on the horses not only physically but mentayl. There is also a TON of stress put on the riders. I think Rolex needs to calm down with the hieghth in and difficult jumps and needs to actually DO SOMETHING ABOUT ALL THESE EUTHINIZATIONS. XC is not abuse until it gets to a certain level.

PS: I was too broken up to look at the video. Just looking at the pictures made me cry. Thats how horrible I think it all is.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

flaming — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:49:14 GMT

Lovin Western Pleasure (4/29/2008)

Not flaming your opinion in any way, just stating mine :]

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

buckslittlerider — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:22:03 GMT

This is just my opion, but i think in any horse sport you are putting your self in danger. even a trail rider is putting them self in danger. that is just my opion though. I do not wish that any body to lose a horse but I guess that is part of the horse world.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Mackenburg — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:29:08 GMT

Horses4me (4/29/2008)

Once again horse and rider have been hurt/died in XC. I am not sure what to think about this. I understand to each his own on what they do with their horses but COME ON something really needs to be done about this. The jumps are to high for some of these horses so in MY opinion they need to be lowered.

As for the one posting that the horse was crawling around the course (Quiet Man) someone said that the riders love their mounts. If that is true why is the rider in the hospital and the horse is dead? There was obvioulsy a problem with the horse so at that point it is time to STOP and get the horse some kind of medical attention. So much for loving her mount. I believe that these accidents could have been prevented from what I have heard if the rider would have just used some common sense and not worried so much about the first place ribbon. No the horses are dead and they both are seriously hurt.

But on a different note....I don't like to hear that someone was hurt while riding horses so I do hope that both riders will recover with out any long lasting issues.

But that is just MY opinion and I know I have just really offended someone but that is the way I see it.

The consensus is that there was nothing physically wrong with the horse. Rather, the rider Hansel was not riding the course correctly - hence the bad spots and the fall.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Lovin Western Pleasure — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 23:12:32 GMT

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Horses4me — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:18:09 GMT

I need to state this fact before I have a mob beating down my door from my last post. I am fully aware that horses are going to get hurt from time to time. However if it is rider error is that acceptable? In my opinion I don't think so. I am not attacking every single eventer that does this type of riding. I am not saying that these horses are abused. But if the rider is not paying attention to the horse and noticing problems or is trying to win first place and ignoring signs from the horse or pushing the horse then accidents happen and that is unexcusable. And from what I have read in the posts and I will say it again these are rider errors and now horses are dead and riders are seriously hurt. And for what nobody won anything on that day?

And just to add my gelding has had 2 injuries happen in one day and that was because he was being a horse with the herd and ended up with a sprained knee and a conscussion all from the same accident.

Again I understand that horses get hurt in all types of riding styles as well as events but it seem like the majority of injuries I hear about are from XC as well as horses that are raced.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Horses4me — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:10:38 GMT

But on a different note....I don't like to hear that someone was hurt while riding horses so I do hope that both riders will recover with out any long lasting issues.

But that is just MY opinion and I know I have just really offended someone but that is the way I see it.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Whiskey87 — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:29:24 GMT

So is all eventing you guys are opposing or is it just the Grande Prix/Rolex levels? I understand that any x-country, and riding in general can be dangerous, but would a lower level event be dangerous to show in?

I've never shown in any, but there's a local horse trial I was thinking about entering this year. The jumps would probably be 2'6" and under since my horse and I don't have the most experience with x-country (we would do quite a bit of conditioning beforehand of course). Would it be wise to skip this? I'm not in it to win, and would just like the get my horse the experience and I think it would be so fun.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

ShawneeCowgirl — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:30:06 GMT

[quote]Purcocious (4/29/2008)

I don't find cross-country abusive. I seem to be in the minority, but honestly, if you look at any other equine sport, or even sports in general, accidents happen. You can't prevent all of them.

That being said, I think safety should always come first. If there is an increase in the accidents, then yes, they need to look into it and see if there are any correlations between the incidents...are they just pilot error, a freak accident, was the footing wrong, the fence too much? You can't just jump in and attack eventers...every sport has problems they need to deal with, patience is sometimes something you need to have with this. If you don't like it, don't do it, but as long as the horses are well cared for, prepared, and loved, then you really can't accuse people of being "evil" or "killers" at this point...[/quote]

HEAR HEAR! I was just going to edit my post and am deciding to re-post. Any event that a horse does, it can get hurt in. I've seen horses get killed in the pasture by themselves. Horses are naturally accident prone. No matter what people do with horses they are going to get hurt some way some how. Just leave people to what they want to do, whether its Western Pleasure, Natural Horsemanship or Eventing.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Purcocious — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:06:09 GMT

I don't find cross-country abusive. I seem to be in the minority, but honestly, if you look at any other equine sport, or even sports in general, accidents happen. You can't prevent all of them.

That being said, I think safety should always come first. If there is an increase in the accidents, then yes, they need to look into it and see if there are any correlations between the incidents...are they just pilot error, a freak accident, was the footing wrong, the fence too much? You can't just jump in and attack eventers...every sport has problems they need to deal with, patience is sometimes something you need to have with this. If you don't like it, don't do it, but as long as the horses are well cared for, prepared, and loved, then you really can't accuse people of being "evil" or "killers" at this point...

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

ShawneeCowgirl — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:48:51 GMT

The video doesn't work anymore due to a copyright issue but I will only say this. XC is not abuse in my opinion. It is the sport that divides athletic horses from lesser ability horses that cannot perform to those heights. I am not saying that all the horses that cannot do XC are of no quality just that these horses that do the XC are very athletic, talented and have great heart for what they do. These horses get the best care and love. My uncle is the farrier of some the 3-day eventing riders and he sees them get impeccable care.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Mustangolover2010 — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:22:58 GMT

Good barrel horses get hurt often, I thought? Leg related injuries are common?

Anyways, out of the tons of people who do eventing, it's really not that many who are injured in comparison. Yes, it is more than ideal, because ideally no one would be getting hurt, but there is ALWAYS a risk when working with horses, whether it be the horse's fault or not. There are plenty of other disciplines that are much more dangerous than eventing.

Its rare that top barrel horses get hurt. Several are still copmpeteing strong in their 20's. & yeah im not saying they never get hurt.. any athleat - horse human.. dog.. they will get hurt. I have gotten hurt running. & barrel horses that are ridding around barrel TOO MUCH & TOO FAST often develop leg problems.. but thats more the owners fault than the actual sport... People need to learn to take good care of their horses like most of us on this forum do. But a good rider & good barrel horse with a good training program rarely get hurt.

The exact thing it true with eventing.. IF people would slow down & have better jumps.. the injories would be much less & deaths would be rare.

The thing is with eventing PEOPLE & HORSES ARE DIEING! & its not one horse & One person.. accedent do happen.. there are TOO MANY people & horses getting hurt! Eventing would be great if it wasnt so dangerous! I actually wanted to do that for so long, but just never got around to try english.

& really no equine sport is more dangerouse than others.. its just how people make them. Barrel racing can be just as bad as eventing.. sometimes worse, flat racing is known for horrable injories, Bronc horses get hurt now & again... Horses will get hurt.. people will get hurt Btu i think there is alot we can do to protect our selve s& our equine compainions.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Gooseh — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:13:28 GMT

It's not worth it at all. Granted, every horse sport has it's accidents; but XC is probably leading on injuries and deaths. The rate of injury and death seems to be increasing not decreasing. It's good that they're trying to make improvements or whatever, but they need to DO something not just TALK about doing something.

It's terrible.

Seems like at every major XC event someone is either seriously injured or killed.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

flaming — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:58:54 GMT

Mustangolover2010 (4/29/2008)

Mackenburg (4/29/2008)

Mustangolover2010 (4/29/2008)

& People think rodeos are bad..

Thats horrable & I think they need to have safer jumps & easier footing. If that many people & horses are getting hurt & KILLED.. thats not a good thing..

I think there needs to be changes ASAP. & maybe if those people actually CARED about their horses & their selves, they would slow down & not care about first place...

In the mean time i am going to hold back my wanting to event & ride english & stick with Gymkhana, Barrel Racing & Western Pleasure.

Now that's hardly fair.

I've witnessed a barrel horse lose its footing, go down, flip, and fracture its spine. I don't go announce that if barrel racers cared about their equines, they wouldn't spin them around barrels faster than a ripcord.

Okay. im sorry

Barrel horses do get hurt

Actually i had a friend who had to put hers down.. but to be honest it wasnt so much barrel racing itself.. It was her own stupidity who did it. Really it had nothing to do with barrel racing - just the fact the horse was worked too hard on not so good footing. So if that counts.. idk, because it could have happened anywhere (too tight of turn on grass going pretty fast hurt his hip ) including ono the trail.

But still.. Its rare that a good barrel horse gets hurt.. & even more rare - almost unheard of that they get killed. Way TOO MANY people are getting hurt in eventing..Its not even eventing .. its the way people are riding in it!!! I actually wanted to try it.. I love jumping & all, but I know i wouldnt win, because i wouldnt put my horses in that kind of danger of jumping over obsticals that dont fall if you hit them.. & going so fast!!! I think people need ot chill out abit. it SHOULD be fun.. but those people are making it dangerous.

Good barrel horses get hurt often, I thought? Leg related injuries are common?

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Mustangolover2010 — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:29:12 GMT

Mackenburg (4/29/2008)

Mustangolover2010 (4/29/2008)

& People think rodeos are bad..

Thats horrable & I think they need to have safer jumps & easier footing. If that many people & horses are getting hurt & KILLED.. thats not a good thing..

I think there needs to be changes ASAP. & maybe if those people actually CARED about their horses & their selves, they would slow down & not care about first place...

In the mean time i am going to hold back my wanting to event & ride english & stick with Gymkhana, Barrel Racing & Western Pleasure.

Now that's hardly fair.

Okay. im sorry

Barrel horses do get hurt

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Mackenburg — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:17:16 GMT

Mustangolover2010 (4/29/2008)

& People think rodeos are bad..

Thats horrable & I think they need to have safer jumps & easier footing. If that many people & horses are getting hurt & KILLED.. thats not a good thing..

I think there needs to be changes ASAP. & maybe if those people actually CARED about their horses & their selves, they would slow down & not care about first place...

In the mean time i am going to hold back my wanting to event & ride english & stick with Gymkhana, Barrel Racing & Western Pleasure.

Now that's hardly fair.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

cb-sama — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:11:51 GMT

In my opinion? No. The same goes for horse racing. I know that there is danger involved in every sport, but recently it seems like there have been more and more cross-country accidents, with people and horses getting hurt or killed. I don't know a whole lot about the "why"s behind the accidents, but I think it's time for everyone to slow down and rethink what's going on, and start doing something to prevent accidents like this in the future. The experience of jumping is amazing, it's a wonderful feeling, and tons of horses thoroughly enjoy it as well as their riders. Something needs to be done so that they can keep enjoying their sport without breaking their necks, whether it's riders or course designers or whoever that are at fault.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

TurnandBurn5 — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:00:03 GMT

i am not very familier with eventing but i do know that those photos are very very scary. i cant imagine a horse jumping that high and landing head on in a flip! that is crazy. i agree they are not intentionally killing their horses but i do think from all that i have heard about injuries and deaths that its getting kinda rediculouse. Collapsable jumps would be safer i think. and maybe they shouldnt make the jumps so wide, one time i saw a horse in a picture and his belly was just barley grazing the jump it was so high! i think its amazing what they are doing but i do think the jumping commite or whatever should take a break and step back and look at details on how to make the sport a little bit safer!

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Mustangolover2010 — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:58:51 GMT

& People think rodeos are bad..

Thats horrable & I think they need to have safer jumps & easier footing. If that many people & horses are getting hurt & KILLED.. thats not a good thing..

I think there needs to be changes ASAP. & maybe if those people actually CARED about their horses & their selves, they would slow down & not care about first place...

In the mean time i am going to hold back my wanting to event & ride english & stick with Gymkhana, Barrel Racing & Western Pleasure.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

mustkeeptroting — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:49:37 GMT

I've always figured your life=your choice=your problem and if people want to event let them. But I DO think there could be a lot done to make it safer and it should be done. Especially at the bigger events, they have the money.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Mackenburg — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:24:35 GMT

TBlover13 (4/29/2008)

its not worth it at all! why would you want to kill your horse!!!

one time i heard that there would be half as many accidents as there are now, if they would use flat jump cups!!! i mean is that so hard, to buy FLAT JUMP CUPS?!?!?!?!

In the defense of eventers, I can positively say that every rider loves their mounts. What has happened is NEVER intentional, by any stretch of the imagination.

The problem is that perhaps eventing needs a small hiatus until new formats and ideas for safety, such as collapsible jumps on course, can be created and implemented.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

flaming — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:18:56 GMT

TBlover13 (4/29/2008)

its not worth it at all! why would you want to kill your horse!!!

It's not like they're out there trying to kill their horses. The horses enjoy it just as much if not more than their riders do.

I could say the same thing about racing, and WAY more horses die in the racing industry than in eventing, but again, the people aren't out there to hurt the horses.

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

TBlover13 — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:12:18 GMT

its not worth it at all! why would you want to kill your horse!!!

one time i heard that there would be half as many accidents as there are now, if they would use flat jump cups!!! i mean is that so hard, to buy FLAT JUMP CUPS?!?!?!?!

RE: Is it WORTH IT?

Mackenburg — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:07:10 GMT

Dukegirl4life (4/29/2008)

I was there I saw Laine Ashker fall and yes I cried immediately but you have to realize the riders know what they are getting into. I know the sport has been getting worse but they took a lot of the really dangerous jumps out like the 6'7" drop is gone and David O'Connor is pleading the riders to slow down and make sure they are being as careful as possible. I can honestly saw that I hate when people post the video's of the horrible falls like Laine's I personally think its disrespectful because I bet there will be people who put it in a "horse falls" video and not know that the horse died or she was immediately air lifted to the UK hospital. I know it's horrible what happened but it's not like they did it on purpose those horses are treated so good and with so much care its amazing so I think that as long as people keep loving the sport its going to keep going. At least they are trying to make improvements though.

I've heard from people who were at the fence that it mostly had to do with 'pilot error.' According to them, Laine did not attempt or just did not slow down on approach to set the horse up.

Also, I hear it is the exact opposite with Sarah Hansel and Quiet Man - according to viewers, the horse was crawling around the course with no momentum. He was scrambling over each fence leading the fall, apparently.