While the Oliver Townend incident at Badminton Horse Trials 2018 no doubt casts a shadow over him, my attention is on the officials who let it happen with barely a consequence. Through their lack of action, they fail the horses.
Social media opens so many doors for our sport. Most of them good. It brings more opportunities for funding and sponsorship support and gives us a chance to showcase the incredibly talented equine and human athletes we have in the sport locally and internationally. What it also brings is a bigger responsibility to uphold horse welfare because the sport is, more than ever before, under a microscope that now belongs to the wider community, not just those within the sport.
For those of you who haven’t seen footage of the abovementioned incident you can find a link below to footage of the final part of his Badminton cross-country ride on one of his horses for reference. His other ride was allegedly treated in the same way with regards to the use of whip and spurs on a tired horse.
Here are some key facts regarding the rules that govern our sport…
Social media opens so many doors for our sport. Most of them good. It brings more opportunities for funding and sponsorship support and gives us a chance to showcase the incredibly talented equine and human athletes we have in the sport locally and internationally. What it also brings is a bigger responsibility to uphold horse welfare because the sport is, more than ever before, under a microscope that now belongs to the wider community, not just those within the sport.
For those of you who haven’t seen footage of the abovementioned incident you can find a link below to footage of the final part of his Badminton cross-country ride on one of his horses for reference. His other ride was allegedly treated in the same way with regards to the use of whip and spurs on a tired horse.
Here are some key facts regarding the rules that govern our sport…
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