Time to Get Out Your Clippers? Tips from Olympian Mary King and Her Groom Jodie Summers in a Video Masterclass

by Fran Jurga | 13 November 2009 | The Jurga Report at Equisearch.com

All across the USA, you can hear the clippers buzzing. You can also hear horse heads hitting stable rafters, hooves scrambling, and various unprintable expletives as horse owners and grooms undertake the task of making emerging winter coats disappear or at least be manageable for horses that have to stay in training, go out hunting, or be shown during winter weather.

I've been gathering resources on this subject and will be sharing them with you this month. But what better way to start than with the expertise of British event rider and Olympian Mary King and her expert groom, Jodie Summersin a three-part video series? Mary differentiates, in the final segment, between how she clips her own event horses compared to how she would do a horses for hacking and how she'd do a trace clip.

So here you go: three short videos that together are about 20 minutes long. Bookmark this page to come back later and watch, or share and email this blog post's address for your friends at the barn or students.

Thanks very much to my friends at Horse and Hound in England for producing these little videos. They were apparently done a year ago. The model horse you see, Kings Temptress, is a Mary King homebred and finished 18th at Burghley**** this year.

The menu for the three videos is 1) getting started; 2) clipping a nervous horse and other challenges; 3) advanced tips and specialized clips.

Watch for more posts on clipping on this blog, coming soon!

Good news / bad news from UK's Burghley**** Horse Trials

by Fran Jurga | 7 September 2009 | The Jurga Report

Catching up with the news this morning, I almost missed a footnote in the report from the prizes awarded at this weekend's Land Rover Burghley**** Horse Trials in England. This most-revered and most-difficult of eventing tests included top American rider Phillip Dutton, who finished fourth. It is a critical test for horse and rider at the world-class level but the Americans were deep in the shadow of the young British sensation and 2009 Badminton winner Oliver Townend.

End of story? Not quite. Reporting on eventing these days, if you want to do much besides publish the standings, is a challenge and a journalist may or may not be able to directly access information other than who's ahead on a given day and how happy he or she is about it.

I have a lot of respect for the events that provide what I call the "good/bad news": the completion ratio stats next to the prizes, the sponsors thanks next to the report on the riders' protest about the footing, the fallen horses and the actual names of judges and ground juries and technical delegates. I read some reports with interest for what they don't tell the reader. By not telling the good news with the bad, they send news-seeking people to the Internet forums, where speculation trumps facts and few people speculate under their real names.

First of all, welcome to Burghley's after-glow: 150,000 spectators attended the event and shopped at 600 vendor booths. Compare that to 40,000 people at cross-country day who had 175 places to shop at the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event and you get an idea of the scope of this event. Did they come to see Olli and Zara ride or did they come to shop? It probably doesn't matter; Burghley is eventing on the grand scale, with a traffic jam to match.

Piecing together different news reports, it appears that a red card (rider warning) was issued to British rider Harry Meade, whose website's first sentence describes him as a "relentless competitor". As if out to prove it, he was censured for forcing an exhausted horse to proceed around the cross-country course on Saturday. His horse Dunauger refused a jump, and when he got the horse back into the canter and approached the obstacle, the horse became stuck inside the jump, amidst some evergreen trees. Meade just jumped to the ground It took a crew 25 minutes to free the horse.

Dunauger is a handsome tall (17.1hh) dun. Meade's web site describes him this way: "This striking advanced horse has been taken through the ranks by his owner, Tracy Garside, who completed Burghley with him in 2008. Finding him too strong across country, but wanting him to fulfill his potential, she passed the reins to Harry at the beginning of 2009." Meade must have wondered why the horse was fading under him instead of running off with him.

To complicate matters, the event sent a tractor to the scene to help but as it was idling nearby the handbrake apparently let go and the tractor took over under its own power (you'll recall the size of the crowd) and stopped only when it hit three cars in the parking lot. Miraculously, no humans were injured.

Eventually, Dunauger was taken off the course by ambulance. Meade was not allowed to ride his second entry, Midnight Dazzler, according to the FEI's report on the situation, and he was issued a red card. The FEI stated, "The Ground Jury, in consultation with the Appeal Committee, awarded the red card under (Article) 520 of the 2009 Rules of Eventing: 'Abuse of Horse and Dangerous Riding', namely ‘riding an exhausted horse’ and ‘excessive pressing of a tired horse’."

Meade and Dunauger earlier in the cross-country at Burghley. Nico Morgan photo.

Harry Meade is a highly-regarded young event rider who has done very well at the highest level of the sport in the past five years. As you no doubt saw in the video at the top of this post, he is an ambassador for HSBC's FEI eventing finals.

Irish rider Paul Donovan of Ireland was given an FEI yellow warning card for failing to stop after his horse, Sportsfield Sandyman, had three refusals along the course. The ground jury had a busy day.

The red and yellow cards are similar to those used in other sports, most notably soccer, to warn athletes of unbecoming conduct...or to send them to the locker room.

This year, 49 horses safely completed the event out of 77 who proceeded after the dressage phase. One fence (#6, Discovery Valley) accounted for faults on the scores on 28 riders.

Click here to read a statement from Meade in his local Wiltshire newspaper, in which he reports that the horse recovered later but that blood tests have been taken to check for a virus that might explain his exhaustion. Meade said he was disappointed to have missed completing Burghley but did not comment on the red card warning itself.

I don't think that events are required to report ground jury red card actions or why they were given. By doing so, Burghley and the FEI helped educate the public about the role of the ground jury, and I think that transparency is a positive spin for a very negative news announcement.

It will be interesting to see how red card reporting is handled in the future and if there is a difference between events or nations in (first of all) awarding red cards and second, of listing any red cards along with completion statistics and prizes won. Of course, red cards should be few, and far between, assuming the ground jury is doing its job. If they are not, or if red cards are plentiful, we should know that, too--but I am not sure there is any guarantee that we will.

Maybe someone is launching a watchdog list or a www.redcardeventer.com right now--or it already exists. It shouldn't be necessary, at all. A red card should be a scarlet letter against a rider's name, and we should know when one is handed out.

As with so many penalties in horse sports, it probably won't detract from a rider's ability to attract good horses or fill a clinic schedule or line up sponsors. Only losing can make those things happen. Winners still take all.

Information for this report was compiled from news provided by the FEI, Burghley Horse Trials, and reports published by Horse and Hound. Video courtesy of Digital News Agency and shared by Yahoo.com. Special thanks to Nico Morgan's fantastic web site for help locating and downloading a photo quickly and efficiently.

Jack Le Goff: A Video Tribute from USEF

by Fran Jurga | 27 July 2009 | The Jurga Report

Video courtesy of Sarah Lane, USEF's Senior Director of Communications, and www.clubequestrian.com. I believe that is the soundtrack is the wonderful original recording of Edith Piaf singing "La Vie en Rose".

Friday's news of the death of former USET eventing coach Jack Le Goff was stunning. I feel the usual sadness at the loss of a great horseman and the particular loss of someone who lived right here for many years and was a familiar site on horseback and out on the water as well.

But mostly I wonder about the the fact that we have lost not just a great horseman and a legendary coach to whom US eventing owes so much, but we have lost some perspective on international horse sports and eventing as a sport. Jack Le Goff spanned generations in eventing, indeed the 50 years of Badminton seem contiguous with the timeline of his life.

He was a great competitor, but he was also one of the last great coaches whose roots were in classical training, as you will see in the video, which shows some of his higher level displays of horsemanship at the Cadre Noir at Saumur, which is roughly the French equivalent to the Spanish Riding School of Vienna.

The sport of eventing has changed since Jack Le Goff had riders like Tad Coffin and Mike Plumb galloping around the Essex County trails here in Massachusetts (and I do mean galloping). If you went to what you thought was a safe little schooling show, he might pull up with a big horse van and give some young horses some showring exposure. (No pressure, riding in front of Jack Le Goff!)

There was a time when the best aspiring riders in Canada and the US found there way to Hamilton/Wenham, Massachusetts to train at the USET headquarters. Even now I meet people who brag about having even having passed through the barn in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Is eventing the same sport now? I don't think so. Wherever it is headed, it is not likely to ever go back to those days of galloping super-fit horses.

The accomplishments and gifts to our nation of an international coach like Jack Le Goff can never be overstated. But his sport may have technically passed with him, and the next generation is on its own to invent what's next for their great sport. Who is or will be the next to inspire riders--and a nation--to embrace a sport the way that Jack Le Goff did?

What a tall order to attempt to fill those boots and attain the thrilling combination of art and sport that Jack Le Goff represented.

Dutton's Baileywick Loses Life on XC at New Jersey Event

US Olympian Phillip Dutton lost his horse Baileywick while competing on cross-country yesterday at the Jersey Fresh Three-Day Event at the New Jersey Horse Park. The horse was apparently humanely destroyed on the course although no official announcement has been made.

In a statement on his web site posted after the fall, Dutton wrote,

"It is with great sadness that we report that Baileywick died today at the Jersey Fresh CCI***.

"Bailey and I fell at fence number 20, a straightforward oxer, after jumping up until then a perfect round. I take full responsibility for this fall.

"My deepest sympathies and gratitude go to his owners Jess and Sharon Sweely, who bred Bailey and brought him along as a young horse, Emily Basheer, who rode and competed him to preliminary level, and to my groom, Emma Ford who meticulously looked after Bailey as if he were her own child.

"I want to thank the officials, support crew, and veterinarians at Jersey Fresh and my fellow riders who have been so supportive."

I suppose there is a protocol that riders are advised to follow when this sort of thing happens, orchestrated as a template from PR people who Know What's Best for Eventing. I suppose that I am slipping to into a protocol as well.

Click here to read Nancy Jaffer's account from the scene; she states that Dutton did not request a necropsy so the cause of death will not be investigated beyond the assumption that he died of injuries suffered in a fall during jumping. Dutton continued competing other horses yesterday afternoon after the accident, according to Nancy.

I found out about this tragic event via a Twitter from the Chronicle of the Horse. (Thanks!)

I then had to dig to find information about this horse. No news from USEF. No news from USEA. No news from the FEI. No news on the event site. I guess it is the weekend...and Mothers' Day at that...so I started Googling and found that he had been ridden successfully at the upper levels by both Dutton and Boyd Martin, and the breeders Dutton mentioned are the owners of Acorn Hill Farm, the noted Irish Sport Horse breeders in Madison, Virginia, in case you know them by farm name rather than personal names. And in some places he is Bailey Wick and in others Baileywick; I went by Dutton's spelling.

Baileywick was by Pallas Digion out of the Thoroughbred mare Northern Axis, according to the Acorn Hill Farm web site, which chronicled his rise through the Advanced to CCI ranks. He would have been 10 years old, as best I can tell, and was on the way up.

A year ago, the O'Connor Event Team lost the wonderful Tigger Too at this event.

Sunday Humor: Land Rover Commercial From Britain

by Fran Jurga | 10 May 2009 | The Jurga Report



Watch the video before you read this text!

I loved this commercial when it came out last year; Land Rover could never show it over here because it's much too subtle and no one would get it. The young horsewoman is, of course, world champion event rider Zara Phillips and grand-daughter of Queen Elizabeth. I believe she is something like 11th or 12th in line for the throne.

And there are definite rules for how you talk to members of the royal family--remember when Michelle Obama touched the queen? And here's this guy, chatting up her grand-daughter as if he's about to ask her to come 'round the pub for a pint later. Obviously, he has no idea who she is. But he does admit that she "looks familiar".

Notice that this is a very clever ad agency: Zara never says a word at all. She lets her horse, Toytown, speak for her, and quite brilliantly at that.

I thought she was a good sport to make this commercial. Bravo, Land Rover!

What's your favorite horse-related commercial?

2008: Eventing's Year of Tragic Deaths Compares Only with Racing's Catastrophic On-Track Breakdowns

This video from ESPN shows how the sport of eventing was criticized by the media and even its own competitors and horse owners as horse after horse went down on the cross-country phase at events all over the world. ESPN's harsh treatment is part of an outcry heard round the world.

The loss of so many horses in a single year can only be compared to the horror of the public who watched as the filly Eight Belles broke both front legs just strides after the finish of the 2008 Kentucky Derby. Eventers should be happy that their sport is not as much in the public eye.

When I started this blog, I imagined all the good news stories I would write about research and new cures for horse diseases and lameness. Instead, I have written a dozen stories this year about horses killed while performing and riders riding ambulances instead of their horses. Someone switched the script; I became the death reporter in 2008.

Think safe thoughts for all the eventers and all the racehorses for 2009. Send me back to writing good news.

Are We Asking Too Much of Event Horses? New Study Looks at Statistics

Blogger's Note: in the shadow of the death of the beloved Call Again Cavalier at an indoor speed eventing spectacle in Wales on Saturday, the following report seems especially timely. This is a press release.

Research funded by The Horse Trust, a British charity devoted to horse welfare, has shown that some course designers are putting horses at risk of damaging falls by incorporating potentially dangerous fences in cross-country competitions.

The study, undertaken by Dr Ellen Singer at the University of Liverpool, is the first such epidemiological survey; previously, suggested changes to course design were based on anecdotal or descriptive information.

Perhaps surprisingly, fences posing the greatest threat are those with a base spread greater than 2m (6ft 6in) which are faced straight on. Analysis shows that these cause most rotational horse falls -- which in turn pose greatest risk of injury to both horse and rider. Reducing the width of these fences would make a greater contribution to safety than reducing the number of fences jumped at an angle.

The study also revealed that horses competing in one-day eventing competitions are at greater risk of falling at a drop landing compared with those competing in three-day competitions.

Speed of approach is also significant, with falls occurring both when the horse is allowed to approach an obstacle too quickly and when the rider is over-cautious.

"The challenge of the cross-country course is an essential element of the competition, but we would urge designers to take account of this research when preparing their courses and riders to think more carefully about their speed of approach," said Horse Trust chief executive Paul Jepson. "It seems that, every year, there is the tragic death of a horse or rider. If taking account of this survey can prevent one of these tragedies, it will have more than proved its worth."

Mary King Remembers Call Again Cavalier

British eventing star Mary King has spoken to British Eventing, the national governing body of the sport, about the loss of her champion horse Call Again Cavalier. The horse is suspected to have broken his femur while negotiating the second part of a combination corner jump during the indoor "cross country" phase of the inaugural Express Eventing competition in the huge Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales on Sunday.

You can read her statement here.

Horse and Hound, the British news weekly of horse sports, reports that, while the event did not officially report that the horse had been put down, Mary went before a crowd of concerned fans who flocked to the stable area and personally and informally announced the horse's death.

No details of the exact nature and extent of the horse's injury have been released. King told Horse and Hound that she and the owners only knew of the terrible pain the horse was in and made the decision to have him put down.

Mary King and Call Again Cavalier were immensely popular with the public in Britain. When King entered the arena on the horse for her round, the building erupted into a resounding ovation before they even began. The pair had won medal honors for Great Britain at the World Equestrian Games, European Championships, and Olympics. Mary's non-privileged background and easygoing style have made her a role model for many aspiring riders and competitors.

Call Again Cavalier was Mary's comeback horse, bringing her back into the medals after she broke her neck in a fall five years ago. At age 47, she must now start yet again.

Click here to read about more about Call Again Cavalier's final day and see video of their performance.

Australian Research Should Help Improve Rider Safety in Eventing

As the Olympics approach, everyone is holding his or her breath in hopes that the eventing goes smoothly and safely, wihtout injury to horses or riders. It sounds like Hong Kong has done everything imaginable to ensure safety. And if there is a typhoon, they have made plans for rescheduling events!

Maybe one day we will look back on the past few years' high rate of injuries and sigh, "If we only knew back then, what we know now..." Moving in that direction, rider and horse safety in the sport could be improved soon thanks to new research in Australia. The study collates and analyzes data on falls and injuries over a period of years for the first time.

The research, funded by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) and supported by the Equestrian Federation of Australia (EFA), is the culmination of a five-year national surveillance program, which shows that the number of injuries per competitor is in fact lower than previously thought.

Eventing is enormously popular in Australia and is conducted around the country at all levels, from young riders at pony clubs to Olympic competitors. This study focussed on the cross-country phase of eventing.

The results of the five-year surveillance program have been entered into a new database known as SHARE (Safety for Riders and Horses in Eventing).

RIRDC's General Manager of Established Industries, Margie Thomson, said the research would help inform those making the rules in equestrian sport.

"This research is important because it is the first time information has been collected for the sport of eventing alone. Most existing data on horse-related injuries and deaths does not distinguish between a whole range of horse-related activities with the potential to cause injury," Thomson said.

The data is based on 1732 rider falls at 444 events around the country between 2002 and 2006 and reveals the rate of rider falls is only three for every 100 starters. This is lower than previously thought.

The fact that the SHARE system of data collection can be used by other nations' equestrian federations offers the possibility of consistent data for international comparison and ultimately, a safer sport around the globe.

The research was prompted by a marked increase in the number of rider falls and fatalities, both in Australia and overseas in the late 1990s, which highlighted that there was little data on the health, social or financial costs of horse-related injuries.

The full report is available at www.rirdc.gov.au.

Lawyers on Course: Dead Event Rider's Parents Sue the Sport

Mia Eriksson was 17 when she died in a fall while competing at the Galway Downs Three Day Event in Temecula, California in 2006. On May 6, her parents filed a lawsuit in California charging negligence on the part of USEF, her trainer, and others involved in the sport, according to an article in this morning's New York Times.

The lawsuit charges, according to the Times, that the event made the cross-country course more difficult in order to thrill spectators.

I think that the Eriksson case is compelling because Mia's sister was also killed in an equestrian-related accident.

To view a web site devoted to the issues of eventing safety; click here to read about some of the comments and collected stories that have been compiled to date.

Meanwhile, a quick check of YouTube brought up 29 videos of eventing "falls" set to rock / rap music.

Image from the Mia Eriksson memorial page on the Galway Downs web site.

Royalty Rides On: Badminton Horse Trials Begin Today

How do you like my horse? Zara Phillips, grand-daughter of Queen Elizabeth, presented her horse Wednesday to the veterinary inspection committee for clearance to ride in the 2008 Badminton Horse Trials in Gloucestershire, England. The first phase of the three-day, three-phase competition, the dressage test, begins today and will be televised (although not quite "live" except for cross-country on Saturday) on the Internet, thanks to HorseTV. Zara hopes to qualify for the British team for the 2008 Olympic Equestrian Games in Hong Kong this August. The horse is Ardfield Magic Star. He looks Irish. Photo by Kit Houghton, courtesy of Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials.

International Eventing Kicks On Toward Badminton This Weekend in Wake of Rolex-Kentucky Tragedies

Jump, originally uploaded by billybofh.

If you are interested in the crisis level of human and horse fatalities in the sport of eventing lately, you might like to follow a few of these links for more information.

The US News and World Report blog by Bonnie Erbe has lots of interesting comments here.

A joint letter to the public from USEF President David O'Connor and US Eventing President Kevin Baumgardner was published today and can be read here.

Meanwhile, in England tonight the horse vans are rolling onto the Badminton estate in Gloucestershire where the horses will be going through the first vet check tomorrow for the world's greatest three-day event, the Badminton Horse Trials. Two horses died there last year.

I guess that's the way to keep score in eventing, of late.

2008 Olympics: Hong Kong Riding High with Equine Special Effects

This is just for fun: Hong Kong television is promoting the tiny island province as the ultimate horsey tourist destination for the equestrian sports sector of the 2008 Olympics Games this summer. Watch this little :30 commercial for some creative special effects! See anyone you know? You might want to watch this twice, some of the effects are pretty subtle...and very well done!

Chiacchia Update: Hospitalized Event Rider Improving in Florida

A press release just in from the Red Hills Horse Trials in Florida announced that the organizers have received encouraging news regarding New York event rider Darren Chiacchia and his condition. The Olympic medalist was airlifted to a hospital yesterday after a fall on the Preliminary level cross-country course that did not appear to injure his horse.

Family and friends at the hospital report that Darren is still in critical condition in the Neuro Intensive care unit at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, but is now showing definite signs of improvement.

According to the Tallahassee Democrat newsapaper, quoting a nurse at the hospital, his condition has been upgraded from "critical" to "serious but stable".

An Internet video of a press conference shows the palpable tension in the faces of organizers and USEF president (and former eventing star) David O'Connor as they made statements. The event is apparently banning media access to the competing riders unless formal interview arrangements are made. This sends the media into the crowds to interview spectators, primarily about the dead horses. Most non-horse specialist media representatives are not familiar with horses or the demands of the sport of eventing, nor are many spectators, who may inaccurately describe what they saw or what they have heard.

In one case, spectator comments to the Tallahassee media contradicted the official statement from organizers that one of the horses died "instantly".

One woman interviewed on Florida television compared Darren Chiacchia to Christopher Reeve; the actor's spinal paralysis was caused by a fall from a horse at a low-level eventing competition. In contrast, Chiacchia's brother, Dan, compared Darren to Evil Knievel when interviewed by the Buffalo (New York) NBC affiliate.

According to one report, Chiacchia may have had as many as six entries to ride over the course, albeit at different levels, yesterday. Therein lies another nuance of eventing: to the uninitiated, it may sound like going at the "Preliminary" level would be a pretty easy outing for a horse. Chiacchia's injury did not occur while he was riding one of his international-level horses over the most difficult obstacles. Had that been the case, the Internet's "YouTube.com" site would be lit up with spectator videos of his fall.

"His horse was going over a jump and actually did a somersault. He did it so fast he wasn't able to break away from the horse. The horse landed right on top of him," Dan Chiacchia, Darren's brother, said Saturday on Channel 2 News in Buffalo. "He's had his share of spills. I think he's sometimes refer to him as the Evil Knievel of horse jumping. Seems like there's not a time that goes by where he doesn't break something."

Event riders are required to wear body protectors and certified protective headgear in competition. Red Hills Horse Trials is one of the most highly-regarded events in the sport in the United States.

Eventing in the United States attracted widespread media attention in May of 2007 when a horse was injured on-course at the Rolex (Kentucky) Three-Day Event. The horse was later destroyed and the rider was subjected to an investigation by the FEI (international governing body of horse sports).

But the 2007 Rolex incident stirred concerns about the impact on horses of errors in judgment on the part of riders and the high risks of eventing, which the sport's supporters say are part of eventing's formula of balancing skill, talent and risk with condition, footing, course design, equipment function...and luck.

Eventing SuperHorse Winsome Adante Retired

The United States has lost its most dominant international competitition horse of this century. The owner, vets and rider of three-day-event horse Winsome Adante have collectively made the difficult decision to retire him due to soundness issues in a hind leg.

The horse's illustrious career includes three victories at the Rolex Kentucky CCI****, a Team gold medal at the 2002 World Equestrian Games, Team bronze and Individual silver medals at the 2004 Olympics, a third place finish at the Badminton CCI**** in 2007, wins at the 2000 Radnor CCI** and the 2001 Blenheim CCI*** and countless horse trials victories.

Owned by Linda Wachtmeister of Plain Dealing Farm in Virginia and ridden by Kim Severson, ‘Dan’ and Kim won the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** every time they contested it, both in the traditional format (with roads and tracks and steeplechase) and the new short format. Victories in 2002, 2004 and 2005 proved that Dan was invincible at the Lexington, Kentucky event and he was also the US Eventing Association’s Horse of the Year following each of his Rolex victories.
“It was a hard decision but it was also an easy decision,” said Wachtmeister. “He had been in a stall for a long time because of a previous injury and he wouldn’t have been ready for the Olympics. He needed to go out in the field and live the rest of his life. We had always hoped he would go to the Olympics again but I’m so proud of what he has accomplished. I never dreamed that my family would get to go to the Olympics because of him.”

The 14-year-old English Thoroughbred sustained an injury to a hind suspensory ligament and Severson and Wachtmeister determined that after all he has given them the best thing for Dan would be to let him live in the field at Plain Dealing Farm in Scottsville, Virginia.

“He’s been so sound and done so much for us,” said Severson. “It was a difficult decision but we don’t want to hurt him and he’s happy now living out in the field.”

Thanks to Joanie Morris of the US Equestrian Federation for her help with this post and congratulations to the horse's team for a conservative decision that will not put the horse at risk for further injury by forcing him to compete next year to qualify for the Olympics. He leaves some very big shoes to fill and the USA loses Kim Severson's valuable experience at the top of international sport. Hopefully her new horses will keep her at the top of the sport.

Another Event Horse Fatality: Eight Saint James Place Collapses After XC at Jersey Fresh***

Today was another dark day for eventing.

The United States Eventing Association is reporting that Laine Ashker’s Eight St. James Place collapsed and died at the finish line on cross-country day of the Jersey Fresh*** horse trials at the New Jersey Horse Park. According to the web site, an FEI investigative panel has been convened to review the circumstances surrounding the collapse, and a necropsy will be done.

Biographical information about the horse from the Crow's Ear Farm web site: "Jamie", as the horse was called, was a 12-year-old off-track Thoroughbred from California bought by Laine's mother as a resale prospect. Instead, he turned into a keeper and carried Laine to high-placing results at the Junior Olympics, Young Riders championship, around the Rolex (Kentucky) event twice, as well as Fair Hill, etc. In 2005 they were the highest scoring Americans at the Blenheim*** in England.

The rising-star rider is also a blogger; you can read her notes on this horse on her blog at http://www.laineashker.blogspot.com; she describes taking the horse to Dr. Reynolds Cowles at Blue Ridge Equine Clinic for a "spa" treatment before leaving for the event.

Laine's web site is http://laineashker.com/

Injured Event Horse Le Samurai Is Dead

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY--Amy Tryon's Rolex (Kentucky) Three-Day Event mount Le Samurai has been humanely euthanized at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Lexington, Kentucky. The horse stumbled or was somehow injured at the final fence on cross-country at Rolex last Saturday. The FEI Tribunal is investigating Tryon's handling of the situation to see if abuse occurred.

On her web site today, Amy Tryon wrote, "I am heartbroken at the passing of Le Samurai. Sparky was a wonderful horse and a gallant partner who meant the world to me. His loss has left me indescribably sad. I want to join the Broussards in thanking the veterinarians who tried so hard to save him."

The horse did cross the finish line, where he was immediately seen by the veterinary team and transferred to the nearby veterinary hospital. Descriptions of his injuries suggest major damage to the gelding's suspensory ligament and or network of ligaments in the lower leg. No statement has been made on the exact diagnosis. One report in a newspaper said that an "elevator shoe" had been applied to his foot; this would probably be some sort of a patten bar shoe.

Statement from the Broussard Family, Owners of Le Samurai

"It is with tremendous sadness that we announce that Le Samurai has been humanely euthanized. From the outset we have been determined to give this magnificent horse the best veterinary treatment available, but only so long as the continuation of that treatment remained consistent with Sparky's best interests. Regrettably, the veterinarians treating him have advised us that a successful outcome is not possible.

"Sparky will be greatly missed by our family, Amy Tryon and everyone who knew and loved him. We wish to express our heartfelt thanks to Dr. (Robert) Hunt and the veterinary staff at the Hagyard Equine Medical Institute for their tireless dedication to Sparky's well-being. We also wish to thank the eventing community around the country for all the kindness and good wishes that have been extended to us and to Sparky.

--Jerome and Rebecca Broussard

An edited telecast of highlights from the event will be on NBC Sports at 5 pm (eastern time) on Sunday, May 6.

Broussard statement courtesy of USEF. Photo by Michelle C. Dunn courtesy of Rolex.