The Showjumping Industry Proves We Just Don’t Get It
I am old school. Well, I am also getting older as later this year I turn 55. As a junior rider, I rode in clinics with the likes of George Morris and Ian Millar. THEY WERE TOUGH! Hard on the ego and hard on all the riders. Demanding of the horses but always fair to them. As riders, we were yelled at, demeaned, torn down, and by today’s standards “emotionally abused”. And guess what? I loved every second of it because it brought my riding to new and higher levels. Coaches like Anne Kursinsky and Karen Healey pushed so hard that some riders couldn’t handle it. I relished every moment. They taught me how to deal with success, cope with failing, and push myself to be better.
That was the 1980s and a very long time ago. The world of 2024 is much, much different. Success has always been about adapting or die. That applies to all living creatures, all businesses, and every venture that has ever existed. The explosion of opinions regarding the USEF-sponsored clinic in Florida, specifically the portion taught by Katie Monahan-Prudent, set the Show Jumping world on fire in Europe and North America. It’s great to see the interest in the sport, unfortunately, it is about a negative aspect that humanity thrives upon. I have read thousands of posts/comments and one thing is very clear. Many in the industry just don’t get it and are putting the future of Equestrians in peril.
Before I continue I want to make two points very clear;
This article is not about Katie or anyone else involved look bad, and it is also not about defending her. The scope and the focus are much bigger than that, and we all need to think about the whole picture.
As many people know, I am always about putting horse welfare first and foremost.
In my opinion, Katie made multiple mistakes with her verbiage in this forum. I admire her as a rider and as a coach and this clinic did nothing to change that. She is an excellent trainer and was a star for the USA on the international circuit. I would put her in the top 5 female American riders of all time. I am not close friends with her, but she has always been very kind and respectful to me and I greatly appreciate that. I never trained with her when I was riding, but I certainly wish that opportunity had occurred.
I will not go into great detail on the issue of animal activist groups and the threat they pose to our sport. It’s enough for you to know that they want to completely shut us down and they have a lot of money and political power. For the readers who think this could never happen, exhibit A is Pentathlon. The Equestrian portion of the sport will not be in the Olympics after 2024. It has been an Olympic event for over 100 years and it is gone and WILL NEVER RETURN. One bad day, just 2 incidents (they were really bad though) and the horse portion of Pentathlon vanished. All of us need to realize that could happen to Show Jumping and all the other disciplines.
It is of utmost importance to not provide the activists with ANY fuel for their agenda. Katie Monahan-Prudent did provide A LOT of fuel for these radicalists. There were two examples of this in the clinic;
“I have this thing with my stick. It’s called smack and back, smack and back. When a horse does a disobedience, the reason we have the stick is to use it correctly. And horses need it. They need it, all this, all this you know animal rights activists who know nothing about training horses, they need a good licking sometimes. “
” You crash him into that fence rather than letting him turn. I personally would be flipping him over backwards. He wouldn’t dare go around that corner with me.”
Now I, as an educated horseman, understand what she is saying here. There is a time that a whip is a useful training tool, when used at the appropriate time and minimally. I have no idea what “smack and back” is nor do I want to. ( I do predict that the use of whips in competition will be banned internationally in five years.) I ASSUME she did not literally mean she would intentionally flip a horse over, but I really don’t know.
I do not condone these training techniques, I never rode that way, never coached that way. I have seen many posts defending Katie’s words, saying it is hyperbole. This is a very weak defense. To all those defenders, your opinion is equally relevant as the 45-year-old man in Thailand who has never touched a horse. Or the 12-year-old girl in South Africa who has only seen a horse in a book or on TV. Or the mother in Kansas who is considering starting her kids in a school horse program. It’s called SOCIAL LICENSE TO OPERATE and you need to read these words from these people’s viewpoint. Without SLO our sport is gone! So read those 2 statements again and imagine you know nothing about horses. Now add in that this is coming from an American icon coaching at a live-streamed event being put on by a national federation. Those words look just a little different from this perspective.
The next issue that does not work in 2024 is the language used towards the riders and how this fits in with SafeSport. This lesson must have broken at least one hundred SS policies. Personally, I do not have an issue with how she spoke to the students, even though I certainly do not teach this way. The edited video put out by the highly respected Albert Voorn that started this firestorm is specifically designed to make Katie, and USEF, look bad. Mission accomplished. Cherry-picking any person’s comments is not something any of you want to happen to yourself. However, for all USEF members, it is mandatory to update your SafeSport every year and follow their guidelines. In my interpretation of the SS code, this has multiple violations. I am aware that there are many detractors of SafeSport and this is not the article to debate the topic. A reminder that USEF must use SafeSport, they have no option in this matter. This is a big problem for the federation. At a clinic that they organized, they broadcast, they promoted, and one of the clinicians that they hired did not follow the protocol that you must abide by. Now I am not saying that USEF has a double standard, but they must address this otherwise it certainly looks that way. This statement came out the day after the story broke;
“The safety and well-being of both horses and riders are of the utmost priority to US Equestrian. Effective communication between trainer, horse and athlete is critical to safety and success in equestrian sport. At times, direct words are needed to get this across when coaching; however, under no circumstances, does US Equestrian condone training techniques that do not out horse and rider well-being first. We are aware of the concerns regarding the recent clinic and are conducting a review of the matter.”
The federation must hold their hand-picked clinicians to a higher standard.
They must hold all clinicians and coaches to a higher standard. It will be very interesting to see how they handle this public relations nightmare.
I really hate when these negative events happen to the sport. There are so many wonderful aspects of these incredible animals. I do feel though that ignoring it is the wrong approach, we all must be better and provide good examples for the industry and educate the next generation on great horse welfare. The entire sport and industry relies upon it as do the horses. Certainly they deserve the very best from all of us.
*If you are interested in supporting and learning about great horse welfare, follow SafeHorse on social media and watch for the debut of our website at safehorse.ca