Addington

[The Xmas Furry]

Sounds a horrible accident https://www.eurodressage.com/2023/0...-accident-horse-inspection-2023-cdi-addington

 

[Tiddlypom]

Eep, that sounds grim.

 

[teapot]

I see BD have released a statement too.

Poor woman

 

[MuddyMonster]

Poor woman! Hope she makes a full recovery.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Sounds awful

 

[nikicb]

BD statement here: https://www.britishdressage.co.uk/n...ish-dressage-and-addington-equestrian-centre/

What a horrible thing to happen, I hope she makes a full recovery and hopefully lessons are learned in terms of making things safer. That said, horses will always be unpredictable, and with the best will in the world, it's hard to prevent every single scenario from happening.

ETA in case it isn't clear..... I have every sympathy with her and it sounds like the situation was rather chaotic and could have been the reason for her accident. This is just another reminder that being with horses can be a dangerous past time.

 

[SilverLinings]

BD statement here: https://www.britishdressage.co.uk/n...ish-dressage-and-addington-equestrian-centre/

What a horrible thing to happen, I hope she makes a full recovery and hopefully lessons are learned in terms of making things safer. That said, horses will always be unpredictable, and with the best will in the world, it's hard to prevent every single scenario from happening.

Some collecting rings at various events make me cringe at the small size and large number of horses, but even if spaces are huge there is always one rider/handler who will do something stupid and get too close to other horses, or as you say a horse will do something completely unpredictable.

I hope that she makes a speedy recovery, her injuries sound very painful.

 

[SusieT]

Hope she makes a good recovery. I haven't been to Addington but don't most people with exciteable horses minimse their time in the warm up/collecting if necessary and just head in at last moment? Or are they enforced to be there for a period of time?
I have the say her statement came across so aggressively I assumed until I read the fei/addington one that it was someone elses horse but for her to have been kicked by her own horse sounds like she lost control of her own horse?

 

[SilverLinings]

Hope she makes a good recovery. I haven't been to Addington but don't most people with exciteable horses minimse their time in the warm up/collecting if necessary and just head in at last moment? Or are they enforced to be there for a period of time?
I have the say her statement came across so aggressively I assumed until I read the fei/addington one that it was someone elses horse but for her to have been kicked by her own horse sounds like she lost control of her own horse?

I was confused about that too until I read the BD statement.

 

[shortstuff99]

It has been mentioned that the holding area was too crowded with horses and that is Addington's fault.

But as it was a CDI the FEI and ground jury are in charge of the holding area and should have said something. If it was so bad why didn't riders remove themselves? And yes organisers at Addington could have said something too. Or maybe it was just bad luck. Who knows, but I wish her a speedy and easy recovery.

 

[SilverLinings]

It shows the importance of remembering that even if you're handling your own horse you still need to remember that they can do something you wouldn't expect them too, and that they are very powerful (and distracted) when frightened/stressed.

 

[Velcrobum]

Copied and pasted from Equestrian News.

There seem to be conflicting statements/articles
1) Joint BD/Addington
Joint Statement from British Dressage and Addington Equestrian
At the FEI CDI 3* competition at Addington Equestrian Centre, on Thursday 16 March, there was an accident during the horse inspection for the Grand Prix. One of the riders, Lisa Marriott, was struck by her horse while unmounted, and sustained injuries including six broken ribs and laceration to the liver. We will be working with the FEI and officials to conduct a full investigation and gather statements from other senior riders on site who witnessed the incident.
We appreciate that this was distressing for those who were present, but if you would like to contribute to the investigation, please send your witness statements to: ceo@britishdressage.co.uk. Equine welfare and rider safety is our paramount consideration, and we want to do whatever we can to prevent similar accidents occurring in the future.
British Dressage would like to reassure all our riders that we will take the necessary learnings from this incident and work with the FEI and Addington Equestrian to implement any recommended measures. In the meantime, we would like to extend our heartfelt sympathy to Lisa and her family at this difficult time, with our best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.

2) From eurodressage https://www.eurodressage.com/2023/0...-accident-horse-inspection-2023-cdi-addington

From the eurodressage article I am not sure how the venue/organisers are to blame if the injured riders horse got out of control and was able to double barrel her. The arenas are not small https://addington.co.uk/hire/ I have never seen a "collecting ring" for horse inspections aka "trot ups"
I have seen a huge number of horse inspections aka "trot ups" both at now 5* BE (also levels below 5*) and FEI Dressage Grand Prix I have never seen chaos organisational wise but plenty of chaotic aka jolly excited horses.

 

[Velcrobum]

It has been mentioned that the holding area was too crowded with horses and that is Addington's fault.

But as it was a CDI the FEI and ground jury are in charge of the holding area and should have said something. If it was so bad why didn't riders remove themselves? And yes organisers at Addington could have said something too. Or maybe it was just bad luck. Who knows, but I wish her a speedy and easy recovery.

There is no holding area/ collecting ring near the entrance to the Buckingham arena, there is a wide walkway that connects the lorry park to the various outdoor arenas. The site slopes down from the indoor complex to the outdoor arenas which occupy different levels on the site.
This Google map shows the layout it slopes downhill from the indoor school/stable complex through the arenas to the paddocks. The access road to the lorry park runs between the arenas and the paddocks. https://www.google.com/maps/place/A...22!8m2!3d51.950498!4d-0.91202!16zL20vMDIxNGMw

 

[Birker2020]

Some collecting rings at various events make me cringe at the small size and large number of horses, but even if spaces are huge there is always one rider/handler who will do something stupid and get too close to other horses, or as you say a horse will do something completely unpredictable.

I hope that she makes a speedy recovery, her injuries sound very painful.

I agree. Areas that are congested like that are a real danger.

At one large show centre I used to compete at (unaff SJ with competitors numbering 40's, sometimes 50's in the class) the warmup arena had horses standing at the declaration board and all down the long side of that warm up area. So the space between the warm up fence and the horses bums sticking out was minimal with only just enough room for two horses passing in different directions.

Once I saw a horse with a red ribbon in its tail kick out at a horse, there were horses and people flying around in all directions with no where to escape the flying hooves.

The people who were employed as the collecting ring stewards were young girls in their late teens/early 20's and they'd not much idea about safety, it wasn't necessarily their fault, I suppose their hands were tied to an extent.

I used to ask them to clear horses away from the area when it got particularly hair raising as they weren't meant to stand there. They should have been moved on to the holding area outside the warm up area- you can see the people waiting there as i have described in this image. (And yes my horse was a little overweight) You can see one of the horses stood there looking very annoyed too, ears back. And people riding past trying to warm up in limited space.

It was a shame as it was a good show centre apart from this problem. I WOULD ASK THAT THIS VENUE IS NOT NAMED BY ANYONE PLEASE. But an nasty accident could have happened so easily. But not just this venue, but at venues up and down the country where space is compromised.

I sm so sorry for the lady who has been hurt at Addington.

 

[Red-1]

I too initially thought she was kicked by someone else's horse where it was cramped. I think if it was her own horse, who it sounds already was known to be gassy in similar situations, she has to take some of the responsibility herself. Of course, I feel for her, it is especially galling if she was there at the peak of her and horse's training, ready to compete and now is long term off. I dare say it is partly from the shock that she is speaking. I wish her a speedy recovery.

I used to have a really hot mare, she took me to what is now CCI** in eventing. We had to pretty much avoid collecting rings that were busy. I had to have a helper who would inform the steward of this, hold my place and wave at me when it was my turn. I could then get through a collecting ring with the minimum of fuss, often with a helper at her head with me. If she had got out of control and kicked me, I would have blamed myself as, although some collecting rings were silly/busy/cramped, it was always my decision as to where to take the mare. I even withdrew from one event as the SJ was simply not accessible to me, disappointing though that was.

It was after she lashed out at someone in a collecting ring that I decided to sell her. It was disappointing as she was by far the most talented horse but I decided that I could not manage the collecting rings. I didn't think it was the fault of organisers, people will be people, although sometimes other competitors exasperated me!

 

[scats]

Sounds like a dreadful accident and like others, I thought the area was so cramped she was kicked by someone else’s horse, but if she was kicked by her own horse, I really don’t see how it is the fault of the venue. These shows her buzzy and busy, if the horse is too hot to handle it, that’s not the venues fault. The rider needs to take responsibility for whether that horse is suitable to take competing to these places.
My friend was kicked by her own horse while leading it, broke her ribs and needed week in hospital. Sadly it happens.
I hope the lady recovers.

 

[Tiddlypom]

I can't envision how it happened, maybe it was quiet when she first took the horse down and then things got crowded which set her horse off? The horse must have got away from her if he was able to double barrel her. When I first read it I presumed that she had been kicked by another horse, not her own.

It's reminder to all of us just how quickly things can go wrong when we are handling horses .

 

[shortstuff99]

There is no holding area/ collecting ring near the entrance to the Buckingham arena, there is a wide walkway that connects the lorry park to the various outdoor arenas. The site slopes down from the indoor complex to the outdoor arenas which occupy different levels on the site.
This Google map shows the layout it slopes downhill from the indoor school/stable complex through the arenas to the paddocks. The access road to the lorry park runs between the arenas and the paddocks. https://www.google.com/maps/place/A...22!8m2!3d51.950498!4d-0.91202!16zL20vMDIxNGMw

I know I've been to Addington many times, but they had 'made' a holding area for the indoor which is where the trot up was being held, which was busy, according to reports.

 

[scats]

I can't envision how it happened, maybe it was quiet when she first took the horse down and then things got crowded which set her horse off? The horse must have got away from her if he was able to double barrel her. When I first read it I presumed that she had been kicked by another horse, not her own.

My friend was double barrelled while holding the leadrope (albeit the end of the rope, the mare pulled away). It was a sort of sidewards double barrel though, rather than straight on, the horse kind of twisted.
I’ve no idea if this was the case at Addington though, or if the horse got away.

 

[Red-1]

My friend was double barrelled while holding the leadrope (albeit the end of the rope, the mare pulled away). It was a sort of sidewards double barrel though, rather than straight on, the horse kind of twisted.
I’ve no idea if this was the case at Addington though, or if the horse got away.

Either way, she lost control of her horse, so has to take some responsibility. Thank goodness no one else was injured.

I suspect that she won't be able to claim from her own insurance. Most people have 3rd party, as in it will pay out if a 3rd party is injured but not if the horse injures you. I wouldn't think she has cover for loss of earnings either, as that kind of insurance is (understandably) prohibitively expensive.

I suspect the venue wouldn't have to pay out as she had a choice as to weather to enter/remain in the busy area, if it wasn't suitable for her horse.

In any case, I hope she heals well. It must have been such a shock, especially to end up in intensive care.

I also hope that collecting rings in general are looked at and policed better.

 

[ihatework]

I’m assuming FEI are ultimately responsible for defining and risk assessing the minimum area / maximum number of horses in a warm up or holding area. It would then be the FEI stewards responsibility to apply this.

So I suppose until a full investigation is done then no one can assign liability on it. It will depend on area, number of horses, stewarding, other competitors actions, injured competitors control of horse.

Very sad she got injured, accidental or otherwise. Hope she makes a full recovery.

 

[humblepie]

In a showing line up for a ridden class horse next to us kicked the rider’s father in the ribs. As you say we always need to be alert to things whn we put them in hectic situations. I hope she recovers quickly.

 

[criso]

As this was a horse inspection rather than a warm up, would that mean less choice. You can choose not to enter a warm up but if you are asked to present for inspection, you have to be there.

 

[teapot]

As this was a horse inspection rather than a warm up, would that mean less choice. You can choose not to enter a warm up but if you are asked to present for inspection, you have to be there.

Have to be there, in order, and it’s probably what, less than five mins a horse?

Actually, looking at equipe, the para trot up was at 2pm, expected finished was 2.57pm and there were 33 starters. That’s less than 2mins a horse!

I’d imagine the non-para one was similar - easy to see how things could go wrong if space was tight.

 

[criso]

Have to be there, in order, and it’s probably what, less than five mins a horse?

Actually, looking at equipe, the para trot up was at 2pm, expected finished was 2.57pm and there were 33 starters. That’s less than 2mins a horse!

I’d imagine the non-para one was similar - easy to see how things could go wrong if space was tight.

That's what I was thinking and if you have to be in order more difficult to give a stressed horse some distance if you know yours will react.

 

[Sleighfarer]

The Irish rider Abi Lyle mentioned it on Instagram earlier:

'I think Lisa’s accident has given us all some pause ... The situation was crazy, I’ve never seen anything like it.'

She doesn't elaborate, though.

 

[shortstuff99]

If it is so crazy and mad wouldn't you take your horse away regardless rather then just stay in the situation? Thats what I find weird.

 

[Tiddlypom]

If it is so crazy and mad wouldn't you take your horse away regardless rather then just stay in the situation? Thats what I find weird.

You might find yourself suddenly stuck in and amongst later arrivals, and maybe the horse suddenly lost it.

The way that the trot up is managed needs to be reviewed. It currently sounds like a whizz them through quickly job.

 

[j1ffy]

The Irish rider Abi Lyle mentioned it on Instagram earlier:

'I think Lisa’s accident has given us all some pause ... The situation was crazy, I’ve never seen anything like it.'

She doesn't elaborate, though.

And now Louise Bell has put up a post with gushing thanks for the Addington organisers and the FEI, with a photo of her trotting up Into The Blue in a calm and quiet looking arena. I'm guessing she's sending a message..! As a good friend of mine always says, there are three sides to every story.

Just noticed that Eurodressage have commented on the photo so clearly had the same thought as me: " interesting photo choice "

 

[Hallo2012]

the accident happened in the holding area for the trot up not in the arena LB has posted.

limited sympathy here i'm afraid, the horse is known to be difficult/spooky/quirky so if it starts getting het up just get out, get a groom/friend/partner/someone elses groom to wait for the steward to call you and walk straight through.

one of mine would blow a gasket being led in hand with loads of milling horses so i just wouldn't, i would organise ahead of time to have a foot soldier awaiting my call and id stay outside until called in. My idiot horse, my responsibility.

very sad she is injured but to try and sue Addington........words fail me.