Fatality at Badminton - Officials Useless

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Sarah6

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Hi i don't know how many of you were there yesterday, absoulutly devastating for Louisa but to make matters worse the officials were awful!

Not one of them tried to restrain the horse causing not only the poor horse but the crowd complete distress, the horse then cantered past us with an obviosuly broken leg - just horrendous! and to make matters worse they did not radio through to stop the next horse!
i rang up to complain and they said they would not allow them to be officials again but just so so cross!!!

Poor Louisa, thoughts with her x
 
Wow, that sounds absolutely horrendous. I'm so glad I've not had to witness anything like this - if I did I think I'd give up eventing :( Poor Louise and the horse, awful. I dont think its good enough at an event like Badminton, the officials aren't totally up to scratch!
 
No it is not good enough it has completly put me off jumping all together I have never witnessed anything like this and I really hope I never do again, my family and I were in tears and believe me we were not the only ones, it was unnecessary suffering for both Desert Island and Louisa as she was the 1 who had to grab hold of it!
 
Not being there and it not being shown on TV (thank goodness), I can't really comment.

What I would say though is it is highly unlikely that those fence judges had been involved in a fatal fall before. Their instinct, was probably, quite rightly so, to attend to the rider, especially if it was a crashing fall.

If you saw the video of Oli Townend's fall last week, all went towards him, grabbing the horse was the second thing they did.

Harsh as it may sound, every second counts after an accident, so I can understand why they didn't run after the horse.

My sympathies are with the rider and her team, it must've been a very upsetting experience for them all.
 
I understood that Desert Island suffered a broken neck not leg?

I also think that it is very harsh to condemn the fence judges - as stated above, they went to Louisa - she HAD to be the number one priority not the horse.

Its horrible - and im sure in hindsight they may look back and think they should have gone to the horse but it happened in seconds, and they made the choice to go to Louisa which i think was the right one.
 
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Having jump judged not at Badminton level but BE events up to intermediate.you should bear in mind that the people who do are volunteers and won't have any medical or veterinary training, unless that's their job in real life.

I was involved in a fall that for a moment looked potentially very nasty (rider was rolled on). There was just 2 of us at the fence which was straightforward one. In fact the sort you would put novice fence judges on as it was unlikely to cause problems. As Quirky said we ran straight to the rider who was motionless and spoke to her and kept her still while we radioed for help. We were joined by her parents who were of course panicking and her mother was trying to lift her up while I was trying to keep her still.

The rider had been groaning and at that point lost consciousness which was terrifying and I thought she was going to die in front of us.

It seemed forever but we weren't far out in the country and the ambulance and other officials turned up and that was the point at which my friend who was judging with me went off to catch the horse.

All was well rider just badly winded and the horse had bitten its tongue but otherwise OK but a very scary experience.

I also know of someone trying to catch and ending up getting kicked by a panicked injured horse.

Eventing can only function because hundreds of volunteers give up their weekends to sit in a wet field. I don't know how they get the officials at Badminton but would imagine that it's the most experienced people that have been used at other events. I did get asked to do Burghley one year on the steeplechase course when it was long format, hadn't been doing it long enough to get a jump.

Maybe in this case they did not rise to the occasion but even if they are very experienced horse people they are not the emergency services and all the briefings in the world are not going to prepare you for the real thing.
 
omg, it cantered on? :(

Did the horse avoid being caught?

Will admit as well, looking after the rider is the priority.
 
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Rider is always priority.

However I understand there are fence judges who volunteer throughout the year and are in practise and well briefed as to the correct way to handle incidents and there are fence judges who judge only at prestige events, turning up for the social day out together with their picnics and an army of friends but with little idea of procedures.

Sadly this is not the first time I've heard of serious inadequacies from fence judges at prestige events who do not know the correct procedures and cause problems.

My sympathies go to all involved, including the officials because it is pretty awful having to deal with something of this magnitude, especially if you don't know what you're doing.
 
lucemoose said:
Im sorry to say, the rider should be attended to first in all respects.
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why ?? if my horse was injured that would be my first thought is he ok , and a loose panicking horse could run and injure a spectator so both are equaly important.. also if someone is hurt and it may be serious the last thing you want is someone 'helping' them by moving them!!! it needs a measured response by a first aider or paramedic..
 
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I have fence judged and I have dealt with more than 1 fatal horse accident. Luckily in my case, and should have been here, the fence judges/officals are there in numbers and SHOULD know whos job is whose - as in 'I will go for the horse, you deal with the rider and you radio for more help' kinda thing.
If correct, the rider running after the horse is wrong and those officials who did deal with it need to be examined as to whether or not they are cabable of doing such a job in future.
Badminton know how to run an event, they have enough offical meetings and surely spoke about 'dealing with horse fatalities' - just seems common sense to me.
 
Because simply, and sounds very harsh, you can get another horse but not another you.

There are other officials on the course; priority is always the rider.
 
very sad for all who witnesses it!! and really awful that the horse wasnt caught straight away, but as is human nature, and in alot of the horse falls the rider is usually the one who comes of worse (obv not in this case) but i fully understand why they went for the rider as there is always the chance of sending a seriously shocked horse into the crowd where there would have been children babies pushchairs ect ect!! At some point this horse would have been caught futher on by another steward once it had calmed down mayb!! If what is rumoured is true and it was a fetlock and was low dwn they may not have spotted it at passing glance on the way to the rider!!! Yes agree the following horse should have been stopped, but unless you were there involved with the stewarding we only have the experience of spectators and what mite look one way could actually be factually another. I would like to think that Horse and hound would do some investigating and let us all know the ACTUAL FACTS!!! My thoughts and heart go out to those who were involved with this awesome horse,so sorry for them, what a tragic accident!!!
 
I was there and I have to agree.

Only one of the officials went to Louise, the rest (I think there was 3 of them from memory) just stood there looking at Desert Island. She was stood still and would have been easy to grab hold of and keep calm. As the poor mare stood there she went to move and panicked, and then tried to canter off... Only then was the mare caught by the rider herself (with somebody shouting from the crowd to grab her). Although I obviously don't know for sure, I don't think the Louise had realised the extent of the injury by that point, and on catching the mare looked down and burst into tears. It was absolutely horrendous, and everyone was in shock.

The next horse jumped the spread, and was approaching the white gates, from what I could see there was no official on the course to stop him. I believe the only reason he stopped is because the whole of the crowd was shouting at him to stop.

On a better note, once the horse had been caught she was dealt with quickly and in a very calm manner, and I was impressed by that.
 
pinktiger said:
If what is rumoured is true and it was a fetlock and was low dwn they may not have spotted it at passing glance on the way to the rider!!! Yes agree the following horse should have been stopped, but unless you were there involved with the stewarding we only have the experience of spectators and what mite look one way could actually be factually another. I would like to think that Horse and hound would do some investigating and let us all know the ACTUAL FACTS!!! My thoughts and heart go out to those who were involved with this awesome horse,so sorry for them, what a tragic accident!!!
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It was the fetlock, however it was very obvious it was broken...
 
i wasnt there but have witnessed a similar injury occure in a horsewhere their seasamoid bones broke. It is very obvious the extent of the injry and the horse in that incident also paniced.

What a horrible thing to happen.

RIP Desert Island
 
May I ask how many of those people critizising the stewards at Badminton, have ever volunteered to steward at any event of any discription? It is increasingly difficult to find people willing to steward at any event, one reason being the manner in which they are treated by competitors and spectators. They are NOT servants, or lower forms of life. Please remember that they are giving up their time (which could probably be more pleasruably spent with their own horses) for the competitors and spectators to have an enjoyable day out.
 
yorksG said:
May I ask how many of those people critizising the stewards at Badminton, have ever volunteered to steward at any event of any discription? It is increasingly difficult to find people willing to steward at any event, one reason being the manner in which they are treated by competitors and spectators. They are NOT servants, or lower forms of life. Please remember that they are giving up their time (which could probably be more pleasruably spent with their own horses) for the competitors and spectators to have an enjoyable day out.
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ME!

True I don't steward, I fence judge, score collect, secretary or whatever else I'm asked to do.

However at events like Badminton there are any number of us unpaid volunteers who attend the less popular events and are fully cognisant with rules, procedures etc who would LOVE to be a part of it.
 
It's not just a question of know procedures or rules is it?

How many people can say when faced with a serious accident and potential fatality of either horse or rider can say they would stay calm and act or if they would panic and/or freeze.

I don't think anyone can know which category they fall into until they are put in that situation and if the judges/stewards didn't rise to the occasion in this case then I'm not sure what anyone gains through trying to find someone to blame.
 
I do remember Maloo and I (together with another lady who was with us for the day) turning into a well-oiled fence judging machine when Tristram Owers fell at our fence at Hartpury (fortunately no injury to him or horse)

Our third fence judge went to stop the course if required, I went to catch the horse, and Maloo went to dribble all over Tristram and make sure he was OK :p

It is very true, nobody knows how they will react when there is an incident at 'your' fence, luckily I was "trained" by my ex-forces ex-husband so I have been pretty switched on so far. But if it was a really nasty fall? Who knows :o
 
QR
I really can't see the relevance of the spectators' tears. Would they have been unmoved if the horse had been restrained from the point of impact? Did the tears ameliorate the situation for any-one?
I'm another who KNOWS that until you have been in that situation you have no idea how you would react and tbh if you are likely to burst into tears at the sight of an injured horse you would frankly be of no use to any-one.
 
criso said:
It's not just a question of know procedures or rules is it?

How many people can say when faced with a serious accident and potential fatality of either horse or rider can say they would stay calm and act or if they would panic and/or freeze.

I don't think anyone can know which category they fall into until they are put in that situation and if the judges/stewards didn't rise to the occasion in this case then I'm not sure what anyone gains through trying to find someone to blame.
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I picked up the new Badminton Champion after a rotational when I honestly thought he'd be gasping his last. So been there, done that. The horse? It pissed off round the course - after standing on him as it tried to get up. Out of my sector so SEP, after informing control of course. I got the other FJ to radio through as soon as it happened as I legged it across to the body.


But then I suppose I'm not trying to blame the officials, other than to say that there is a wonderfully misplaced belief that the FJ at any rate are chosen as "the best people for the job" when they have little or no current experience - that I think is very wrong.
 
Ah well that is a fair comment then, I must admit I assumed that fence stewards for such an event would be chosen from a pool of people who were experienced at such events. In the case of them not being experienced, then they are even less open to blame IMO, as they are doing a job they may not be up to speed at. At more local events, you can watch people progressing from the less important roles, up to the ones which carry more responsibility. I would have thought this would be the same as you moved up the importance of the events.
 
jemima_too said:
But then I suppose I'm not trying to blame the officials, other than to say that there is a wonderfully misplaced belief that the FJ at any rate are chosen as "the best people for the job" when they have little or no current experience - that I think is very wrong.
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I can't comment on Badminton as I don't know who organises fence judging in that area, I do know the person who organised us fence judging supplied people for Blemheim ( sorry i mistyped before and said Burghley).
It was very area based so the officials weren't taken from a national pool but from people who helped at BE events in the area.

Yes volunteers do turn up with no experience, they try to team them up with someone experienced or put them on a really straightforward jump and it wouldn't be Badminton but more likely the first fence at an Intro. There is a detailed briefing and technical officers coming round all the time to check you are OK.

The regulars would be asked to help at the big events but at that time you started with Roads and Tracks or steeplechase or crossing stewards. You would have to do a few seasons before you got to do a fence at a really big event. In the long format days it would be year 1 roads and tracks, year 2 steeplechase, year 3 cross country course but as a crossing steward.

I stopped as I no longer had time to do it and it was quite a few years back so how it works may have changed.

Be interesting if someone on here is or knows someone who helps at Badminton who could tell us how they assign people.
 
Well to be fair, there is always an element of who you know, after all how else are you going to persuade oeople to sit in the rain and be sworn at? It is only pressure from organisers on friends that allows any event to carry on. Working all day for a bacon buttie and a cup of coffee is somewhat less below what most of would expect for a days hard work :D
 
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