Harry Meade and Dunauger

[Springback]

Ok, so as I understand it from senior Stewards here at Burghley Harry was eliminated for continuing to push Dunauger on when his ride was clearly knackered and not up to it. This means he cannot continue in the same competition.

As a result Midnight Dazzler's owners/supporters have suffered. Is this fair?

 

[3BayGeldings]

are you serious? That does not sound like something Harry Meade would do

 

[Tizzy01]

Oh god, I wonder if they will put his round on Dunauger up on the website then? I always thought Harry was a very sympathetic rider???

 

[Eventerlad15]

Well they did say the horse was looking tired on the live commentry....

 

[sunflower]

We saw them early on in the course and they looked OK so not commenting on this case in particular. In general it's not fair for any tired / unfit horse to be pushed on in a competition when it should be retired. It's a shame for the owners and supporters of any subsequent horse but rather the owners 'suffer' then the horse.

 

[Puppy]

Jeez! If true that is very surprising and shocking

I am very fond of this horse and follow him closely (same sire as my old girl, as is Brief respite, but Dunauger is so *very* similar to her it's quite uncanny!) I was most concerned when there today and hearing of him getting stuck on the fence

and am very glad to hear he was safely rescued. Does anyone know his condition now? I'd really appreciate an update. Hope he's well. xxx

 

[teapot]

If that's true, my opinion of Harry Meade as a rider will go down big time.

 

[connie1288]

Was he not eliminated for trapped horse though?

 

[Puppy]

Yes, but the point is, he did not set out for XC on his latter ride.

 

[kerilli]

A little birdie there told me about it a while ago. In fact, it's worse than that.
Apparently the horse got hooked up etc because it was so tired (i was told he circled a few times because he didn't know where the long route was, and then it sort-of collapsed on top of the corner when it tried to jump... vid will prove whether this is true). was told he'd had a stop or two first anyway.
here's the good bit... the Stewards have apparently been told not to stop the Pros if they see the horse is tired, because they reckon they know what they're doing, but only to stop the Amateurs... :O
Also... he was ordered flatly not to run Midnight Dazzler after pushing D when he was tiring so much... i was told he was ordered to take no further part in the event.
:O :O
Rather shocked too.

 

[teapot]

[ QUOTE ]
Was he not eliminated for trapped horse though?

[/ QUOTE ]

Which if the OP is correct, may not have happened if he had taken the warnings he possibly had earlier and pulled up.

 

[monkeybum13]

If this is the case I have lost all my respect for him as a kind, sympathetic rider

 

[Tinkerbee]

 

[connie1288]

But surely that would go down as an eliminated not withdrawn, having heard a few reports from riders it was v twisty and not a comfy ride, maybe he felt he did not want to run MD who has run 4* well for him plenty of times.
Also never heard of elimination for tired horse, yes Bruno was red flagged, but FEI give yellow cards for finishing on tired horses and I know people have been given two at one event.
Who knows but sounds very unlike Harry!

 

[connie1288]

Ok just read Kerillis post and stand corrected!!

 

[Bossanova]

Oh dear, what shame- I really admire Harry and his handling of tricky horses.
Maybe he just has not been in that situation before and didnt know what to do. Inexcusable really though.

As to the officials being told not topull up pros, that has infuriated me. I'm beginning to think that BE are trying to confine the amateurs to the lower levels and have it a pro only top end

 

[ruby111]

im very surprised at this.however if this is true i am glad the organisers were strong enough to ban him from riding a second horse.more events should do this

 

[DellaMoon]

The stewards were right. He should have been pulled up much earlier on the course than fence 19. I was marshalling a gate within view of fence 19 and a friend was near where he had the earlier refusal at fence 16. Apparently the horse just ran out of petrol and ground to a halt. He managed to carry on but barely had the energy to trot away. I think it's disgusting that he carried on and certainly didn't deserve to run another horse. We thought that they'd lost Dunauger when the horse ambulance came out and the screens went up. As far as I'm concerned if I owned a horse to be ridden at that level then I would want to know that rider as well as I could and then accept anything that came thereafter. Don't want to say too much more but I was disgusted by the sportsmanship shown compared to those riders who realised that today wasn't their day and quite rightly retired with happy, sound horses.

 

[kerilli]

Boss, it's infuriated me too. It's a Horse Welfare issue as well as a Safety issue. no excuses. one rule for all.
also, i'd argue that a Pro is possibly more likely to push a tired horse, because of pressure (riding for owners), experience/confidence, belief that s/he can bring it through, etc etc. Put it this way, i've seen quite a few Pros put an exhausted horse on the floor (3, off the top of my head) but never an Amateur. i think most amateurs would be more likely to pull up sooner tbh.

 

[Eventerlad15]

Shocker.

 

[3BayGeldings]

Maybe he will hold his hands up and say his judgement was clouded on the day, that he got carried away with the thought of getting round. I would find it very hard to class Harry as an awful, horse abusing rider ever

 

[Puppy]

Goodness me! That's awful. He wasn't even especially close to home when it happened...

And to think that last year Tracey took him round there in some of the worst conditions of the day....

 

[kerilli]

i've been told of another top rider who was pushing a tiring horse too, but i'll reserve judgement until i've seen the vid...

 

[DellaMoon]

Am I right in thinking the horse was new to him? Maybe he thought it was fitter than it was? Still should have pulled up IMO!!

 

[Puppy]

[ QUOTE ]
Don't want to say too much more but I was disgusted by the sportsmanship shown compared to those riders who realised that today wasn't their day and quite rightly retired with happy, sound horses.

[/ QUOTE ]

On the subject of which, and on a more professional note, William's retiring of Macchiato was incredibly calm and professional.

 

[Eventerlad15]

[ QUOTE ]
Goodness me! That's awful. He wasn't even especially close to home when it happened...

And to think that last year Tracey took him round there in some of the worst conditions of the day....

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes-but she went VERY slowly-maybe he didn't like going faster.

 

[ruby111]

it shouldnt matter who you are or what you are .rules are rules and officials need to have the balls to enforce them.even if the rider in question is a"name"

 

[hollibobs]

[ QUOTE ]
i think most amateurs would be more likely to pull up sooner tbh.

[/ QUOTE ]

I completly agree with this.
I find it quite shocking that someone would carry on with an obviously tired horse, no, in fact I find it disgusting.

 

[kerilli]

Fallonio, it's not that new a ride for him, and surely you ride what you feel on the day (esp if you're that experienced, he's not a raw kid having his first crack at a 4*!) and if it's too tired to canter properly, i'd say that's fairly obvious!
i wonder whether the officials still give the pep talk at 3-days, the one they used to give, which went along the lines of "the world is watching, we have to be seen to be doing the right thing, Animal Rights people want to ban our sport and we do not want to give them ammunition, so if you feel your horse is tiring you pull up, you do not risk it" etc etc. heard that one enough time to stick. maybe they don't bother now... maybe it's taken as read.

 

[Puppy]

LOL! Believe me, I've seen him in action quite a number of times, and that horse is MORE than keen to go forward! To the extent that I believe that's why she handed over the ride to a pro male rider. She was slow last year as she nursed him round his first 4* in some torrential rain! I was listening with baited breath from half way round the course and they were the only ones on it, so we got very comprehensive commentary!