HOYS today - shocked at 'professional's' behaviour

[sarahann1]

While I am glad the ground jury saw fit to reprimand, I very disappointed someone at his level in the public eye is taking the head in sand approach to this, what a terrible example to set.

Should I ever be at an event with him riding, I'll be turning my back until he is finished.

 

[cptrayes]

Deleted, I answered a post that was about another post above it.

 

[Clare85]

I suspect there has been no word from Ben on the matter because he doesn't believe he has done anything wrong. A terrible shame for SJ and the wider equine community

 

[x-di-x]

All it needed was for him to come out and say something like

'Ive viewed the incident back and yes it does look horrid. I was unbalanced and pulled back harder than I ment to, as it thought the horse was going to b*gger off causing the horse to go up and over. It was rider error for which I am sorry for'.

It would have been a lie but a better PR lie than what is happening just now.... Head in sand!

I am appalled at what has happened btw and am not condoning it..... Just suggesting how his PR machine could have handled it

 

[paddi22]

/\/\/\/\
absolutely agree with the above. if he had have come out and said that at the start, it would diffused it a bit. any rider can appreciate making an error of judgement in a tense situation. if he releases a statement not it just seems like contrived damage control, would have been much easier and humble to just put hands-up at the start.

 

[Vanah.Horses]

His facebook page has been updated within the last 12 hours with a new status. However, it has nothing at all to do with HOYS, no admittance or acknowledgement of either the incident itself or the formal warning from FEI

Where he way once have managed to have apologised and rectified himself slightly for his actions, this has just proven he really does think he is greater than the public, his fans and even the FEI.

The FEI may only be a slap on the wrist but at least they bothered to admit there was a clear wrong-doing by Ben and his riding.

We have no other replies, either from HOYS, BSJA, Ben or his sponsors.

 

[Vanah.Horses]

PLEVIN PRODUCTS is SNOWFLAKE SHAVINGS, one of the sponsors.

They have also removed all comments and reference to Ben and his ride at HOYS from their facebook page!
This is our latest, we shall see how long it lasts:
"Voices Against Neglect & Abuse of all Horses (VANAH) Why have our comments and information relating to Bens awful riding at HOYS been deleted and no reply from Plevin to our answers?
What does Plevins now think of the formal reprimand given to Ben by the FEI?
Or are you choosing to ignore the hundreds of people who have all spoken out against this rider and are deciding denial is the best course of action despite the disciplinary action? Very poor customer service indeed"

https://www.facebook.com/plevinprod...44138240069/10152737255080070/?type=1&theater

 

[fburton]

Might have to disagree about the judicious use of a whip. If used at the exact moment of unwanted behaviour with split second timing. Never in temper and never by anyone who thinks a horse can be 'naughty'.

We wouldn't be disagreeing! Your criteria for "judicious use" are very sensible and practical, but apparently not everyone appreciates the importance of timing - e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRzH-bEIvSQ,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU3XT0YEhh8,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wfq38NaGDU,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRq5FokvXz0,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wItxazviDLs - even if they are otherwise good riders.

 

[nicolenlolly]

I was gutted we didnt get to go to HOYS this year as I would have loved to have taken my oldest daughter (7) who loves her jumping and is just starting to follow all the top riders on You Tube every morning before school etc. Ben Maher was one of the riders that she looked up to. After seeing the video linked on nearly every one of my facebook friend's pages now she asked if she could watch it...she welled up and was so concerned as to whether the horse sustained any injuries as a result of going over. Although I am not glad it upset her, I am so pleased that her answer was one of complete compassion for the horse. Although it is a terrible thing that he did at least it will serve to show the youngsters what will happen if they are too handy with the horses, I too hope that he loses his sponsors and the ride. Someone who behaves like that and doesnt apologise unreservedly and immediately doesnt deserve to ride again. If my daughter ever did that, the horse would be in the classifieds section quicker than she could say sorry!

 

[exmoorponyprincess1]

Has anyone found out what a "reprimand" from the FEI is yet? Like others I can't help but feel it's basically a slap on the wrists tantamount to someone saying to him "Naughty, naughty! Try not to do that again!"
I have complained to Hoys asking specifically what actions they will be taking as the organisers of such a high profile show where such a bad display of horsemanship was witnessed...awaiting a reponse and not holding my breath!

 

[JCWHITE]

As someone who witnessed the incident, and noted that the video makers were filming, I e mailed the hoys press office, no reply as yet.

 

[cambrica]

I've followed this thread, not commented and have thought the same as all of you have towards BM after viewing the video clip. I agree from what I can see it looks pretty awful.
Now I am really just a happy hacker, with a bit of local showing thrown in and I am not generally at all interested in show jumping so I'm not defending him from a 'fans' point of view.
Having watched a couple of video's of BM jumping Wings Sublieme it has altered my view as to why this happened, quite possibly I'm wrong (won't be the first time) and I wasn't there so can only go on the quality of the video.

This is Wings Sublieme jumping this year, if you watch the first two video's (14 & 10) and see her reaction on refusing the jumps. She attempts to rear, gets herself flustered and leaps forward. It takes very calm and experienced handling from BM to settle her down again. I would think this is due to her being a relatively inexperienced mare.
http://www.globalchampionstour.com/profiles/horses/5055/wings-sublieme/results/

From what I can see at Hoys, she lunged to the side towards the man standing there, who jumped to the side, which quite possibly caused BM to react in a harsher way than he would normally do with this mare, having seen how she reacts. I don't think it would take much for this mare to go over backwards, from what I see she is a very tricky ride.

I'm not playing devils advocate here but I personally can see different take on things and this lynch mob mentality is pretty shocking.

 

[AmyMay]

Sorry, Cambrica - he hauled her.

 

[cptrayes]

Sorry, Cambrica - he hauled her.

This.

Also Cambrica, the panic 'turn and run' reaction I saw was, I thought, from a horse that knew it was going to be punished for having stopped. You first example sounds the same. Far from praising Ben for being able to calm her, I think you should be asking why she was so panicked in the first place.

 

[Moomin1]

I'm not sure if I have missed some other footage, but the link I have seen is so far away I would say it's very difficult to judge exactly what happened.

 

[cambrica]

This.

Also Cambrica, the panic 'turn and run' reaction I saw was, I thought, from a horse that knew it was going to be punished for having stopped. You first example sounds the same. Far from praising Ben for being able to calm her, I think you should be asking why she was so panicked in the first place.

I agree she does panic when she refuses, as she did with Billy Twomey before Ben Maher rode her. See the videos on my link for Chantilly Prix France Galop and Grand Prix of Vienna, so did he also punish her?
BM is a few feet away from a person that she could possibly run into. Could it not have been his gut reaction to avoid that scenario? I'm not saying I'm right here but I think there is much more to this than a sheer temper tantrum.

 

[Illusion100]

I agree she does panic when she refuses, as she did with Billy Twomey before Ben Maher rode her. See the videos on my link for Chantilly Prix France Galop and Grand Prix of Vienna, so did he also punish her?
BM is a few feet away from a person that she could possibly run into. Could it not have been his gut reaction to avoid that scenario? I'm not saying I'm right here but I think there is much more to this than a sheer temper tantrum.

Yes of course a gut reaction would be to prevent a horse trampling a human. To cause a horse to fall over backwards seconds after being unable to make the distance to a fence is another matter.

 

[Magister]

We wouldn't be disagreeing! Your criteria for "judicious use" are very sensible and practical, but apparently not everyone appreciates the importance of timing - e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRzH-bEIvSQ,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU3XT0YEhh8,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Wfq38NaGDU,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRq5FokvXz0,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wItxazviDLs - even if they are otherwise good riders.

:-0 The third video down is jaw-dropping!

 

[cambrica]

Yes of course a gut reaction would be to prevent a horse trampling a human. To cause a horse to fall over backwards seconds after being unable to make the distance to a fence is another matter.

Why she refused the jump is irrelevant, the fact is she did refuse it then ran out to the side directly towards the chap standing there. Would Ben Maher have pulled her back so harshly had the man not been there? That's the golden question, who knows. Judging by her reactions and nature to panic after refusing, even prior to BM riding her I couldn't imagine for one minute that they would want to get into a fight with her, quite the opposite.
I've tried to watch the clip frame by frame. IMO, she ran towards the man, who jumped out of the way but not before BM 'hauled' her back, she carried on reining back whilst BM sat forward up her neck by which time her head was up in the air and her hind legs going from under her.
I'm not defending BM, he means nothing to me whatsoever and if he's guilty then he deserves to be reprimanded but I can see it from a different point of view.

 

[Illusion100]

Why she refused the jump is irrelevant, the fact is she did refuse it then ran out to the side directly towards the chap standing there. Would Ben Maher have pulled her back so harshly had the man not been there? That's the golden question, who knows. Judging by her reactions and nature to panic after refusing, even prior to BM riding her I couldn't imagine for one minute that they would want to get into a fight with her, quite the opposite.
I've tried to watch the clip frame by frame. IMO, she ran towards the man, who jumped out of the way but not before BM 'hauled' her back, she carried on reining back whilst BM sat forward up her neck by which time her head was up in the air and her hind legs going from under her.
I'm not defending BM, he means nothing to me whatsoever and if he's guilty then he deserves to be reprimanded but I can see it from a different point of view.

The realm of rhetorical questions is fascinating and many could be raised with regards to this incident.

IMO, the reason why the horse refused the fence is relevant, it couldn't make the distance and made a choice to refuse, horses are entitled to self-preservation.

The Officials in the ring, particularly at prestigious events such as HOYS, are aware not to distract the competing combination and to stand clear in case of refusals/run-outs/dropping a leg/demolishing a fence.

Camera angles are deceiving, BM lost his temper. Other options to avoid potential obstacles, such as people, (I was taught early) is to steer left or right.

 

[Clare85]

Other options to avoid potential obstacles, such as people, (I was taught early) is to steer left or right.

Agreed. The most effective way to stop a horse in an emergency is to turn it's head. A horse bolted with me once after a dog jumped out at us from nowhere. We were heading towards a very busy dual carriage way. If I'd yanked backwards on the reins it wouldn't have had much effect. As it was I turned his head towards the verge and managed to pull up. IME, if a horse is panicking, no amount of hauling back on it's mouth would stop it. To me, the force BM used was not out of concern for the stewards - it looks like anger to me.

 

[JCWHITE]

Again I will state i saw this live,
There was also a young lady standing with the man, and that BM videos were filming.
The take off stride was too far from the fence, to me, thats why the horse stopped.

 

[exmoorponyprincess1]

IMO it's the silence that is deafening - had a statement been issued by Ben with an apology when this happened (because at the end of the day, people don't want to see a horse go over backwards in the international arena at Hoys regardless of "reason"!) then I don't think there would be this continued interest. It's the fact that something wrong happened and heads appear to be buried in the sand - it leaves a bitter taste.

 

[Summer pudding]

IMO it's the silence that is deafening - had a statement been issued by Ben with an apology when this happened (because at the end of the day, people don't want to see a horse go over backwards in the international arena at Hoys regardless of "reason"!) then I don't think there would be this continued interest. It's the fact that something wrong happened and heads appear to be buried in the sand - it leaves a bitter taste.

Sums it up beautifully.....

 

[cptrayes]

BM is a few feet away from a person that she could possibly run into. Could it not have been his gut reaction to avoid that scenario? I'm not saying I'm right here but I think there is much more to this than a sheer temper tantrum.

Why she refused the jump is irrelevant, the fact is she did refuse it then ran out to the side directly towards the chap standing there. Would Ben Maher have pulled her back so harshly had the man not been there? That's the golden question, who knows. Judging by her reactions and nature to panic after refusing, even prior to BM riding her I couldn't imagine for one minute that they would want to get into a fight with her, quite the opposite.
I've tried to watch the clip frame by frame. IMO, she ran towards the man, who jumped out of the way but not before BM 'hauled' her back, she carried on reining back whilst BM sat forward up her neck by which time her head was up in the air and her hind legs going from under her.
I'm not defending BM, he means nothing to me whatsoever and if he's guilty then he deserves to be reprimanded but I can see it from a different point of view.

Well I saw it live from a perfect side on view. There was never any danger of the horse trampling the official, he did not stand where he was until after the refusal had taken place. He had moved out to put th a fallen pole back up, I think. She was stopped nose to nose with him when Ben Maher pulled her back in what looked like sheer temper. She was at the time immediately alongside the second fence of a two stride double and there was plenty of room to turn her instead, but he didn't.

Not only that, but he did it in two stages, she had already backed away from the official when he pulled even harder and yanked her over backwards/sideways. The first stage, in getting her out of the official's space, may have been just about excusable. The second stage looked like sheer temper, and was not.

 

[cptrayes]

IMO it's the silence that is deafening - had a statement been issued by Ben with an apology when this happened (because at the end of the day, people don't want to see a horse go over backwards in the international arena at Hoys regardless of "reason"!) then I don't think there would be this continued interest. It's the fact that something wrong happened and heads appear to be buried in the sand - it leaves a bitter taste.

This.

 

[Polos]

I feel that I have to post, I have seen the clip and agree that it probably isn't his finest moment, but is it acceptable to start a hate campaign against him? I felt uncomfortable reading this thred and comments made are personal and quite shocking. It never fails to supprise me how quickly people are prepared to venomously attack an individual on here.

You see I'm on the fence with this matter and I'll probably get shot down for what I'm going to say due to the nature of this forum but life goes on!

Yes what he did, you may not consider to be acceptable but are you all really qualified to sit here and start a witch hunt? The reason I am not commenting on this matter is because I have never ridden the horse and I do not know how it would react to things (some are just overly sensitive and would overreact to the smallest things), from what I saw in the video (was hard to. See as the quality isn't great) he have a sharp pull (perhaps sharper than most) and the horse just reversed backwards and got his legs in a bit of a tangle, to me it didn't look like he purposely haul the horse over.

If you lot think what he did was absolutely awful then what about your hate campaign? Is that perfectly acceptable then? You are all essentially setting out to ruin this mans livelihood and any possible future business dealings. How would you like it if a bunch of strangers on the internet decided to set out and ruin your life and ring up your employer(s) and fabricate lies and complain so much that you lost your job. Chances are you wouldn't like it and would probably end up not being able to pay for horses therefore meaning not only have you lost your job and are struggling financially but you have just lost your livelihood too.

Before you lot take this campaign to ruin this mans business and livelihood any further, just think how you'd like it if hoards of hormonal woman of the internet set out to purposely ruin your life and take away away everything you'd worked so hard to achieve. Think how you'd like it to have the press publishing these fabricated (half of you have said you've heard things from a friend of a friend.....) allegations and making a fool out of you.

Now I'm 99.9%, actually no wait 100% sure that I'm going to get pulled apart for saying this (probably get a few unnecessary insults and comments-yay!) but what you lot are doing is no better, if not worse than what he did. You are all bein really pathetic and taking it to the extreme. Apologies if this has already been said but I can't be bothered to read through any more of this ridiculous and frankly unnecessary witch hunt

 

[cptrayes]

IMO it's the silence that is deafening - had a statement been issued by Ben with an apology when this happened (because at the end of the day, people don't want to see a horse go over backwards in the international arena at Hoys regardless of "reason"!) then I don't think there would be this continued interest. It's the fact that something wrong happened and heads appear to be buried in the sand - it leaves a bitter taste.

In the light of the post above, number 280, worth repeating, I think.

 

[*hic*]

Polos, you wouldn't get pulled apart by me for it. There were experienced officials watching that round, it was videoed, those people on the ground who have had the benefit of watching the video are in a far better place to judge what happened, why it happened and have input into what should be done about it. In view of the audience video (I'm surprised only one has surfaced) and the outcry I'd have thought some statement was in order, even if only to say that the evidence has been viewed, and that in the opinion of the Ground Jury following conference with the rider appropriate action has been taken together with something from BM along the lines of his having taken action he felt was appropriate in the heat of the moment which he accepts may have been unnecessary having resulted in the horse losing its footing.

 

[Clare85]

At the end of the day, this is a forum full of horse lovers. If someone is seen to be treating a horse cruelly then of course people will be up in arms about it. BM should have released a statement by now and publicly apologised for behaving like this. His silence speaks volumes - and even more so the deleting of comments about the incident from his FB page. Of course that will anger people, most of the comments were simply asking for an explanation and by deleting them he is trying to brush the issue under the carpet, giving the impression that he thinks pulling a horse over backwards in temper is acceptable.

Why would people then just leave it? The potential suffering of equines is not something to be just left alone because your worried about someone's reputation and the effects negative press will have on their career. If he has nothing to be ashamed of then he should come out and say "sorry, it was a momentary loss of control, I would never normally treat a horse in that way, it will never happen again". His silence is saying "you lot can fudge off, I've done nothing wrong and I'll just be carrying along my merry way thanks very much".

IMO he is committing his own PR suicide by allowing this issue to rumble on.