I’m not sure what to think….

Bay.chestnut.coloure

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And what do you think would have happened? Absolutely nothing. The organiser has no power to do anything other than not book him again. The girl has stated in an interview that she did raise it but was told it wasnt hard and was basically fobbed off.

I'm really struggling to see where you are coming from. He hit a horse ten times hard enough for it to be heard on a camera phone video. People cheered and clapped. Why do you think that there should be no repercussions for that?

How bad would it have to be for you to consider it acceptable for it to be shown publicly or is there no situation where you feel people should see something like that?

Not booking him again would be a repercussion… or maybe actually just telling him she didn’t appreciate it and he’d more than likely not do it again
 

Hepsibah

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And what do you think would have happened? Absolutely nothing. The organiser has no power to do anything other than not book him again. The girl has stated in an interview that she did raise it but was told it wasnt hard and was basically fobbed off.

I'm really struggling to see where you are coming from. He hit a horse ten times hard enough for it to be heard on a camera phone video. People cheered and clapped. Why do you think that there should be no repercussions for that?

How bad would it have to be for you to consider it acceptable for it to be shown publicly or is there no situation where you feel people should see something like that?
This smacks to me of the same sort of attitude that left children to be abused by the clergy for the good of the church. The sport is not important in the face of the suffering of the horses in the same way the church is not important in the face of the suffering of the children.
 

milliepops

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In fairness i do understand where BCC is coming from. it would have been more useful to raise a concern at the time either direct to MT,organisers, or whoever his governing body was at the time (quite possibly racing then) rather than a couple of years later scattergun style via SM. if you were serious about dealing with inappropriate treatment of horses that would have been better timing.
 

Hepsibah

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I don't believe the horse owner was trying to raise concerns with her post, she was just sharing a video she had. BCC appears to simply be embarrassed about the mistreatment of the horse being seen just in case it has an impact on the sport.
 

Bay.chestnut.coloure

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I don't believe the horse owner was trying to raise concerns with her post, she was just sharing a video she had. BCC appears to simply be embarrassed about the mistreatment of the horse being seen just in case it has an impact on the sport.

What rubbish… I only mentioned that because I was asked what implications would this have on our sport… did you even read all the replies…
 

Bay.chestnut.coloure

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I don't believe the horse owner was trying to raise concerns with her post, she was just sharing a video she had. BCC appears to simply be embarrassed about the mistreatment of the horse being seen just in case it has an impact on the sport.

If anything that makes it worse , this video was originally posted for laughs because her friend said it would be funny, she herself is clearly not that bothered about it then, but by posting it she has opened the gates to online bullying, threats and this mans career being destroyed. All a long I have said I don’t agree with what he did but I also don’t agree with how it’s been handled and I don’t agree that he deserved these consequences. It’s all just gotten totally out of hand.
 
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sakura

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by posting it she has wrecked MT lives and opened the gates to online bullying, threats and this mans career being destroyed.

In fairness, whether you agree or disagree about the video being posted, ultimately he is the only one responsible for his actions and any repercussions on his career from them
 

TPO

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If anything that makes it worse , this video was originally posted for laughs because her friend said it would be funny, she herself is clearly not that bothered about it then, but by posting it she has wrecked MT lives and opened the gates to online bullying, threats and this mans career being destroyed. All a long I have said I don’t agree with what he did but I also don’t agree with how it’s been handled and I don’t agree that he deserved these consequences. It’s all just gotten totally out of hand.

MT "wrecked his life" by doing what he did. HIS actions and actions have repercussions.

Her posting a video didn't do it. Him doing what was filmed and it being picked up by people who don't agree with beating and scaring horses over fences is what did it.

I don't agree with the death threats or any threats or bad comments towards him but I do agree that the videoed situation is open for discussion.

Again the defense that "everyone else was laughing" isn't a defence and just shows their questionable mentalities. I'm certainly not sure how a blogger hopes to keep or gain sponsors when they openly admit to laughing at a trainer hitting a horse.

The girl sharing the video isn't bringing about the "end of horse sport" the actions in the video and the wide reaching dismissal/acceptance/defence of it are.
 

Bay.chestnut.coloure

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MT "wrecked his life" by doing what he did. HIS actions and actions have repercussions.

Her posting a video didn't do it. Him doing what was filmed and it being picked up by people who don't agree with beating and scaring horses over fences is what did it.

I don't agree with the death threats or any threats or bad comments towards him but I do agree that the videoed situation is open for discussion.

Again the defense that "everyone else was laughing" isn't a defence and just shows their questionable mentalities. I'm certainly not sure how a blogger hopes to keep or gain sponsors when they openly admit to laughing at a trainer hitting a horse.

The girl sharing the video isn't bringing about the "end of horse sport" the actions in the video and the wide reaching dismissal/acceptance/defence of it are.

I don’t think his life deserved to be wrecked by doing this. There are other repercussions than having him plastered on social media. If people brought it up to the event organiser, or maybe even HIM he would probably not do it again. You didn’t even give him a chance you’ve seen one video where he used a bad training technique and decided he needed to be absolutely vilified by the whole community.
im not talking about the people there laughing, the girl herself posted it because her friend said it would be “funny”.
As I’ve said most people do not ride like this anymore, times are changing, but by posting it it makes it seems like it is! Yes people who ride like that are responsible for bringing about the end of the sport but MOST PEOPLE DONT. So to the general public it now appears like it is. That’s the danger. Instead of having posted in on social media for the world to see, maybe in future when you see something you disagree with actually tell the person to stop! No one else needs to get involved. More than likely they will and if they don’t then yes they need to face the consequences, whether it would be not ever using them again, firing them or whatever it may be. But I disagree that it needed to be posted on social media.
 

Sossigpoker

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My concern now is that *people * believe that hitting a horse, in one clinic as there is no suggestion that the trainer had any further interaction with the horse, its to be equated with sustained and targeted sexual abuse!
It is not.
But covering up the abuse for the good of the church is similar to covering up horse abuse for the good of horse sports.
 

TPO

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I don’t think his life deserved to be wrecked by doing this. There are other repercussions than having him plastered on social media. If people brought it up to the event organiser, or maybe even HIM he would probably not do it again. You didn’t even give him a chance you’ve seen one video where he used a bad training technique and decided he needed to be absolutely vilified by the whole community.
im not talking about the people there laughing, the girl herself posted it because her friend said it would be “funny”.
As I’ve said most people do not ride like this anymore, times are changing, but by posting it it makes it seems like it is! Yes people who ride like that are responsible for bringing about the end of the sport but MOST PEOPLE DONT. So to the general public it now appears like it is. That’s the danger. Instead of having posted in on social media for the world to see, maybe in future when you see something you disagree with actually tell the person to stop! No one else needs to get involved. More than likely they will and if they don’t then yes they need to face the consequences, whether it would be not ever using them again, firing them or whatever it may be. But I disagree that it needed to be posted on social media.

Times are changing? It was 2yrs ago, not 20. This behaviour wasn't acceptable 2yrs ago (or 20yrs ago).

So anything "harmful" is to be swept under the rug so others can keep doing doing the sport as they wish.

His life is hardly wrecked; I was quoting you as you are the one relating this narrative. Based on those so determined to defend his actions, bareface lie about what people can see and hear for themselves and openly admit how funny they all found it on the day I highly doubt he will struggle to sell out clinics should he wish to hold any again.

At least now people can make an informed choice rather than it being the kind of thing spoken about behind closed doors.

It's a suspension by BHA, not a ban.

The man himself is acting with a lot more dignity than the people determined to attempt to defend his actions.
 

Bay.chestnut.coloure

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Times are changing? It was 2yrs ago, not 20. This behaviour wasn't acceptable 2yrs ago (or 20yrs ago).

So anything "harmful" is to be swept under the rug so others can keep doing doing the sport as they wish.

His life is hardly wrecked; I was quoting you as you are the one relating this narrative. Based on those so determined to defend his actions, bareface lie about what people can see and hear for themselves and openly admit how funny they all found it on the day I highly doubt he will struggle to sell out clinics should he wish to hold any again.

At least now people can make an informed choice rather than it being the kind of thing spoken about behind closed doors.

It's a suspension by BHA, not a ban.

The man himself is acting with a lot more dignity than the people determined to attempt to defend his actions.

Agree to disagree then, I don’t feel like going round in circles.
when have I said to sweep it under the rug? Can you not just tell the man and give him a chance to rectify his methods? Didn’t think it was too much to ask for before he is vilified by most the equestrian community but apparently so.
 

sakura

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As I’ve said most people do not ride like this anymore, times are changing, but by posting it it makes it seems like it is! Yes people who ride like that are responsible for bringing about the end of the sport but MOST PEOPLE DONT. So to the general public it now appears like it is. That’s the danger.

It was two years ago, and it was MT who trained like that. His actions that day are what you should be most annoyed about as that’s what is painting horse sports in a bad light.
 

Bay.chestnut.coloure

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It was two years ago, and it was MT who trained like that. His actions that day are what you should be most annoyed about as that’s what is painting horse sports in a bad light.

MT does not represent how everyone rides…as evident by this forum and every where else most people already did not agree with this…
 

MagicMelon

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Totally awful what he did, I always respected MT as he looked like he understood and was kind to his horses so I feel rather let down by his actions. Fed up with people all over facebook sharing "support" for him. How on earth can you support someone pelting a horse to literally scare it into water. What a great way to build trust and confidence... This abusive rubbish really needs to stop in the horse world, its ridiculous in this day and age that we're still whipping / forcing horses into situations they're clearly worried while the riders/trainers use the pathetic excuse the horse was taking the pee.
 

MagicMelon

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This was two years ago. Why it is just surfacing and where's the proof it was Mark Todd? Not condoning it in any way as vile and abusive behaviour but am extremely sceptical of social media.

It was taken at a clinic in Scotland, various people on my facebook have said they were in the group. It definately is him. You can see its him from the video!
 

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AdorableAlice

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Just curious, do you all think that horses ALWAYS do things because they trust and are confident? Do you think they never need to be made to do something?

A lot of horses do things that are rude and dangerous because they have never been correctly trained to do things in a polite and respectful manner in my view. Plus a lot of owners have no idea what a polite horse is and are happy to tolerate poor behaviour as the normal.
 

MagicMelon

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Just curious, do you all think that horses ALWAYS do things because they trust and are confident? Do you think they never need to be made to do something?

Yes I feel its 100% the way to go with training. However yes I also agree there are times that a horse may HAVE to do something (take veterinary treatment, load to get home from a show etc.). But I feel the vast majority of things should be done respectfully with the aim to build trust and confidence in the horse as I genuinely think the horse is more likely to do it right the next time rather than just beaten into it. Surely that makes sense? So many people in the horse world seem to want a quick fix so they'll smack the horse into jumping or whatever. I dont believe a horse HAS to jump, it should WANT to do it and be willing and happy to do so surely? I honestly feel the tradition of carrying a whip should be gone, I dont even own a whip (other than lunge whip) and I seem to be in the tiny minority. Why is in the norm to carry a whip and to use it so easily.
 

MagicMelon

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You replied today to my comment which was written last Saturday. Yes I know it's him now.

Interesting article in H&H today: https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/new...o-give-fuller-picture-of-viral-footage-777863

I dont feel the article changes anything, if anything I dont believe it.

“My take was that it wasn’t pleasurable to watch but Mark had been specifically asked to fix this and problem-solve, and my take is that’s exactly what he did, and he did it without any anger or aggression at all,” he said, adding that the horse showed no signs of fear of anxiety, and the rider appeared “over the moon, delighted” afterwards. The cheer that went up when the horse jumped in can be heard on the video." - I mean how is it not aggressive to rush up behind the horse and smack him with a stick several times? He was literally chasing and scaring it into the water. The horse clearly looks worried, it doesnt look happy! What this "professional" says is rubbish IMO. I also hate when these reports make a point of saying "professional", that means nothing. Many professionals are awful.
 

Cortez

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Yes I feel its 100% the way to go with training. However yes I also agree there are times that a horse may HAVE to do something (take veterinary treatment, load to get home from a show etc.). But I feel the vast majority of things should be done respectfully with the aim to build trust and confidence in the horse as I genuinely think the horse is more likely to do it right the next time rather than just beaten into it. Surely that makes sense? So many people in the horse world seem to want a quick fix so they'll smack the horse into jumping or whatever. I dont believe a horse HAS to jump, it should WANT to do it and be willing and happy to do so surely? I honestly feel the tradition of carrying a whip should be gone, I dont even own a whip (other than lunge whip) and I seem to be in the tiny minority. Why is in the norm to carry a whip and to use it so easily.
A stick used correctly, as a tool not a weapon, is a useful thing to refine the aids, just like the spur.
 

sakura

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MT does not represent how everyone rides…as evident by this forum and every where else most people already did not agree with this…

No, he was the coach and he seemingly didn’t hesitate to grab a branch and hit a horse with it. The rider is not in question in this situation - MT is and he’s a greater ambassador for the sport than the rider.

Hence why if you think this video is bad marketing for horse sport, the fault lies with MT. It seems misplaced to blame the rider for posting the video on social media
 
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