Kalinka

[AWinter]

Interested to hear everyone’s thoughts on this as the videos have been doing the rounds on social media the last few days


Video 1

Video 2

 

[TheMule]

I havent seen the drama but I just went and watched her most recent rounds at that show- the mare is jumping beautifully, he rides her really nicely and it appears she gets overwhelmed in prize givings.
But everyone on the internet loves a drama.

 

[Cortez]

Why is it anyone's business? She's a difficult horse, he is prepared to ride her, she jumps really well. End of story.

 

[shortstuff99]

In my opinion the only thing I would be tempted to do would be to ask if I could forgo prize givings.

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

In my opinion the only thing I would be tempted to do would be to ask if I never need to ride her again? But then I am not and never have been a professional rider.

 

[smolmaus]

I do agree with Milestone Equine that his flippancy isn't great. In any horse behaving like this I think its fair to ask whether investigations for pain have been done and whether or not she is getting training to help her cope better with these situations. For a horse at this level maybe its safe to assume she isn't in pain and this is just stress but if the top level horses have this behaviour waved away and "coped with" for the sake of her talent there might be many more at lower levels who then don't get the investigations and the additional care and training they need. I personally think there is a responsibility on every horse handler to do the utmost to prevent them getting overwhelmed in situations we ask them to be in. Its not possible in every situation obviously but seeing three people wrangle a distressed mare just so her rider can get a ribbon seems like skewed priorities.

Why is it anyone's business? She's a difficult horse, he is prepared to ride her, she jumps really well. End of story.

If the rider is happy to comment on it in public interviews (and get the "oh how brave" accolades) he obviously thinks it is worth discussing, so he has made it "our" business to discuss.

 

[stangs]

I don't know the context behind the clip, but I don't feel it's fair to be putting the horse - or those grooms - in whatever situation inspires that behaviour. Above all else, it's depressing that the notion of many is that jumping well means the horse is fine mentally.

He doesn't strike me as a bad fellow though, just that they don't know how to deal with the behaviour, except he can't say that during an interview.

 

[ycbm]

Very like the videos of the young race horse someone posted earlier this year. I wonder what she's like at home and if prize ceremonies are the only problem.
.

 

[Barton Bounty]

All I see is a gutsy guy and a difficult mare! Wasnt that long ago that was myself and BB ?

 

[Goldenstar]

My best horse behaved much the same ,the collecting ring the xc warmup and the start box was not for the faint hearted , neither was the dressage test which she hated .
She was tough and very sound and a fantastic jumper .
As soon as the xc was finished she was completely settled ,it was just who she was .
She was not a hack for the fainted hearted you had to be careful where looked because she would jump whatever you looked over ,opening gates had to be performed with great care because she just took you over them .
She was magic .

 

[ycbm]

My best horse behaved much the same ,the collecting ring the xc warmup and the start box was not for the faint hearted , neither was the dressage test which she hated .
She was tough and very sound and a fantastic jumper .
As soon as the xc was finished she was completely settled ,it was just who she was .
She was not a hack for the fainted hearted you had to be careful where looked because she would jump whatever you looked over ,opening gates had to be performed with great care because she just took you over them .
She was magic .

I'm wondering now if it was you I saw go to start a cross country. The horse went into the box and promptly jumped straight out the side over the white rails ?

 

[lar]

I used to know a mare. It wasn't at the absolute top level but was still doing very well on the county circuit. But she was in pain the whole time - and whilst she continued to jump well her behaviour outside the ring continued to deteriorate until she was more or less impossible to handle - she would come at you with its teeth as soon as look at you. She had been shouting for years that she was in pain but because she was still doing the job nobody took any notice of her, until she also broke down physically as well as mentally.
Underneath it all she was potentially a lovely horse but was so broken mentally from having to perform whilst in pain that she was never fully rehabilitated.
I know nothing about the mare in these videos but it really put me in mind of the mare I knew.

 

[AdorableAlice]

A purpose bred, highly athletic, fit and talented mare ridden beautifully without big bits or clamped nosebands.

Rider needs a hair net though.

 

[LEC]

I think the question should be why are they not substituting the horse at prize givings. Eventing seems a little more chilled about this as Harry Meade will never take Superstition to a prize giving. Often see him borrowing a competitors horse who doesn’t mind so much. I think prize givings are stressful for them. Noise, unpredictable and needing to stand still as nothing to focus on so makes adrenaline go right up. I just see a horse who loves her job but doesn’t love prizegivings.

 

[Goldenstar]

I'm wondering now if it was you I saw go to start a cross country. The horse went into the box and promptly jumped straight out the side over the white rails ?

Oh Yes she did that several times i was always glad to get out of there going in the right direction.
she also used to jump into the garden if she saw me gardening and come for a lie down on the lawn .

 

[Cortez]

If the rider is happy to comment on it in public interviews (and get the "oh how brave" accolades) he obviously thinks it is worth discussing, so he has made it "our" business to discuss.

I would imagine that he is responding to a question. No idea if he's happy about it or not, but he's a professional; they are expected to ride.

 

[smolmaus]

I would imagine that he is responding to a question. No idea if he's happy about it or not, but he's a professional; they are expected to ride.

If he wants to continue making money from sponsorship then press questions and a certain amount of public scrutiny is also part of his job.

Though having finally actually googled the man it seems he is the son of a literal billionaire so I guess he could have told the press to mind their own business if he wanted to.

 

[ycbm]

Oh Yes she did that several times i was always glad to get out of there going in the right direction.
she also used to jump into the garden if she saw me gardening and come for a lie down on the lawn .

?

 

[stangs]

“As I was falling, I could hear my grooms and my trainer yell in shock. And when I turned around my horse was on the ground. She didn’t get up,” he said through tears. “She didn’t get up for a while. I thought she broke her neck; she was laying there shaking.

Based off this [x], I think it's safe to say at least part of her behaviour is trauma-related.

 

[humblepie]

Often used to see show jumpers ride a different horse into the prize giving so would have thought would do that. Not like showing where the placing can be taken away if the horse doesn't behave in the prize giving!

 

[SEL]

I just googled and apparently she's very sweet natured in the barn but just wants to get on with the job. Watched a couple of rounds - very talented. Even when the striding wasn't great she just hopped over.

But yes to the hairnet ?

 

[SEL]

Based off this [x], I think it's safe to say at least part of her behaviour is trauma-related.

Wow yes - that does put a different angle on her behaviour.

 

[Miss_Millie]

Why is it anyone's business? She's a difficult horse, he is prepared to ride her, she jumps really well. End of story.

It is this kind of attitude that will be the death of equestrian sports. The Olympic Modern Pentathlon is a very good example re. Saint Boy. The welfare of animals used in sports should actually be everyone's business, and should be scrutinised, should said sports wish to survive.

 

[maya2008]

Winning at a high level like that, would usually mean a horse has a whole team of professionals working to keep them sound and happy. She jumps well, with relatively smooth rounds. I have seen far worse in terms of horse behaviour in the ring. Maybe the owner wants to see her in the prize giving and that is why they persist in trying - or it’s the rules of the show, or…

 

[Cortez]

It is this kind of attitude that will be the death of equestrian sports. The Olympic Modern Pentathlon is a very good example re. Saint Boy. The welfare of animals used in sports should actually be everyone's business, and should be scrutinised, should said sports wish to survive.

There is absolutely no comparison with the way this horse behaves and is ridden and the complete shambles of the Modern Pentathlon debacle. What welfare issue is being caused by this horse acting up in the prize giving? If the rider is able to ride her, the horse is fit and well looked after and is reportedly otherwise happy and content then I cannot see what the problem is.

 

[Rowreach]

I’d say there’s a big “welfare issue” in having two reins and two lead reins attached to the bit with three humans hanging off them, let alone the stress levels being displayed by the horse on being in the arena in the first place. It’s neither big nor clever subjecting any animal to this sort of experience when they are not coping with it. And let’s be honest, “coping” with situations is what all our horses are expected to do, every day, so the very least we can do is ensure they are as safe and comfortable with it as possible, and this mare is neither.

Not good for the horse and not good for the image of horse sport either.

 

[LadyGascoyne]

I actually think Karl Cook looks decidedly uncomfortable in that interview. The blonde lady and young child (wife and child?) are laughing next to him and the camera is focusing on the laughing between his comments. You can see he’s trying to keep it light but I read his body language as stressed, especially where is he is talking about just ‘dealing with it’.

I don’t think he is deliberately glorifying anything, and I don’t think that it’s fair to take the comment “she’s good the way she is” to mean that he only cares about her show performance. We have no idea what investigations have been done at home, and what training avenues are being pursued. I think the lady in the second video is taking a bit of a shallow view of the situation- but that’s what generally sells ‘content’.

The horse is clearly very talented but very tricky but I think the rider is all too aware of that, and it cannot be fun for him - especially given the public scrutiny.

Lady Gascoyne was like that, albeit far less talented. She focussed well when working but she was impossible otherwise. She looked good in the ring and everyone used to joke about her quirkiness and I’d laugh along but at home it was actually very stressful and we tried pretty much everything to make her happier. In the end I did retire her from work but I have come to understand that it was a bad decision for her, even though it was safer for me. She was fit, well and in parts very happy when she was in work. Even though there were stressed moments, on the balance she was happier. Hacking and pottering was a disaster, herd retirement was a disaster, individual turnout on a yard but unridden was a disaster.

Unless you know the horse and it’s management, I don’t think it’s fair to take a snapshot of its life as proof that the rider isn’t doing his best by her.

 

[Annagain]

At a much lower level, my old boy was a bit like this. I had to go into arenas backwards, get to the vicinity of the first fence through a combination of sideways shuffling, going backwards and zig-zagging, wait for the bell (usually on back legs or heading backwards at speed) then when the bell rang spin him round and let him go. He would fly round, go over the last fence and stop quite happily. Any extra fences in the ring were a problem as he knew he hadn't jumped every fence and wasn't happy to stop. Prizegivings were an issue as he thought he was going in to jump again and would get quite cross that he wasn't allowed.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with him, he just loved it and was desperate to get on with it. In the 10 years I competed him he never hit a fence. He stopped at a fence once, at the age of 24. We went straight to the vet and he had arthritis in his knees that the vet said was so bad he was amazed that the only sign was him stopping at one fence. We never jumped again but he'd pop fences himself if they were left up in the field. I tried retiring him but he got depressed so we'd hack out twice a week in walk for 20 minutes to keep his spirits up.

 

[TheChestnutThing]

If you follow Karl on insta he never makes excuses for his horse's behaviour and investigates everything. He cares very much for their welfare. This is the problem with being in the public eye, everything gets scrutinised.

The dude was married to Kayley Cuoco and has just been through a divorce and 6 months later she was pregnant and moved in with someone else (OMG i cannot believe I know all this crap!).

 

[Cortez]

I’d say there’s a big “welfare issue” in having two reins and two lead reins attached to the bit with three humans hanging off them, let alone the stress levels being displayed by the horse on being in the arena in the first place. It’s neither big nor clever subjecting any animal to this sort of experience when they are not coping with it. And let’s be honest, “coping” with situations is what all our horses are expected to do, every day, so the very least we can do is ensure they are as safe and comfortable with it as possible, and this mare is neither.

Not good for the horse and not good for the image of horse sport either.

Leading with two grooms was quite common with difficult stallions back in the day, obviously it’s not great to have to manage horses this way, but needs must if it is required to have the horse in the ring for prize givings (I have a dim memory of it being a rule at some shows when I was in the US). I wouldn’t ride the horse if it was like that, but this guy seems to be ok with it. The horse is not unique in being excitable. Just as there was outrage at the footage of a TB horse acting similarly at the races not so long ago, perhaps there is a certain amount of misinterpretation of what’s going on. Some people will see it as distress, others will see a horse being massively overexcited.