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This is such sad news and it couldn't have happened to a more talented and respected couple than Mary and Cavvie. My thoughts are with you both at this sad time and of course to everyone involved.
If anyone has any idea of her address I would love to send her a card and/or a bunch of flowers to give her a bit of suppost at this sad time.
Keep strong Mary, our thoughts are with you xxx
 
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The pictures are awful, her reaction says it all - she clearly knew it was bad. His leg looked bad to.

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I really was tragic
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Me and my friend couldnt belive our eyes, i think everybody was hoping for the best but just really he leg did not look good
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Pictures ??
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The pictures are awful, her reaction says it all - she clearly knew it was bad. His leg looked bad to.

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I really was tragic
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Me and my friend couldnt belive our eyes, i think everybody was hoping for the best but just really he leg did not look good
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Pictures ??
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Yeah i was shocked at the pictures to.
They are of Mary stood with her head in her hands about a metre or two from cavvy and you can see him from behind holding his rear right up.

They are horrible, i certainly wouldn't want my photos up after my pride and joy had just fallen and broken his leg!
 
Just got back and sadly this thread confirmed my fears. It was obvious he had broken it I would say near stifle personally. Up until that point it was an interesting competition.

The SJ wasn't difficult there was an '0' comprising 6 fences (i think!) in the middle you had three marked routes in (fences 3,8 and 9) and you could take any of the others out and could jump them more than once unless you knocked it down in which case next time round you had to jump a different one. Nich touzain and Alex fell foul of this getting eliminated.

In the XC main questions were
4 Bank (jump up stride jump down) followed by stride (or 2 short) so angled brush. Quite few run outs here and First ride in went far too fast at the bank and the horse landed and collasped in front sending rider flying. He was winded but fine and I think mightly embaressed.

8 bank (in other direction) with stride after (or 2 short) to wide corner. again lots run outs also Tina Cook banked it (not prob) then also Mark T banked it but much further in and the weight of horse + good foot of sand made centre section collaspe (after he cleared it) they then removed fence as although they fixed it wasn't flat beneath sand (they put supporting struts on wood covering hole!)

9 triple of brushes- large wide table with brush then sharp 90 degree left turn to two angled brushed with water 'ditches' in front. Many missed turn and presented wrong. Some got away with it (namely WFP for one!) many others had run outs.

Water x2 several horses backed off/stoped presumably due to different colour of water (still had sand base) second water jumped clear though by all 6 who jumped it.

12 i think it was Double large corners. Lots of glance offs but striding was bit questionnable depending on pace. This was where mary fell, she went on a very long stride and cavy went to bank but dragged his back leg falling heavily. I don't think she could have put the extra stride in though as he is so big striding if she had shortened him enough he wouldn't have cleared the corners.

A lot of people got lost Lucy, Clayton to name just two (although they found way without incurring penalty!) and I think it was Phillip Dutton who missed out 2 or 3 fences completly!

The course was difficult but apart from the first fall (which was blatent rider error for being far too fast IMHO) and Marys which was simply a tradgic accident it was causing run outs rather than anything else.

Oli well yes he won and he won by miles but I had my heart in my mouth. He was riding FAR FAR FAR too fast IMHO taking some absolute flyers on ground that was known to be slippy (Tara PT retired during her 'sedate' SJ round because her horse was slipping all over the place yes I don't think it had studs but it couldn't keep its back legs upright!). He was a very lucky man and good on him he won by a clear mile but his round for me was painful to watch not inspiring.

I must say I have a lot more respect for Bettina for withdrawing, she may not be the bravest XC rider but she went in jumped round the SJ and retired, knowing although she would never win by retiring she was giving up a lot of potential prize money so my upmost respect to her.

It was an interesting day, very empty stadium to be honest which was a shame but it was certainly entertaining up until nearly the end. Just so sad it had to end in such tradegy.

My heart goes out to Mary and all connections. You could she from her reaction on getting up and seeing Cavy that she knew. Credit must go to the organisers/stewards who were so quick with screens etc (they even had a gazebo ready to cover him if need be as obviously everyone eas sitting above the course) and of course the vets and horse ambulance.

Anyway thats my account of a mixed day. Oh and to the woman sitting behind me who insisted on crossing her legs and as on end of row sticking her leg out so it was constantly hitting my shoulder GRRRRRRR as you got mud all over my jacket grrrrr
 
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The pictures are awful, her reaction says it all - she clearly knew it was bad. His leg looked bad to.

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I really was tragic
shocked.gif


Me and my friend couldnt belive our eyes, i think everybody was hoping for the best but just really he leg did not look good
frown.gif


Pictures ??
shocked.gif
shocked.gif


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Yeah i was shocked at the pictures to.
They are of Mary stood with her head in her hands about a metre or two from cavvy and you can see him from behind holding his rear right up.

They are horrible, i certainly wouldn't want my photos up after my pride and joy had just fallen and broken his leg!

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I know there shocking
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Cant belive that they have put a pic up, surly they will have the decency to take it down!
Surly they can see from that, thats is not good news!!
I really cant belive it, I could not belvie what I was seeing there today
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RIP Cavvy
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My heart goes out to Mary and all connections. You could she from her reaction on getting up and seeing Cavy that she knew. Credit must go to the organisers/stewards who were so quick with screens etc (they even had a gazebo ready to cover him if need be as obviously everyone eas sitting above the course) and of course the vets and horse ambulance.

Anyway thats my account of a mixed day. Oh and to the woman sitting behind me who insisted on crossing her legs and as on end of row sticking her leg out so it was constantly hitting my shoulder GRRRRRRR as you got mud all over my jacket grrrrr

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Ditto above!
They crew did an amazing job, were so quick credit to them!

About the shoulder thing, same happend to me!
Where were you sat?? xx
 
You are not the first person, or even the second, to tell me that Oli's riding was painfully reckless to watch today...
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You are not the first person, or even the second, to tell me that Oli's riding was painfully reckless to watch today...
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But isn't it always????
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You are not the first person, or even the second, to tell me that Oli's riding was painfully reckless to watch today...
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But isn't it always????
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I don't think OT helps himself with his style tbh. He flaps an awful lot with his arms and legs which gives him a rather erratic look
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You are not the first person, or even the second, to tell me that Oli's riding was painfully reckless to watch today...
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But isn't it always????
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It was worse than normal imho today! he was about 3 gears up speed wise from everyone else which was shown from being 40+ seconds ahead of the rest and WFP certainly wasn't hanging about.

The dressage was just an addition to the day it played no factor in the results whatsoever! Oh and someone mentioned Lucy's music was slated yes it was by Andrew LW and whats her name but the 'normal' dressage judges gave her good scores, the same went for Bettina!
 
Ive just got back, I had to leave the arena when cavvy fell, I was in tears. RIP to a very special horse

I just felt there were to many technical questions in a much to small space, there was no need for all those corners every where!!!
 
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My heart goes out to Mary and all connections. You could she from her reaction on getting up and seeing Cavy that she knew. Credit must go to the organisers/stewards who were so quick with screens etc (they even had a gazebo ready to cover him if need be as obviously everyone eas sitting above the course) and of course the vets and horse ambulance.

Anyway thats my account of a mixed day. Oh and to the woman sitting behind me who insisted on crossing her legs and as on end of row sticking her leg out so it was constantly hitting my shoulder GRRRRRRR as you got mud all over my jacket grrrrr

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Ditto above!
They crew did an amazing job, were so quick credit to them!

About the shoulder thing, same happend to me!
Where were you sat?? xx

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U11 row 10 seats 22 and 23
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The offending Lady had actually been sitting in our seats at first but rather than making fuss we just sat in some empty seats (we were bit late so thought oh well) but then owners of those seats turned up so we had to reclaim ours, the ladies seemed most put out and didn't even apologise just made a pathetic excuse that they thought it was their row (row numbers clearly printed right next to seat as on row end)
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On other hand ladies next to us were lovely and had some nice chats with them!
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Well. I've ploughed through all the thread now! I was there, I thought the concept was a good one, the dressage bit was quite fun, but the surface for the jumping was a nightmare from the start - I just never dreamed that it would have such a tragic ending
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For some reason I had expected the turf to be good, but it was slippy and horrible and they did nothing to try and improve take-offs and landings even when every horse was slipping at the approach to the same fence (e.g. fence 6)

Oli jumped just like I expected him to, I didnt think he looked that appalling IMHO just like he generally looks? But as many others have said, far too many questions in too short a time for the 'XC phase'

Poor Cavvy, poor Mary - we left as soon as the accident happened, the result was irrelevant to me after that
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What an awful outcome to something I thought was going to be really good for the sport. Is there anyway of getting messages/flowers etc to Mary? Watched the pair of them at Your Horse Live a few weeks ago and you can tell how much she thinks of this horse, I bet she's absolutely devestated. Looked at the photos - wish I hadn't - and really wish they'd take them down, surely they can see that this isn't the kind of photo any self respecting person would buy for goodness sake! Can't really comment on the rest of the day as haven't seen any of it, just wanted to show my condolences for Mary and the loss of such a fantastic horse
RIP Cavvy boy
 
I was there right opposite that fence and it was appalling, however the ground crew were really very good and it was a tragic end to an entertaining day.
Word on OT I thought he rode a blinder in the dressage phase and the jumping. Remember he did start off as a show jumper and that's how he rode the course.
Such a sad ending to what could have been a brilliant day.
Don't let the recriminations start until the full facts are known as this will make it worse for everyone concerned.
Mary take heart we are all thinking of you.
 
OT rode well. I do sometimes think he takes silly risks but today he really did deserve to go well. AN's horse was right to pull out that the second corner as he tried to send it on a major long one which wouold have ended badly more than likely...
 
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You are not the first person, or even the second, to tell me that Oli's riding was painfully reckless to watch today...
frown.gif


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But isn't it always????
crazy.gif


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It was worse than normal imho today! he was about 3 gears up speed wise from everyone else which was shown from being 40+ seconds ahead of the rest and WFP certainly wasn't hanging about.


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Totally agree - especially as he would have known from the other riders how many potential problems there were with the course and the ground (which looked horrendous)
 
I am so glad I didn't go now, poor Mary, its just dreadful. My OH is a groundsman, when I told him where they were holding this event he was really suprised, & expressed concern that the ground just wouldn't be suitable for horses. Apparently the pitch in the stadium is on pallet type things, this enables them to simply lift up the whole pitch & move it if necessary for events which don't require grass. He was concerned that there would not be enough of a root structure to give a good footing, seems sadly that he was right.
 
Glad to see they've taken the photos of Mary and Cavvy at the end down from that website - long time coming. Awful that there is still a video on a website with the round on although she looked like she was riding a really good round up until that point
 
Interesting comment above on the ground - my OH watches the rugby a lot, and said that the ground there was v slippy for recent matches, and he also commented on the grass being on pallets, which he thought were only about 10 inches deep, so not like real turf (which they cant grow successfully there anyway as it would not get enough light).

So very sad that the accident had to happen to probably the most popular and highly respected rider there, with a truly lovely and genuine horse.
 
What gets me about the whole thing is the sheer stupidity of it. Yes, I like the idea of Freestyle dressage to music, I find watch the same test over and over again at Burghley can be boring, brilliant as it is. But the rest of the event? No. These eventers are used to galloping across the country, not being confined to a stadium. Even SJ in 3 days is outside and in a larger area. It must have been like asking a marathon runner to suddenly sprint 60 metres, completely different and out of the horses comfort zone. Oli T was lucky to have come home in one piece, the way he rode. We could quite easily have been taking about an injured Flint Curtis too. But all (!) the finishers were lucky. I think we should write off EE as a horrible, tragic mistake - please don't have it next year as we could lose another one of our Eventing stars..We need to look at getting people excited about Burghley and the like again, increase the prize money (£100k for EE, only £60K for Burghley seems a bit silly to me!), maybe bring in freestyle dressage. Cavvy was amazing to watch, and we can't afford to see another horse cut off in his prime, with so much more yet to give.
 
I know one of the assistant coursebuilders. He got invited to help build the XC. He would have been devasted at Cavvy's death.
 
I think all the people involved were devestated by Cavvys death. They are all horsey people after all.

Beckypj I disagree. I think if Mary's accident hadnt happened, the event would have been considered alot more of a success with a few teething problems.... such a horrible accident is bound to tarr the event.
 
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