OMG Clayton Fredericks Burghley XC

To be fair he seemed to walk to the edge of the ditch to walk down and i guess if camera angle panned out you'd have seen that steward had horse already. He patted horse as he was led out and then paramedic came to talk to him. However, the horse didn't look to be travelling or enjoying himself at all from a fair way out, he clattered the house and white oxer fairly hard in front and behind and Clayton looked to be missing stone blind at this fence. Even earlier on course when he stoked him up he seemed to get very little reaction
 
Billie1007 said:
I happened to be at some fairly low key showjumping a couple of months ago and the Team Fredericks were all there as the children were competing. He and his son sat behind me as my friend completed a very satisfactory clear round where her young, big (out for experience) mare went beautifully. The young Fredericks boy proclaimed rather loudly 'she's going far too slow, that horse isn't a jumper it should do dressage'. Father said nothing whereas I wanted to poke small boy in the eye. Whole family were very gobby and for some reason when the daughter was eliminated the judge let her back in with her mother coaching her round. I am not completely heartless and great for the girl but I can't help thinking that I hadn't seen anyone else be given the privilege. I'm not keen.
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Did anyone else ask? It's not uncommon to go back in HC and school round if you've had a problem, I've done it BSJA let alone at local shows. Perhaps the Fredericksburg were the only people who thought to ask if they could?!
 
Clayton does not have a son but he does have a daughter.

I have just watched it and he does look at the horse - he also looks pretty wobbly on his feet and a bit winded. It looks like his air jacket did not go off either.

Pro horses are not used to things going wrong hence they look a bit confused and can often whinny. He is a fairly inexperienced horse for the level and he looked like he was getting tired. Clayton did the right thing in asking for more engine but the horse just did not get high enough.

I have no issue with what happened and how it was all dealt with. Each fence has staff for rider and horse and however much you might not like it the rider will always have priority to check they are ok.
 
Its very easy to label and downcry people, but since it wasnt us who hit the deck at speed a couple of times fairly recently and not knowing if he was winded and shocked, ill refrain from slagging him off as uncaring and and thoughtless rider
 
No SC, I guess I have no idea if anyone else asked and I know my whine is fairly unreasonable but they just seemed a very gobby/hoity toity bunch all in all. I certainly wasn't out to dislike them, I was quite star struck at first but I left thinking that the kids needed to wind their necks in and the parents were bloomin' miserable.
 
Love how the iPad thinks the Fredericks should be Fredericksburg!

I'm pretty sure they don't have a son so perhaps they didn't feel they could discipline someone else's child?
 
I hope all the horses/riders that fell are ok.

I saw Sam's fall and was SO impressed at how concerned she was with how her horse was.

Not seen Clayton's fall, I'm not sure I want to from the replies so far but will try to catch up later online. I sincerly hope he was just winded/shocked and not indifferent.
 
No opinion either good or bad as my only 'dealings' with him has been competeing against him in a ODE at Aston-le-walls and we had a little chat as you do with fellow competitors.
In his defence I would say he was shocked and also looked like he had a bloody nose (could be wrong though) He did pat the horse as they walked away, ok he didn't fling his arms round it and snog it's face off but having had a crashing fall at that speed and that height I should imagine he was probably thinking what the hell happened there whilst trying to get his breath / barings back !

I must admit I did watch it first as small screen and sound off but then full screen with sound on - beware it's not nice viewing.
 
Omg :( sam penn's fall brought tears to my eyes.

Clayton. You can see that fleeting moment of absolute terror. He does care, he looks sick to his stomach and goes imeadiatley to look over. Afterwards, with the horse putting weight on all four legs he more looks relieved.

I just couldnt put my horse to a fence like that, even if he had the ability. Its awful, any of those falls could of been broken legs, horrendous. I don't really see the need for it :(
 
OMG how judgemental are most of you, NOBODY knows what clayton was thinking......he had a horrid fall and no one can blame him for not running after his horse, the horse was attended by fence steward asap. My old boss lost horse at major 3de and horse was killed outright he walked off didnt want to see horse......does that mean he didnt love that horse?? No he was in complete shock.
it;s the most awful feeling knowing that you put a horse on the floor, so PLEASE before you spout off, put brain into gear it's easy to say I would never do that but until you have been in that stituation with people watching etc don't judge!!!!!
 
To me I thought Clayton was winded by the way he moved. On the clip I saw I couldn't see Sam Penn get to her horse - I saw the steward catch it and lead it up out of the ditch with Sam no where near it. I personally thought she should have pulled up earlier. Her horse is 19 and didn't like the brushes in the water and i think should have been pulled up then (yes I know hindsight is a wonderful thing but i thought she was a car crash about to happen). He's hardly going to learn new things at this age and looking at his record he hasn't done 4* before.
 
Thanks Kiribati, that's just what I wanted to say. I was with the horse that died today, is rather not hear people fighting over whether riders care or not, they just show it differently.
 
He looks shocked. He was nearly home, well up with the leaders and then his horse had a crashing fall. As others have said he has had 2 really bad falls and a very nasty near miss this year. His horse had been going through the hedges and looked like it tried to do the same with that hedge. It become freakishly warm as well today and wonder if that caught any of the horses out. The fredericks horses normally get home full of running.
 
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KatPT said:
Thanks Kiribati, that's just what I wanted to say. I was with the horse that died today, is rather not hear people fighting over whether riders care or not, they just show it differently.
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Sorry, which horse died today?
 
Point is..... We are allowed to have an opinion on what we see. To me the Fredericks seemed hoity toity irl. To others Clayton seemed to dismiss his horse after it's fall. I think those of you who are OMG'ing are being rather dramatic. Yes, we weren't there and no, we don't know what went through his mind but does that mean we can't make a judgement about what we felt we saw? No.
 
KatPT said:
Thanks Kiribati, that's just what I wanted to say. I was with the horse that died today, is rather not hear people fighting over whether riders care or not, they just show it differently.
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Sorry KatPT, are you saying a horse died today, or am I just reading your post wrongly. I have been watching the burghleytv live off and on, but nowhere have I seen that a horse died. I did feel that quite a few of the horses looked tired early on the course, but as I am not there, I A: do not know what the ground is like and B: do not know what the weather is like.
 
Sorry, Heartbreak hill broke his pastern on the flat galloping up to cottesmore leap. Pure freak accident. Rider was heartbroken and it isn't something I will forget soon. Of course people are allowed an opinion, just be open minded that what you see isn't the whole story.
 
We can have our opinions, but stating these as facts are not fair and neither is making insinuations against someone who can't reply. Or being suggestive when it could impact other innocent parties.

So I am going back to watch some of the truly brilliant riding that is on show and wish again I had been there...!
 
For a start the Fredericks only have one child - a daughter.

Secondly I have looked at the footage and whilst Clayton did not immediately go to the horse, he had obviously taken a pretty nasty fall himself, looks like he landed on his head and then did a somersault and could easily be injured, concussed, shaken, shocked...

I would find it very hard to comment on a situation that I personally have never experienced. How many people who have commented on this thread have ridden a 4* level? And who have potentially taken a pretty nasty fall like that?

I know I certainly haven't seen anything in the short video clip that would in anyway suggest that he did not show concern for the horse. Just because he doesn't go and kiss the horse on the nose does not mean that he is not concerned about his welfare. He is aware that in a top class competition like this there will be a competent team who are more than capable of looking after his horse and assessing the situation. He does look down at the horse but is, from the clip I have seen, approached by the fence judges/ steward and halted himself - obviously they had significant concerns about Clayton's welfare. He does approach the horse and pat him once he is out of the ditch, I know this may have taken 10 minutes, may have taken 30 seconds but how do we know how long between the fall and the pat? Trust me I work in video production and things can easily be made (accidentally or purposefully) to look different to what they actually are!
 
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