Parents Sue Over Equestrian’s Death, Raising Safety Issues

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ridingsafely

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EVENTING US: Parents Sue Over Equestrian’s Death, Raising Safety Issues »

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/sports...amp;oref=slogin

The parents of a 17-year-old girl who died in a fall while competing in the Olympic equestrian sport of eventing have sued the sport’s governing body, her former trainer and others in a California court, claiming that the death was caused in part because the course was made more dangerous to make it more “thrilling” to spectators.

(Source: New York Times - 18 May 2008)
 
What is wrong with people........and they are already suing for a previous daughter's death......

The blame culture disgusts me.How dreadful they are so self-obsessed that they need to sue...... Why does there always have to be fault? So many of these eventing accidents are a ghastly mistake on the part of the rider. Horses are occasionally dangerous, riding and competing them is occasionally dangerous. If you ride, you accept that. If a riding error causes a fatality, the buck stops with the rider. If something happens to a horse, which causes a fatality, ie heart attack, fracture etc, again, that's where the buck stops.

How on earth are those providing the competition and being paid to train her more culpable than those who provided her with the means to compete in the first place, ie her parents?

What do they hope to gain..... money will not bring her back, and surely dissecting the cause and researching as to why it happened, or campaigning for more awareness for riders capabilities would be a far more constructive way to work through what they are feeling....?

The Mark Davis Fund became a huge support to horse sports, and what an intelligent and positive way to try and make sense of the tragedy of losing a child, and learn from it.

It's unfortunate these others don't have the same perspective.
 
They sound bonkers. Terrible tragedy for the family but surely if it was dangerous they shouldn't have let her run?
 
found this....
CALIFORNIA: Fresno State Faces $10M Suit Over Equestrian Death
--------------------------------------------------------------
The parents of a Fresno State University equestrian team member
who died after falling from a horse have filed a $10 million
negligence claim against the school, saying their daughter was
put at risk by the school's lack of coaches or supervision, the
Associated Press reports.

In addition, the parents say they are "very concerned" about
apparent discrepancies in university reports about their
daughter's death. Shana Eriksson, 18, spent three days in a coma
and then died last September after her horse spooked, whirled
around and then fell on her during a trail ride with two
teammates. The university maintains the accident was unrelated
to any team activity and that Eriksson was riding at her own
risk.

Eriksson's parents accuse the university of failing "to provide
adequate coaching, instruction or supervision" of their daughter
by allowing her to go on an unsupervised trail ride.

The all-female equestrian team is the largest in the country
with close to 100 riders. At the time of Shana's accident, no
coaches had been hired. During the accident, the girls left the
barn area and headed across a road, because their usual arena
was being dragged. That was when they came across a herd of
cows, which panicked the horses. Shana's mother Karan Eriksson
said that while looking into her daughter's death, she was
"disconcerted" to find several versions of university incident
reports, some of which exclude information that could cast a
poor light on the school.

Responding to a California Public Records Act request, the
university provided hundreds of pages of internal reports to The
Associated Press. One police report says that Kasey MacFarlane,
who was riding with Eriksson at the time, told authorities, "We
were walking by the cows because they were dragging the arena
and we were told not to ride there for a couple of days."
Another draft of the same report, with the same incident number,
date and title, says only, "We were walking by the cows," and
omits the statement that they had been told not to ride in the
area.

Public Safety Director David Moll said the first report was a
draft that should never have been released. He said the report
that omitted the statement about the arena being closed was the
accurate copy. The Fresno County Coroner's office has not
released its report on Shana Eriksson's death, saying that the
investigation is still open. The claim comes on top of a recent
admission that an assistant coach injected two horses with
tranquilizers at competitions. The university said Monday it had
not violated any rules but would stop the practice anyway.

The NCAA doesn't have rules about drugging horses at equestrian
competitions. But U.S. Equestrian bans the use of tranquilizers
before competitions, as does state law. University officials
said late Monday that they had only seen an informal copy of the
claim and were not prepared to respond.
 
I wonder if these parents have ever faced being sued by any of their equestrian customers?





accident

• noun 1 an unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally. 2 an incident that happens by chance or without apparent cause. 3 chance.


It is about time that this word ACCIDENT, is taken for what it actually means.
 
There's being unlucky, and then there is losing 2 daughters in horse riding accidents. That would seem to me to be too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence!!

Who taught these girls to ride? Their mother? Who chose their horses? Their mother? Who just happens to own an equestrian facility!!!

Either very unlucky or fate!
 
A truly terrible thing to happen to the family and I can't imagine how awful it would be to lose one child let alone two. However, the parents were involved with horses and must have realised that there is always a level of risk involved with them. If they truly believed that it was so dangerous that these people have been negligent then why were the daughters allowed to continue? Surely if they believed that the course was so dangerous they could have stopped their daughter from riding it?

Like a said, a truly awful thing to happen, but unfortunately accidents do just that.
 
So, they sue both the USEA and USEF and Galway Downs for one daughter, then sue the college for the other daughter. Yup, that's just wrong.
I don't know about the college daughter but Mia was on her fifth refusal of the course and continued on. The way it was happening, the td and jump judge couldn't safely stop her from continuing through the water jump. It was her fault that she didn't follow the rules.
And the parents think this will bring their daughters back??? How sad for them that they are so angry at the world that they must publicly sling mud at organizations and institutions that provide a service.
 
Something that has been picked up big time by the press here in the US is that either M Etherington-Smith or Mark Phillips were course designers at venues where 6 horses have lost their lives - including Red Hills, Rolex, and going back to Mia's death Etherington-Smith was the then course designer for Galway Downs.

Mia has already had 4 stops in the Galway CC** and was being flagged down but carried on to the water and the horse hung a leg over the wishing well fence. There were some fences on the course that had been included in the CC*** the previous year.

Mark Phillips interestingly has been somewhat vague over the safety topic here, particularly over Darren Chiacchia's fall at Red Hills (one course he designed) saying the falls / deaths had no common thread other than being maily rotational falls - quoted in a NY Times article.
 
Cefyl, how did those statistics compare with other course designers? Or is it that the UK designers are asking for a greater degree of horsemanship than before?
 
[ QUOTE ]
Cefyl, how did those statistics compare with other course designers? Or is it that the UK designers are asking for a greater degree of horsemanship than before?

[/ QUOTE ]

Statistics - I believe there has been a statistical list drawn up of designers v falls. I will try and find it. It would be interesting to do the stats on worldwide eventing accidents over the past 10 yrs of designer = falls / fatalities (horse and rider).

I don't think the UK designers are asking for a greater degree of horsemanship in the US than anywhere else in relation to the training available. Looking back to the early '80's when I first had the opportunity to ride in the US eventing was very much more at a grass roots level and not as "fashionable" as it was then in the UK. But suddenly it became the "in thing" with the advent of UK greats doing clinics in the US - Lucinda Green springs to mind.

The US training system is fabulous for developing young riders - particularly over fences, think of Laura Kraut, Beezie Madden, Meredith Michaels Beerbaum, Margie Engle, thanks in part to George Morris. It has a whole network of schools and colleges that include a high level of horsemanship in the curriculum. Maybe not in the same way we talk about riding xc in the UK with the tradition of a hunting background but then we have lost that to a large extent have'nt we in the UK?
 
I agree about the UK losing it's basic learning systems, but that is as much to do with health and safety regs, and the advent of the blame culture as much as hunting being changed. The insane bareback games we played ( bareback wrestling races) and never thinking about jumping ponies bareback in headcollars, even bareback SJ comps taught you balance and stickability and an understanding of what was happening underneath you. That, to me, is what a lot of riders fail to feel. That's why I'm still of the opinion there is too much 'safe' training that doesn't prepare you for the realities of thinking on your feet in an actual competition. When a horse that a rider knows well in the safety of an arena becomes a horse that the rider doesn't know at all, due to pressure of competition, how does the rider deal with that in a split second decision if the reaction isn't there, because they've never experienced the situation before?
But I don't know how you can give the increased amount of riders participating in the sport those experiences.....maybe that's the problem, there are more people doing it and it's just a numbers scenario....
Sorry, I'm not explaining myself well.....

The up and coming really talented riders that achieve on a lot of horses are the one's that have had to ride anything, in part due to buying and selling background. OT and MW spring to mind. The current Aussie and NZ riders at the top end started exactly the same way. Nothing beat riding difficult/quirky/reactive horses to teach you how to ride.
The riders you mention are all showjumpers, and whilst I applaud them, and George Morris, again you can't compare the two disciplines from the safety angle.
It would be fascinating to see those statistics if you can find them.
 
GoneToFrance - you are 100% and the rest correct in what you say. With political correctness taking over the sporting world kids are no longer encouraged to ride bareback at PC Camp down to the river with only a headcollar for control. In fact are there any bareback gymkana games at all? The basic feel and instincts are squeezed out.

And as you also say maybe it is just sheer numbers now. Pressure on the organisers to give the spectators a great day out. Pressure on the course designers to whittle down the numbers after the dressage to a climax, nail biting finish between just a few on the last day.

I mentioned George Morris and his influence purely because though yes it is show jumping / hunter jumpers it teaches a more positive and fluid way of riding fences. Some of the younger eventers now look quite stiff, petrified, as though all they want is to finish the xc as quickly as possible. The basics are shot to hell once they are out on the course as though all they want to do is finish. Is it because it has become the "IT" discipline that there are so many out there in the eventing circuit.
 
I love the way George Morris trains riders and horses. I totally agree about the fluidity. The trouble with going XC tho', and I may well be hugely disagreed with here, is that you need to have greater changes in the gears of your canter.
Trainers teach keeping your rhythm, and keeping riding forward. That is of course, correct, but to someone who is learning, that seems at odds with the 'coffin canter' for example. The difference between riding in third gear to a tricky fence, is very different to riding at the same speed without engagement. All the top riders balance and set their horses up to a degree, it's just that much harder to see them doing it because they are so polished. But that is not what is filtering through down the levels.
One of the best riders ever to grace eventing used to tell riders on clinics to keep riding forward whatever, yet I have seen this rider choke a horse into a fence on more than one occasion when it was totally necessary. Because, sometimes, it is totally necessary to throw the 'perfect riding' handbook away, and deal with the split second nightmare that might be about to befall you!
When you have galloping stretches, tight turns, drops and combinations, you use quite big variations in speed and engagement to negociate fences easily, especially on younger less experienced horses. From some of the riding I have seen at all levels, Badminton included, some riders don't seem to 'get' it.
Again, I'm not sure that I'm explaining this well enough, because the training that currently happens is correct, it just doesn't seem to allow for the 'sh1t hitting the fan' moments.

I think eventing has become more glamorous, and has certainly overtaken SJ on most youngsters wish list.
I do think it's a shame that there is so much less fun nowadays. Every rider seems to have a plan to get to the next level. If you're a pro, or a serious pilot, them of course that is correct, but for those with one horse the pleasure factor seems to have disappeared, and been replaced with the need to be intense at all three phases.

Maybe I'm getting old.....
frown.gif
 
GonetoFrance - again correct about the top riders and being fluid in their seat and aids xc. BUT how many of the "younger" brigade can we say that about. Yes there are some beautifully talented riders with natural ability like NT / Buck D / Harry Meade to name but a few (and I apologise for missing others out - cannot list all here). They are few and far between. Many would benefit from some back to basic George Morris style teaching over fences. It makes me cringe to see some of the xc seats, stiff, appalling legs, frankly petrified looking riders. Those basics relate to SJ and XC. There are some so unbalanced now in the saddle they are accidents waiting to happen.

Anyone in the UK old enough to remember Capt Eddie Goldman (sadly I do) - his way of teaching over fences was so similar to the modern George Morris way. And a lesson in school would often be followed by a trip out to a field for some "natural" fences - if your basics are correct then so should your control and ability to get back from speed to balance and pace for a technical fence such as a cofffin.
And to cope with split second alterations when all seemingly goes wrong.

I agree that when I started eventing as an adult in the late '70's that courses have changed but we still had the galloping stretches, tight turns, drops and combos too way back then but I don't ever remember the horrific wobbling tug - haul - hook look of some riders today in such great a percentage of numbers back then.

Very telling was a conversation with a young lady in the UK we know who is riding at I & A level being lucky enough to have parents who have bought her oodles of ready made horse power. She will NOT hunt even though they have a meet at their home each season because the "hedges and gates terrify her". She will also not SJ even at local BSJA shows because the people who SJ are "awful, just a bunch of Gypsies from Birmingham" (her quote NOT mine!). But any conversation with her or her parents involves a whole lot of first name dropping in the eventing world - it seems to be for her at least to be "the scene" to be involved with. Definately a case of who / where to see and be seen with.
 
i've only just read this thread, and am flabbergasted by the parents of these two girls. especially as it looks as if the daughter who died eventing was flagrantly ignoring the rule to pull up after so many refusals. 100% pilot error, or perhaps parent error. whatever happened to "today's not the day, let's walk home and work out what went wrong?"
you cannot blame the course builders for any of this. the rider makes the decision to run the horse, after walking the course. if the rider walks the course and sees a fence (or fences) that are possibly/probably beyond his/her/the horse's level of ability or experience, they should withdraw. i've done it, and i'll bet most thinking riders have probably done it too. that's the responsibility of the rider.
a lot of the comments in this thread make a lot of sense, particularly gonetofrance's excellent points.
the mention of stiff, terrified young riders going xc terrifies ME, though... jeez, what hope have they got if they're terrified? their poor horses must be wondering what the hell is going on, and it is a recipe for total disaster. do the parents and coaches really not see this? it defies belief.
 
silly silly parents, they let her run, they didnt point out the dangerous bits before she ran, and the girl kept going after being pulled up. Money isnt going to bring the girl back.

Garnet, i completely agree with you, i dont claim to be the world best rider (my riding isnt pretty) but having had my own ponies since a young age i have played those bareback games, Ive jumped ditches bareback in headcollars (bringing ponies in from the field the lazy way), Ive got it horribly wrong playing over XC fences and had to rely on my super little pony to get me out of it and normaly when i put him in that situation he had a tendancy to jump me off, Ive ridden difficult ponies because i cant afford the non difficult ones. I think it has made me a much better rider because it not only gives you a secure seat (not pretty but i'm hard to get off) but it teaches you to think quickly, how to react when the pony puts in a dirty stop or a spook, It also teaches you (some times the hard way) when youve got to stop because it is getting too dangerous, and when you are out of your depth. Its also taught me to read the signs given by the ponies so that quite often i can predict a spook coming or predict how he will look at a fence and predict just when you can push the pony at the fence and when it would be safer to let them stop or run out.
 
I really like these threads that can develop without pointscoring. I find it difficult to discuss what's happening now without the comparisons to a few years ago, basically because I think that a lot of the changes wrought have not necessarily been for the better.
I remember being enthralled and awed by a lot of the top riders. Even ten to fifteen years ago to get onto a clinic with a top rider was difficult in itself. Now, when I (rarely) watch the Horse Channel and I see LG teaching seriously novice riders how to ride an XC styled, but collapsible fence at 80cm in an indoor arena, I just get the impression that somehow that's terribly wrong. I get that it's wonderful to benefit from her tremendous experience, but she's teaching basic nuts and bolts. She is not saying these riders are capable of going XC successfully, (I hope) at an affiliated level. But the message going out from the screen is that, to a degree, she is.....
Please, if any one reading this has been one of them, I'm sorry, it's not a direct dig, it is an observation on the changes.
BUT..... surely she should be out there fine tuning the competent riders at a competitive level, not teaching the very novice riders. When someone like her assures you that you did it well....'very good'....principally because you got to the other side without falling off or stopping, what kind of message does that send out? Especially because it is a nationwide broadcast? Does that then let every rider who thinks 'I can ride as well as that person on her programme' have the misplaced confidence to think that they are capable of going XC safely, because they are more competent than someone LG apparently thinks is 'good'?
OK, for the sake of argument, I have simplified this down to a huge extent, but maybe this is partially at the root of some of the problems.
We all laugh our heads off at the X-Factor contestants, a fair proportion of whom should never have let their vocals see the light of day. These guys believe they are good, though. Is that's what's happening in eventing even just a little bit?
I've met the rider cefyl talks about (not in person, but her clones). The horses are always the fault, not her skills (or lack thereof) as a rider when it goes wrong. And those who stand to profit, ie trainers, and dealers, tend not to tell them like it really is, there's an income to be had. And on it goes.
Now, because you can go in at a lower level, the climb is just that, a climb. Before, it was a massive step to start eventing, a huge decision to jump big solid fences. The dressage was just at that point a necessary evil. Now, it's big business, and good safe jumping horses are passed over in favour of a horse that moves well enough to do a 70% test even if you cannot understand what you are riding. I am worried by the riders that believe they're good; by sitting on a lovely moving horse that doesn't need much input at the level of test they're riding, they receive a good dressage score that puts them in contention. These are rarely the horses to get you out of jail when all goes belly up, but how can you convince young /inexperienced riders of that until it goes horribly wrong?

Deffo getting old........
 
This may add to some of the discussions here as reference information (yes I know it's not the US but...):

Reference information - Australia
Monitoring Falls During Eventing - Establishment of a national surveillance system to monitor injury to riders and horses from falls during the cross-country phase of eventing in Australia.
A report for the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation by Raymond A. Cripps and Denzil O’Brien - Flinders University - December 2004.
Read the report at: http://www.rirdc.gov.au/reports/HOR/04-171.pdf
 
So here we go again! Horse and rider never had a clean jumping Intermdiate event, even had 6 poles down in 1 and Retiered in her previous Intermediate leading up to the CCI**

OK Honey I really think your ready for the CCI** at Galway Downs.

And now she is gone! ring a bell anyone???
 
I think sadly they are feeling guilty and are seeking solace by blaming someone, anyone in fact.
You can't tell me a 17 year old would enter, drive herself etc without her parents knowing and supporting her, as they are professional equestrians, they should have stepped in and stopped her if they felt she was unprepared.
Riding half a ton of horse at 30 mph over fixed fences is as dangerous as life gets, and anyone who does so must be aware they are taking a risk, not just in jumping the fences but evven in the horse tripping even and falling. (as in Clayton Frederick's horse recently)
I am ashamed they are giving the horse fraternity such a bad name, yes if someone is negligent perhaps sue, but as a parent, it's their duty to make sure their daughter was adequately prepared, or step in and saw no to her.
This doesn't sound like negligence to me, more two distraught parents feeling a huge burden of guilt...I feel sorry for their loss but not their behaviour.
 
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