Monthly diary — July 2007

Much talk over there has been of the FEI hearing of Amy Tryon for alleged abuse of her horse Le Samurai, at the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event. Samurai went lame before the final fence but Amy, the overnight leader, jumped it before pulling up.

The horse was later put down due to a serious leg injury. People have been quick to judge and some have sought my opinion. Only those who've had a horse break down under them can understand what Amy experienced. She had perhaps 10 seconds from the horse going lame to making the decision to jump the last.

In the saddle it is hard to define immediately what is going on if it has never happened to you before. I can still vividly recall experiencing something similar years ago. I had no idea that what felt like a sudden lameness behind was actually my horse dying beneath me from a burst aorta. I had just seconds to try and work out what was happening but by then the next fence was there.