I am so upset right now that I am almost incoherent. I don’t know who made Tiffany attend that press conference, but making her sit there, beside the FEI President, and the FEI Foreign Vet who was part of Victor’s disqualification was nearly as wrong as the disqualification itself. To the Person(s) who made the decision to force Tiffany to be there, I find you to be a heartless, cold being. Whoever you are, I hope you lose some sleep over forcing Tiffany to speak through inconsolable tears in front of us. I was far from the only person to weep in commiseration with Tiffany. My own emotion was an even mixture of sympathy and anger.
Tomorrow I will have digested the many, many things Eric said at the press conference. “Miscarriage of justice” and “I’m ashamed for our sport”, both of which he said several times, capture the essence of his message. Once again I find myself shaking my head at the FEI.
I’m going to go have a stiff drink now.
Before I go do that I must mention that the FEI Foreign Vet is a man named Kent Allen. I asked him to answer one question: I asked him if he’s a rider and if so, if he found his horse with such a small cut on the coronet band (I’m going to try and get a photo of the cut and if I do I’ll post it tomorrow) whether he would ride it that day. I’m not sure which part of his answer shocked me more, but there were three items that made my very straight, limp hair begin to curl:
1. he’s a reiner
2. he said he would immediately have put the horse on antibiotics
3. he made a veiled criticism of Canadian Team vet Sylvie Surprenant for not, oh I don’t know, withdrawing Victor for a cut so small that it would have gone completely undetected if the horse had been presented for the jog with it
Tiffany and Eric, who shook his head through most of Haya's statement
The reiner and the princess
Eric, handling the questions with poise and utter indignation
He thinks a scratch requires antibiotics?
Unless there’s a sign of infection, you don’t need antibiotics. They interfere with the body’s ability to heal small wounds – you only need them if there’s an infection.
I feel very sorry for Tiffany. It seemed like cruel and unusual punishment for her to have to sit up there for the news conference. I truly hope that the administrators who made this decision grow some brains and apologise, then reverse the elimination.
I think it is a load of codswallop to eliminate a horse for a scratch. I think Eric is right and correct in what he says.
Let’s disqualify every athlete that has a scratch. Oh wait… that would mean only about 10 athletes from around the world would be allowed to compete.
And while we’re at it, let’s drug test Kent Allen’s horses. If he gives antibiotics that readily, then what else does he just give his horses for the smallest ‘injuries’?
Haya is corrupt.
They let riders who have whipped and ripped their poor horses faces off in anger continue in the competition, but this gets a rider eliminated??
Double set of standards.
Hope you can get that photo, Karen.
I’m doubting she would have attended the conference involuntarily. She may have decided she was emotionally able to do it, then had a breakdown. I don’t know.
I think that the FEI’s decision is absolutely ridiculous, and I hope that Canada will medal despite this development. The FEI body needs to take some time to figure out (read LEARN here) what constitutes lameness/hypersensitivity and what does not. Allen is incompetent; his veiled criticism Dr. Surprenant is unbelievable. Thermography should NOT be used exclusively in order to reach such a decision; it is not sufficiently reliable.
I feel bad for Tiffany yes having to face the press conference however this type of media coverage is unfortunately all part of competing at this level. My heart for her yes but noboday screamed outrage when Eric sat before a press conference after losing his cherished partner Hickstead. I actually am sure she could have refused to appear and sent a representative in her place and I commend her for appearing especially knowing she did no wrong and has absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.
Yes it is sad that while most qualified teams will be able to urilize all four riders we will be forced to compete with only three but keep in mind that in 2008 we could only carry forward with three riders and finished with a silver medal. How Torchy, Jill, Eric and Ian choose to have this effect or not effect their efforts as a team is what will be the truest testament to the strength of this team. Perhaps too many are already discounting Canada because of this.
Not to defend the decision at all but so many are screaming foul when they are not there first hand to see what the decision was based on. On the upside (not that there really is one perhaps) Tiffany has in no way at all been found to have done anything wrong at all and that I think in a horrible situation is something she can hold her head up over. Just think of the stigma attached to the Saudi team after being found guilty of blood doping and having that lifted just in time for the Olympics…..
You might want to check your facts, Cheryl. I am no fan of the Saudi team, but the violation Al Eid and Sharbatly were penalized for was a medications violation for bute, not blood doping. The information is all there on the FEI website.
Karen
Straight-Up
Considering the EU and UK medical control bodies concerns regarding the overuse of antibiotics in animal populations and the rise of antibiotic resistance I find it ridiculous that a veterinarian at the Olympics would suggest antibiotic use in a superficial wound.
That said, if there was a patent infection that was not healing with flushing and basic wound care then it would be considered. Other than that, the statement appears to be a gross over reaction in an attempt to justify a decision.
I don’t know what he saw, so really shouldn’t comment. But in a situation like this it seems strange that there wasn’t a team of vets consulted before coming to that conclusion. Why is it that a single vets word is, in this case, law?
I’d have like to seen an examination like that on the eventing horses. You can’t tell me that they didn’t have small scrapes and scratches after that cross country course. It seems strange and from a distance as if Canada was singled out for a spot inspection while the team was walking the course.
In order to maintain the sports integrity (in question at the moment) I think this needs to be investigated more fully, to prevent a miscarriage of a rule happening like this again in the future to any other nation.
You raise an excellent point, Emily. The FEI’s position, hammered into us ad nauseum yesterday, is that a cut can make a horse not want to touch a rail in anticipation of the pain, which would give a competitor an unfair advantage. In that case, they should be applying thermographic testing on the eventers before the show jumping too, since the argument applies equally to event horses.
A couple of notes on your other comments. Dr. Allen was not alone in disqualifying Victor. There is an FEI panel here of several vets. And all the horses that competed yesterday were tested, we have been told. It is apparently common for that to take place without the rider present. Canadian team grooms were there when all the Canadian horses were tested.
Karen
Straight-Up
Can someone please explain to me why the FEI is enforcing this rule, but allow rollkur to continue it’s practice at the games in the OPEN, photos being put up on facebook, and those riders go unpunished??!?!?!
If ANYONE here has media connections, PLEASE, use them!!! This is unfair to enforce one rule, and blatantly ignore another rule.
Rollkur has been banned by the FEI at FEI competitions, yet we have Patrik Kittel and another rider who are using this openly and even seconds before entering the ring. Yet nothing happens?
No, I won’t sit for that. If Tiffany is being unfairly disqualified, then use the rules correctly and disqualify those who are openly using cruel techniques to get a horse submissive.
This smells of corruption who got paid? With new horses and riders I didn’t think that Canada would have been that threatening.
My profound sympathy goes to Tiffany. Give the horse a hug from me.
I am happy that pressure is being put on the FEI to re-examine its “hypersensitivity protocol”. I sincerely hope that it does. Team Canada has my full support in continuing to protest this decision (for whatever that is worth).
It seems to me that the purpose of the protocol is admirable, as no one wants to see an injured horse forced to compete and everyone wants to see a fair competition. However, the FEI’s implementation of the protocol is something like using a sledgehammer to swat a fly.
If the aim is really to protect the health of the horse, what evidence is there that Victor would really suffer if he was forced to compete with such a small injury? Obviously the horse cannot speak for himself, but it seems ludicrous to suggest that such an “injury” would really cause unnecessary harm or suffering to the animal.
If the aim is really to ensure that Victor would not have an “unfair advantage” over his competitors, again I ask where is the evidence of this? Has some study been conducted to show that a horse with this “injury” would really have some kind of advantage? I don’t believe it. And furthermore, even if there is such a study doesn’t it depend on a case-by-case analysis (in other words, would Victor himself actually jump “cleaner” with this injury). I just can’t believe there is any evidence to support this conclusion.
To make matters worse, and in my view to make the whole thing completely unfair, there is no right of appeal. The examination is done when the rider/owner is not present, the decision is made and that is that. There is not even a whiff of procedural fairness from start to finish.
The interests at stake here are high: the owner’s interests, the rider’s interests and the team’s interests. The FEI’s decision to disqualify Victor had enormous consequences for everyone involved.
And the FEI’s statement on the photos and video of rollkur being used: Stewards have not seen anything they feel is abusive.
FEI–what happened to your integrity? You are turning a blind eye to abuse, and every horse person knows it, but here, you are theorizing and speculating on would’ve,could’ve.
What is wrong with you?!?!? You say the horse’s welfare is your main concern? I see none of that and thousands of others do too.
yay! Lynn!
This whole thing stinks! Of course, Foreign Vet would give his horse antibiotics–he’s a vet. He may well blast antibiotics in every direction, in every case. Hey, he isn’t the one paying….
Rollkur was redefined to include the use of “excessive force”. Those horses trained in rollkur don’t need excessive force applied, but it doesn’t make it right.
If we are on the band wagon of horse cruelty, the FEI investigated rollkur and banned it’s use at FEI competitions. So, when you see riders schooling their horses in the OPEN, using this method, with horses eyes rolling, and not ONE of them is disqualified, we have to seriously question the FEI’s rules—why ignore some and enforce others??? The Saudi Arabia team had received an 8 month ban for horses with illegal substances in their systems, but appealed and it was lightened to a 2 month ban and they were back in the Olympics. How is that right?!?!
good job, and well said!
Karen, i am interested in hearing your take on the official statement (email just received) by Equine Canada where the president of EC thanks the FEI and the princess personally.
“Statement from Equine Canada Regarding the Disqualification of Victor, Canadian Show Jumper from the 2012 Olympic Games
August 7, 2012, London, England – Michael Gallagher, President of Equine Canada, has issued the following statement regarding the International Equestrian Federation’s (FEI) hypersensitivity testing protocol.
“We fully support the FEI in its hypersensitivity testing protocol. This is an important testing procedure for the fairness of our sport and for the welfare of the horse which must always be paramount. Victor, our team horse, did have a small but sensitive area on the coronary band as a result of a minor lesion. This resulted in the disqualification of the horse in accordance with the FEI’s hypersensitivity protocol. The Canadian Team is disappointed with the outcome, and the impact both on our team and the Olympic dreams of our athlete Tiffany Foster,” states Mr. Gallagher.
“Equine Canada appreciates that the FEI has shared with us the findings of the veterinary examinations. We also thank the FEI and its president, HRH Princess Haya Al Hussein, for making it clear that the disqualification in no way implies any wrong doing on the part of the Canadian Team, nor athlete Tiffany Foster.”
So, hypersensitivity gets you disqualified, but hyperflexion gets you a silver and bronze medal.
Something is seriously wrong here. What does FEI stand for? Freakin’ Equestrian Idiots???
You create rules under the guidelines for horse safety, and then completely ignore the real cruelty that’s right in front of your eyes….
These arbitrary disqualification at the olympics or world cup are discouraging to our sport. Owners and riders are discouraged. I am all for fairness but this is not fair.