Dressage Disaster: Catastrophic Crash For Carrie Schopf In The Grand Prix Dressage Ring

When the helmet rule came into effect for FEI Dressage riders a few years ago the argument was that none of these elite riders ever fall off at horse shows. Here we are in 2023 and we have two FEI riders come crashing off twice in one week.

Someone needs to coin the marketing slogan "Helmets, For when you can't fix bad horsemanship."

Dressage riders have jacked up and trigger-stacked the FEI dressage horses so much that they are literally no longer capable of being a harmonious or even submissive partner in the dressage ring.

The inception of bigger thigh rolls allows riders to be capable of riding higher levels of dressage than they are physically capable of. Riders are over horsed and it is not a good look for dressage.

Carrie Schopf is 65 years old and probably as invincible as the young rider we saw crash in yesterday's video. But at what point do we hold the team around these riders accountable for their safety. There is a coach, trainer, groom or someone along the line that probably could have said this horse is a bit hot today. Or is it because there was a trigger-stacked warm-up that set the horse up for failure.

These crashes are not just a dressage disaster for each of these riders it is a complete disaster for the sport. As it continues in the direction that I have been talking about over the past few years. My videos garner a lot of hate but I am not wrong.

Dressage has evolved and so have the disasters. It is time to bring back safety and animal welfare into the sport before we lose it forever.

Steps off soapbox

Notes For Karen: Something did not just happen in that corner. This horse has ridden at this venue for years. It is also a Grand Prix Dressage horse that should be able to fly around the world from venue to venue without any problems. Training is the point of dressage.

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[thangle]

HAHAHAHA. How do you get to that level and can't handle a horse barely cantering unexpectedly? What a joke.

[lynnevarley]

These antics are provoked by the tension modern dressage techniques create within the horse.
Too often we see horses with tight short necks, exaggerated elevated paces which look jerky and mechanical, no wonder horses explode when they are simmering with tension.
The correctly trained horse that has been carefully and considerately produced and given time to develop becomes increasingly easy to ride.
They don't need double bridles or spurs. Their paces are enhanced by the training and should look effortless smooth and give the impression of ease.

[karlachampe]

This horse had just had ENOUGH! Classical dressage masters are turning in their graves. What ever happened to riding as if your reins are silk threads? There is no softness here. There is no joy in the hearts of these horses.(Except this one when free of the rider's restrictions) It is a shame that dressage has become a circus event of fancy movers rather than the delicate communication between two souls it started out to be.

[petrairene]

Found another video here with her riding a St George. That woman doesn't even have independent hands, she is yanking at the horses mouth involuntarily with every step it takes, with the reins extremely short and restricting. Not a miracle that this horse explodes, and more hanging in the face to stop a tense, unhappy horse is just the recipy for more disaster. Another rider thinking the only thing she needs to do to be able to compete at the higher levels is buying a trained horse. That woman needs a reality check.

[claudia]

“Riders are overhorsed”
I don’t think I could’ve said it any better.. Imo this is the biggest problem in dressage nowadays.

[zaramacintosh]

horse said don’t worry, I got this.. proceeds to go across the diagonal, flying change, collected (ish?) trot, canter, pirouette (yes, let’s call it that), perform a majestic buck, canter around the corner into a lovely extended trot, into a half…??? pass collected trot, and goes into extended again! man what a horse

[johnwatson]

The amazing thing is that the poor dressage horse does not appear to know how to leave the arena !!

[ezire]

You know there is something rotten about dressage when you actually root for the free horse. Unfortunately, there is more torture awaiting for him as the process of learned helplessness has clearly not been completed.

[ezire]

This type of bolt happened to me a few times in my 40+ horsing carrier. You need a trigger and a pissed horse, which is well experienced with restriction to act in a way so the rider has no time to pick the reins. The initial spook that lasts fraction of a second gives the horse enough muscle momentum to leap, twist and run, and continue till the rider is off. This is very different from a horse that spooks from a state of happy mind. If a horse canters on the trail and a bird lifts off in it's path, it may jump aside, stop and look, maybe even buck a little, but will not try to get rid of the rider so purposely and effectively like what we see in this video. I completely agree with the statement of riders being overhorsed. And that these bolts are very dangerous. I had a few of those in my life and it taught me to stop pissing the horse! Acutely or chronically. Will this rider ever learn that too?

[jonjonwp]

He was clearly bottled up before he took off. Had he just had enough of something that happened before she came in.

[medelle]

There are a lot of problems here, not the least of which is that the horse needs turn out. He had a great time after he dumped the rider.

[kjmav]

Rider could have broken her shoulder or, worse, her neck! Agree with the lead-in comment. We need to take a long hard look at the sport and what we are doing to our animals.

[equestanton]

I don't think riders are "overhorsed", horses are probably over prepared instead. I do think dressage riders ironically just don't ride very well, yes but second training methods mean the horse get's to a point where it's just had enough. Bolting and trying to dislodge the rider is a clear signal of just that, just as napping is. Having grown up in a jumping family, then moved into dressage it's clear to me dressage is all about fear of the horse. Managing the horse to negate that fear in such a way that flight or fight ultimately becomes its only resort to achieving any happiness at all. For one example in warm ups concentrating on making the horse just do one thing most likely it's weakest thing all the time, repeat repeat repeat. Sustaining that posture endlessly not to mention jabbing it with spurs to achieve things like the piaffe is detrimental to both the mental and physical well being of the horse, hardly worth saying but there it is. By the time it get's into the arena bearing in mind this is being done every competition the horse gets to the point that it just either bolts or naps out of stress, flight or fights. Isn't this exactly what we are seeing more and more of? Sustained positions or postures are abusive and horses ultimately let us know by going feral, that or they literally break, lameness that sort of thing. Horses are not machines, sadly unlike us only they seem to know when enough is enough. Everything is stressful for a horse in competition, horses are not made to be ridden, fly in planes, stand around in stalls, endlessly do in dressage what they may only do once or twice fleetingly in a field. Using this fact as a starter we can go a long way to respecting what it is the horse actually needs.

[coveyssteve]

"The inception of bigger thigh rolls allows riders to be capable of riding higher levels of dressage than they are physically capable of. Riders are over horsed and it is not a good look for dressage."-- Good observation. Good post.

[debrabiderman]

The more I watch dressage the more I am convinced it is not for all horses. Some horses although bred for it don't get it. They never like it. Hey it's like working a job you hate. I know as smart and willing as my Arabian was he would have been a bear in dressage. But put him on a fifty mile competitive trail ride and he was ecstatic. Ears forward tail held high. Well trained and loving every minute of watching feet and looking for arrows. Training a 10 mile 12 mph trot 5 days a week. Out in the woods.
Sorry I digress. My point is the horses who don't like it don't like it..
That was an unhappy horse.

[carolannlocks]

If anyone has shown it has happened . I don’t think it’s either one of their faults as this horse is a Grand Prix well trained horse . Sometimes the atmosphere is just too much.. this has happened to me at schooling shows w my Tino however he really didn’t spook. He just basically wanted to run because it was a lot for him to take in.. I stay on for these bolts but my horse always is super strong and excited when competing.

[Flash-]

That was scary, surprised to see she did come off. He took off in a bolt when they weren't even into the arena. Hope horse and rider recovered.

[MR-lqss]

Horse proved he didn't need the rider to execute the program in style. Hope he doesn't get abused for it.

[andrepedzik]

There is no money to be made by taking a horse into training by the slow and carefull methods of the past. Everyone is only interested in quick results and how fast and how high can you go or jump. A horse takes at least twelve years to develop into a truly fully muscled and mentally sound individual, how many people are willing to wait that long.

[alicemeyers]

It's so obvious for so many poor dressage horses - they have enough of the torture!!!