Who are we to judge? Really? When a subjective video spins some not so pretty riding behavior one way, and thousands of viewers create an angry uproar, does it make the rider any more guilty, or just plain unlucky? The FEI has got to be pondering this and other questions after once again finding themselves in the hotseat for allowing questionable riding to occur right under their nose. This time, it’s one of the United States’ most well known reiners that has come under major fire, due to a video by Epona tv (they’re the same guys who kicked off the rollkur blue tongue debacle last year) that has steadily gained a landslide of angry comments since it was posted on YouTube last Thursday. The video in question is of Craig Schmersal, schooling in the warm up at the FEI World Reining Final in Malmo, Sweden on May 21: He went on to win second place with Lil Miss Addy Tude, and like him or not, he is unquestionably one of the most successful reiners in the world. It doesn’t take a stretch of the imagination to see that sharply jerking a seemingly obedient horse in the mouth with a shanked bit is not so nice.
Read more at the source: Mob Rule.
Article excerpt posted on Sidelinesnews.com from On the Line.
