This is Michael Morrissey on Crelido, USEF WEG Selection Trial #2. Apparently he is facing charges from the FEI and the USEF. In competition you are apparently allowed 2-3 uses of a crop/whip. COTH'ers counted 12-13 smacks. Watch for yourself...
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Michael Morrissey: Too much with the whip?
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I guess it was fugly blog where I saw this before? If you read the comments, you will learn that this is not the first instance of whip abuse from Mr. Morrissey. Two years ago he did the same thing in Great Britain - according to the news article, there were boos and hisses from the crowd, and he was disqualified for excessive use of the whip. Apparently his father is some kind of big shot, which is why he's been allowed to go on as he does. Shame on him!
ReplyDeleteThe previous incident sounds like a carbon copy of this one: same horse ran out at a water jump and Morrissey beat the snot out of him.
Recently I was reading the rules of a particular rodeo association which put what I think very succinctly: the arena is not the place to school your horse.
If your horse misbehaves to a degree where you feel the urge to break the rules on discipline, that's just too bad, take him home, train him some more, and try again another day. Don't use the arena to showcase your horse's bad training, your own lack of riding skill, and your bad temper.
In this instance, the rules are absolutely clear: no more than three whacks with a crop for any one incident. Morrissey hits his horse thirteen times. Now, I know I'm in danger of being flamed for this, but I don't see the whacks with the crop as some kind of horrifying abuse. Horses are pretty tough and this one probably forgot the incident by the time he was on the trailer home. Other posters on other forums have said the horse probably had welts. I don't think that seems very likely. I don't see any point in exaggerating what actually happened, because what happened is bad enough: Morrissey knowingly and flagrantly violated the rules on crop use, and took his frustrations out on a helpless animal in a public place. Imagine what he does in private!
Awe...thats terrible! I'm just getting into the world of English riding and showing, so I do not know all the rules, but that jsut looks horrible to me. If you have to smack your horse that much to get him to perform, maybe he isn't suited for that level of competition. How would the rider like to be beaten like that? What would the punishment be?
ReplyDeleteAllie I agree that what was done to this horse does is not on par with soring of TWH or screws in a bosal, but it was totally uncalled for.
ReplyDeleteMorissey is obviously having a temper tantrum and the horse had to pay the price. And yeah, what does he do in private? What really irks me is that the horse's refusal looks like Morissey's fault in the first place and on the second try the horse looks like he would have gone over without all the whipping.
ironically my verification word is retrail
I don't see any abuse here. Yes he deserved to be disqualified for overuse of the whip because he broke the rules, but I think he did the right thing. The horse is known to have a water problem and he did whathe had to to get the horse over and I'm sure next time he wont have to use the whip as much.It's all very well to say you need to school it at home but open water can look very different depending when you are.
ReplyDeleteI can barely jump crossrails, but that looked to me like he didn't even have the horse going at the jump straight. So he expected the poor thing to clear that without even being set up right? And then take it out on the horse? Even if it was the horse's fault, the rules are the rules and what the horse did was not deserving of 12+ vicious pops with the bat, especially whipping after he was already going and taking off for the jump! Mishaps happen ALL the time, any horseperson at Micheal Morrissey's level should know this: the horse doesn't sit back and think "I'm going to duck out because we're at a show today and it'll tick him off". Nobody's perfect, horse or rider. Welts or no welts left, it was uncalled for and showed total lack of sportsmanship and self-control. If I were a client of his I'd be hauling my horse, rider, whoever FAR away from his stable and unprofessional influence. I'm sure he'll only get a slap on the wrist for this, but because this incident has been posted on YouTube, I'm sure (and I hope) his reputation is ruined.
ReplyDeleteOMG.... it is very ugly .. do you think he should be banned?
ReplyDeleteI feel as though this was terrible training. He wasn't set up for the jump at all in the first place, and he began to hit the horse way after the refusal, and way before they were close to the jump again. It made no sense. It's one think to pop the horse once or twice for refusing (ignoring the horrible set up to the jump) and then once right before the jump for encouragement, but that was just ridiculous. Imagine how that looks to a non-horse person thinking about getting into the sport?
ReplyDeleteLove the blog, though!
Morrissey looks like he's having a temper tantrum, and that horse sure looks UNHAPPY. That's the deal breaker for me; an unhappy horse!
ReplyDeleteSeriously guys? Go to the Chrono of the Horse forums, they had a really good explanation of this. It was TWELVE smacks, not thirteen, he was going with the motion of the stride of a VERY reluctant horse VERY far out. While it was a training ride that shouldn't be happening in a world class ring, it was not abuse. Whoever said that he didn't steer the horse straight- well did you think maybe it was the horse himself that caused a not so straight line? With a horse that high up- a water problem can drop SO MUCH from the price, while that's not supposed to be the most important thing, it is a factor. A temper tantrum, yes, but abuse, no.
ReplyDeleteI found this video via the COTH forum. Almost everyone agreed he should have been dq'ed but I don't think there was consensus about whether it was abuse or not. Most *did* think it was reprehensible and no one seemed to care whether it was 12 or 13 smacks. Allie thanks for the background -- I wasn't aware that this is a pattern of behavior.
ReplyDeleteWhat do I think? It's poor sportsmanship, it's competing at a level beyond his skills (probably), and it's excessive use of the whip. I'd like to see the condition of the horse and look for signs of a pattern of abuse.
It' interesting to think about how the horse reacted -- no bucking, am I right? Harv would be bucking and running into the next county (going AROUND the water jump). This horse didn't fight back at all....
One of the quickest ways to ruin a good horse, and I'm sorry but I happen to think that idiots abound in arenas. For every rider that cares about their horse there are 50 that are hung up on that means to an end mentality (as in whatever it takes to win). It's a sad fact of life that the horses always come out the loser is such situations. Whatta putz!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a "horse" person but maybe someone should take the whip to the rider? You know to teach him not to whip the horses?
ReplyDeleteReplying to Beckz and the Anonymous: yes, this is an ongoing problem with this horse. What that says to me, sad to say, is that since the problem hasn't been helped in two years, it's about time to admit that what they're doing isn't working. This horse is not the horse they want him to be and never will be, at least not with this rider and this training.
ReplyDeleteThis horse has been doing this same exact trick with this exact same rider for more than TWO YEARS. What on earth would make you think that maybe next time Morrissey won't have to use the whip as much? It didn't work last time, and it won't work any better this time.
The horse was already out of the money because of the refusal. There was nothing to be salvaged by making him jump that fence, and Morrissey's heavy hand with the whip is clearly not working as a training method. So what was the point other than punishing a horse for wasting the human's money?
The best response? Do the same thing to him that he did to the horse. Maybe he'll think more carefully next time. And those weren't just gentle taps--he was raising his arm high to really get some energy into the beating.
ReplyDeleteI agree way too much use of the whip. I hate seeing riders who can't really ride and are out matched by horses who don't really want to please. He obviously has not spent the proper amount of "quality time" with this mount. Penalties and abuse charges should be filed. It gives riders everywhere a bad taste in their mouth.
ReplyDeleteThis individual should not be allowed to compete. He clearly was beating the horse. There is tapping a horse and there is whipping. This was whipping. As many have commented - this was in public - one can only imagine what he does in private.
ReplyDeleteClearly an immature, egocentric individual. Would not like to see how he treats people he thinks he does not have to impress or when he is "off camera".
He will earn his unhappy life and self.