I phoned the Pope today ....

I phoned the Pope today and asked him if he was a Catholic :-) - I phoned a vet and asked him if he’d like to spend some of my money. I mean, is Luxemburg small?; do bears sh*t in the woods?

Tetley was OK today, but the “better” of his two hocks was raging hot and the other one cold. This is the hock that we thought was more finished than the other. And the one with the better foot. He was perhaps a tiny tiny bit unsound to hack out, but when I pushed him because he was hesitating downhill he trotted down a very sharp slope perfectly OK. He’d normally be crippled on a hill like that. But I can’t face a winter with Tetley being off and on and off and on without at least trying to find out how much longer we have to go on with this disease. It’s soul destroying. So I have spoken to my vet who says that we might well get to see something now if we x-ray him, and I’m going to get a crow bar out and open my purse and spend a couple of hundred pounds doing just that. It’ll probably tell us nothing, but you can hope, can’t you?

Caddy’s leg I’m now pretty convinced is either a flybite or a knock. It's a tiny lump on the side of the deep digital tendon, totally "wrong" for a tendon strain. He seems happy enough with it and I'm away for two days now so he can have some more rest just in case.

I didn't ride Tia either today. But I have some news. I managed to prod a response out of the Technical Advisor who gave us faults at Somerford. He has confirmed in writing that the fence judges did not see Tia refuse or run out but they saw me make an error of judgement and circle because I got the line wrong. That means the faults were definitely incorrect, and I'm happy with that even though he won't accept that he was wrong.

Here's the full text in case you're interested.

First email, not replied to:

Please excuse me bothering you with something which you probably, and quite rightly, consider to be over and done with. But I am teeming with frustration and confusion as to how I can have caused myself to get 20 penalties on Saturday by circling between fences 8 and 9 in what I truly believed was a perfectly legal manouevre. I desperately need to check whether I listened to Anne Barlow's explanation properly so that I can understand how not to have it happen again. I'm afraid that in the high emotion of the day I may not have understood her properly.

What I believe I heard Anne say was that the fence judges told you that I came into fence 8 on a line which would have been correct to continue and jump fence 9, and that they believed I was committed to doing just that. But that I took a late decision to circle before jumping 9. I understand that the 20 faults were given for a technical refusal rather than for an actual refusal or a run out. I would be very grateful if you could confirm that for me, so that I know what not to do next time.

Caroline Trayes, number 154."


Second email

Dear xxx,

a week ago I sent you the following message in an email. I am wondering if you have been away or if you don't access your BE mail.

text of previous email here

Since I sent you that email, I was explaining to a friend of mine how I got the 20 penalties and she expressed great surprise and told me to check the rule book. To my enormous surprise I found the following rule relating to run-outs:

89. b) A rider is permitted to change his mind as to where he jumps an obstacle or element at any time, without penalty ...

I know that my horse cannot have had a true refusal or run-out. Firstly, she did not do anything which could possibly have been mistaken for one . Secondly and perhaps more pertinently, if she had refused or run out, then the fence judges would simply have said to you "she ran out" or "she refused". It would not have entered their heads to mention my approach to fence 8 at all in justifying their decision on fence 9.

Since only avoiding the fence by the horse can result in penalties at separately numbered fences, and not a decision, taken at whatever stage, by the rider, I am now 100% satisfied that the penalties which were given me at my last event of the season were completely unjustified. If there is any way at this late stage that I can get this undeserved blemish removed from my horse's otherwise faultless xc record I would be grateful if you could assist.


His response

Dear Caroline,
Thanks for your e-mail re Somerford.
As you know both the Steward and I looked into this matter on the day. The fence judges at 8 and 9 were experienced and in no doubt that you had incurred 20 penalties by coming in on a poor line to 9 , missing it and circling. In their opinion the circle was ridden as a result of a mistake not as a pre planned exercise. As you will appreciate the closeness of the two fences meant the had to make a quick decision about what they saw. When I discussed the matter with them ,they were in no doubt about their decision and as TA, I feel that the penalties were correctly awarded on the day.
As you will see I have copied this to Chris Shaw , Regional Director responsible for Somerford so that he is aware of your concerns.

My response.

I am sorry to make a nuisance of myself by continuing our discussion, but the rule makes it clear that the only circumstances which can result in a penalty at a separately numbered fence is avoidance of the fence by the horse not the rider. As the rider, I was entitled to change my mind "at any time, without penalty, including as a result of a mistake at a previous fence". There is no definition as to how close to the fence that can be, it is "at any time", even one stride away. There seems to be no doubt from your response that your judges saw me miss the fence and not the horse avoid it. That isn't surprising, because the horse did indeed do nothing at all that could possibly have been mistaken for a refusal or a run-out. My own intention was therefore totally irrelevant. For information only, your judges were also completely mistaken about my intentions - my horse had never seen a corner in her life before and I had no intention of presenting her at her first as part of an offset double! But the fact remains, the only quick decision the fence judges had to make was whether my horse had or had not refused or run-out, and instead they made a judgement about my intention to jump the fence, which was irrelevant.

I am entirely satisfied that the faults were not in accordance with the rules, but I do accept that there is probably nothing that can be done about it at this stage. I should have been carrying my rule book on the day and made a formal appeal, and I will not make that mistake again.

Thank you very much for your response, I do appreciate you taking the time to write. It has, perhaps not as you intended, set my mind at rest about what was an upsetting end to my new horse's first season. I can assure you that have no intention of making any more fuss now that I have things straight in my mind.



I'm happy now. I have it in writing that they made the judgement about me and not Tia, and the rules are clear that they made the wrong decision, so I can let it rest.

I'm away two days now and the house sitter is looking after the house and the horses. See you when I get back.


C.