FEI Verbal Warning, Yellow Card Issued at Burghley

Megan Heath and St. Daniel. Photo by Jenni Autry. Megan Heath and St. Daniel. Photo by Jenni Autry.

At the conclusion of Burghley last weekend, the FEI updated its disciplinary list, adding a new verbal warning and a new yellow card to the recent decisions.

Ireland’s Aoife Clark received her second verbal warning in as many weeks, this time for dangerous riding aboard Vaguely North, who fell on the cross country course. Aoife also received a verbal warning for the same reasons at WEG with Fenyas Elegance. Vaguely North had a few hairy moments earlier on course prior to the pair’s fall. This was the horse’s second attempt at a CCI4*, having been withdrawn from Badminton earlier this year.

Images courtesy of Burghley.tv.

Images courtesy of Burghley.tv.

Megan Heath, riding for New Zealand, received a yellow card for abuse of horse/excessive use of whip with St. Daniel. Megan picked up a refusal at the hurdles in the main arena and went to her whip to get through the combination on a second attempt. The pair later called it a day at the Classics Leaf Pit.

This is Megan’s first yellow card, so she will not pick up any sort of suspension. Aoife’s second verbal warning does not carry a suspension.

Images courtesy of Burghley.tv.

Images courtesy of Burghley.tv.

You can watch both Aoife and Megan’s rides on Burghley.tv – the GIFs above are simply for illustration purposes and do not depict the entire rides.

The FEI implemented the warning system in order to protect the safety of both horse and rider, but the reasons behind some disciplinary decisions have come under some public scrutiny recently. What are your thoughts on the system? What would you change if you were given the opportunity? Post your discussion in the comments below!

To view the whole list of warnings, click here.

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