Two riders have been reprimanded by the FEI for their riding during the cross-country at Burghley Horse Trials earlier this month (6 September).
New Zealand’s Megan Heath (pictured above) has been handed a yellow card for abuse of the horse due to excessive use of the whip on St Daniel. Megan had two refusals at fence four — the Lord Burghley Hurdles in the main arena — and was then eliminated for a third refusal at the seventh fence.
Megan moved to the UK to pursue her career back in 2005 and juggles a city job in London with competing.
Aoife Clark has been given a verbal warning for dangerous and inappropriate riding on Vaguely North.
Aoife survived a hairy moment on her return through the Discovery Valley before having a glance off at the Rolex Combination. The combination then fell at the Stamford crossing.
The FEI yellow card system has been under scrutiny this year after Mary King served a three-month ban for receiving two yellow cards for the same offence within a six-month period. Mary’s fans set up an online petition to try and have the ban removed.
Last month it also emerged that a 7hh miniature pony had been at the centre of a yellow card dispute. America’s Katie Frei was given the card after her horse’s travelling companion “Spartacus” escaped at an event in Kalispell, Montana.
This news story was first published in H&H magazine on 11 September 2014
