Runaway Carriage Horses at Aachen

Re: Boyd Exell Aachen CDIO 08 video on the home page, can anyone who drives tell me what exactly was going on? Is this a common accident? I would think that the carriage might commonly hit obstacles on course without tipping over or people falling out. Quite a frightening video - and a brave person who caught those horses!

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Permalink Reply by Sonia on July 15, 2008 at 10:21am

What happened, is that the whip (driver) misjudged the gap and the wheel hit the obstacle and he wasn't expecting it and therefore was thrown. The two grooms in the back tried to reach for the reins which put them off balance to begin with and when the second obstacle was hit, they were dumped. The horses took off because they were scared, you have to remember they are wearing blinders and see nothing but what directly in front of them. The two horses in the back (called the wheelers) have little choice but to follow the leaders.

It is common for obstacles to get hit in this discipline. It's called Combined Driving and the goal in this type of test is to race through the obstacles the fastest, much like a jumping course. The grooms job on the back is to counterbalance the carriage when making sharp turns, however they are prepared for those instances and usually don't fall off.

I hope this answers your questions Gary....

Sonia

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Permalink Reply by Barbara F. on July 15, 2008 at 3:46pm

These are interesting comments Sonya. I have a few questions as well. I guess my first is, how on earth would you stop these horses if that person hadn't jumped out? I guess at home they run back to the barn. Also, if you are still on board while the horses are bolting is there a special way of slowing them down? Turning them would seem to likely to tip the carriage. Has this ever happened to you? Yikes!

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Permalink Reply by Sonia on July 15, 2008 at 8:16pm

Unfortunately, you probably wouldn't have been able to stop them if that bystander hadn't grabbed them until they ran into a group of people or a building etc. which would have seriously hurt them or the audience. If you were able to stay on the carriage, really the only thing you have to connect with the horses are the reins. You would have to try and gather them back up to bring them back. Unlike 'riding' horses that respond to seat and legs as well as mouth contact, 'driving' horses really only respond to mouth, so they probably would have had a change to pull them up. Turning could possibly tip the carriage if it was sharp enough and fast enough, but likely at that point you would be making wider turns to slow them down before bringing them completely to a stop.

On a side note, it's unfortunate that this happened to this team after an incident that happened to the German team at the Royal Winter Fair last year during the finals for the Combined Driving. While waiting in the warm-up ring, the leaders spooked and bolted out of the ring into the barns, obviously dumping the whip and grooms. When they hit the concrete floor of the barns they started to slide because they would all have four feet shod. They slid into a wall and the carriage followed and smashed into them. I believe two of the horses had to be put down on the spot.

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Permalink Reply by Barbara F. on July 15, 2008 at 8:45pm

Oh, I hadn't heard about that. They must have buried that horrible news. What a nightmare for all involved.

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Permalink Reply by Alison Plumbtree on January 5, 2009 at 9:31pm

The horses did not have to be put down as I talked to the owners and the vet working on them. They needed some stiches, but were both fine. A wheeler dropped a bridle (which is why I always tie mine on!) and that started it off. They spooked out the ring right towards a crowd of people. The driver amazingly pulled them away and started to go up part of the ramp but was able to circle them down the ramp, that is why the carriage flipped over. They kind of landed in a heap at the bottom of the ramp, and they knicked one of the support poles along the way and thats why they needed some stiches. All were fine though, just a little wobbly! Just thought I would clear this up.

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Permalink Reply by Elisa Marocchi on July 23, 2008 at 11:52am

There was much discussion about this incident, on the CD-List (a world-wide carriage driving forum) recently. To answer your question, it isn't a common occurrence though driving accidents do happen from time to time of course. The driver involved is a very experienced FEI-level competitor and considered to be quite a competent whip. It appears that a couple of things went wrong here - obviously the driver miscalculated his route; he wasn't wearing a seatbelt (a lapbelt, attached at one end only and held in place by the navigator so it can be released in the event of a rollover)so he bounced out rather easily. The navigators appeared to be ineffective in using their weight/position to move to the high side when the carriage started to tip. As frightening as this appeared, as an experienced driver I can say that this in the end wasn't as bad as it could have been, in that the carriage righted itself, and in many parts of the video the horses are not in a flat-out hysterical runaway but rather a fast canter; they are well-trained and it would appear that none of them were injured. The accidents where the carriages fall to bits around the horse as they are dragged along on their sides or upside down are the ones that tend to result in bad injuries and horses which cannot be driven again due to mental stress.

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Permalink Reply by Gary Stuart on July 23, 2008 at 3:23pm

Hi Elisa, Thanks for the very clear explanation of how events unfolded. It was very challenging for my inexperienced eye to sort out what was going on.