UPDATE, 2022:
This post is getting some hits this week, so just in case you’d like to contact or boycott his sponsors, here’s the updated list from his website:
Craig, you're an idiot. That's all I have to say. I wish I could be there to video it when karma catches up to you.
Watch the video. Is this someone you'd pay to train your horse? Can you say psychological damage? And although it IS that for the horses he rides, I'm talking about the human. Damaged goods. Ditto for the ring stewards with their heads turned down.
Help spread this across the internet. Let's see if his attorney wants to sue ALL OF US. Wouldn't you just love to show up in court and testify against this creep?
Sorry, folks. I am still mad as hell about the BLM and this came onto my radar a few minutes ago. Not in a very nice mood right now.
Here are his sponsors, from his website. Join me in giving them an earful:
Anderson Bean Boot Company
Bloomer Trailers
Bob's Custom Saddles
Cinch Jeans
Spalding Fly Predators (sob! I have written them and will wait for a reply - but if they sponsor this man I will have to find a new source for one of my favorite products)
Hyalogic (if you use hylaronic acid - HA - and want an alternative to this company go to Pure Bulk and buy the pure HA powder with instructions to make your own gel - it works - it's pure - and it is way less expensive!)
Kiser Dragmaster
Alltech Horse Feed Supplements
Professional's Choice
Pro Panel Horse Feeders
Purina Mills
Rios of Mercedes Cowboy Boots
Western Hauler Trucks
I wrote an email to the FEI and posted on their FB page. I didn't think of sponsors. I think I will email a link to the video to them. In case they don't get it maybe I should link to my page with my asshat comments. Thanks for the sponsors list.
ReplyDeletebillie - surely "intellectual property" implies an intellect? This buffoon doesn't have two brain cells to rub together. I have instructed the Woman to ban Purina feeds from our diet and to tell them why we are doing so. And to this excresence I say "Sue away, and be damned to the inner circle of hell".
ReplyDeleteYours in a state of highest dudgeon,
Sheaffer
go epona tv!
ReplyDeletewhat a psycho. i'm glad i wasn't there because i would have been arrested for going into the area and ripping him off his horse.
i know what i'll be doing tues. calling his sponsors. ...dick.
btw, in a less extreme version of this, my favorite person on earth, george morris, was just featured in the latest edition of 'practical horseman' irresponsibly extolling the virtues of riding horses behind the vertical (apparently it's great for them!) and also recommending 'attacking' a horse with spurs while walking him off after a hard ride to keep him active (there's a great picture accompanying it of him getting left behind as the horse panics and shoots out, totally inverted, from under him - apparently he has no idea how ridiculous he looks to anyone with a clue.)
all i can say is, wtf? are we the crazy ones, or has the rest of the world gone completely FUBAR?
(sorry, i'm in a bad frame of mind too.)
if you're interested, the conversation continues here. apparently he has a lot of apologists out there:
ReplyDeletehttp://mugwumpchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/05/reining-torn-apart.html
Arlene, totally agree. One message I want to push is for horse owners to thoroughly investigate the training methods of ANY and EVERY trainer they allow near their horse.
ReplyDeleteDon't be swayed by their "professional" status - ask questions, show up unannounced and wander around the back side of the barn, ask for references, and these days, use Google widely.
God knows if someone googles Schmersal I want them to see this video and some responses from folks who see what he's doing for what it is - abuse.
Barbara, that's terrific. I have been caught up with book stuff this weekend so am not up to speed on how this is spreading in cyberspace, but I sure hope lots of people are following your lead.
ReplyDeleteSheaffer, glad you're on board - inner circle of hell is just where this kind of training method belongs.
ReplyDeletej, I have to tell you - when your comment rolled in last night, I was so relieved. I actually got the giggles. I think it was just such a relief to see someone so exactly on my wavelength regarding this.
ReplyDeleteNo we are not crazy. We are out on the far edge of seeing the truth for what it is. And everyone who calls us crazy is doing that b/c they can't justify their own behavior.
It's a classic psychological defense. And the sad thing is that the victims in all this, the horses, are SO MUCH MORE ADVANCED than we are. On some level I believe they are here to teach us compassion and respect.
I was raving yesterday to my husband about all this and said:
if Craig Schmersal and the rest of the idiot trainers in the world had bed-wetting and fire-setting in their histories they'd have all the markers of serial killers.
And you know what? They ARE serial killers - of equine spirits.
And guess what - me pointing this out does not make me a hysterical emo freak. It makes me willing to state a fact that a lot of people simply don't want to hear.
Because it would mean completely changing the way they keep horses, completely change the way they treat children, and force them to take a long hard look at themselves as people. Not to mention in the case of the 'big winners' in equine competitions, apparently they would have to give up the money they win as well.
The average person walking around has no idea what these trainers do to horses to win. If they did, I have to believe, they would speak out against it. Which is why I continue posting the videos and writing these posts and comments. And talking about it in normal, non-horse conversations.
People who don't live with horses just have no idea what the equine species endures to live on the earth with us.
j, I went over and commented. Between this and the BLM I'm completely over the top.
ReplyDeleteI'll get to the BLM post next!!
i've always suspected people who are cruel to animals have to have a screw loose, and then reading about random things like the hare checklist :-\ you see a pattern develop with people like this - the ego, the lack of empathy, the unwillingness to take responsibility, etc.. kinda makes you wonder if there isn't an element of real disturbance there, and not just some kind of harmless ambition that everyone seems to want to credit and praise...
ReplyDeleteEXACTLY, j. You hit the nail on the head with that comment.
ReplyDelete10/10 to Epona for continuing to have the guts to expose this sort've behaviour!
ReplyDelete"Intellectual property" my ****! i can only hope that he gets kicked where it will really hurt - in his wallet, when people stop sending horses to hime to be "trained."
I have received a reply from Larry Garner at Spalding. I've asked for permission to post it here but have not yet gotten a response.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate his taking the time to write a 'real' response addressing my concerns - it's not a form response and that is one reason I give Spalding a lot of credit. They do take customer concerns seriously and they respond with real communication. Not sure how this will shake out, but I'll keep you all posted.
This has been a long time in the works for Schmersal. The last time I showed at the Congress (2005) I witnessed Schmersal in action, and what he was doing at Congress in the makeup pen was much more punitive than in this video. It actually made me sick to watch him, to the point I almost said something (I should be ashamed of myself for not). The real question for me, is why didn't the ring stewarts do anything? What is considered offensive in their judgement? Does the horse need to be bleeding? Fallen? THEY should be held accountable, that is the only way things will ever change (and if people stop sending their horses to them). As long as a check is involved, "trainers" like Schmersal will do what they want to win.
ReplyDeleteboots, thank you for commenting here, with first-hand experience of this rider/trainer's methods.
ReplyDeleteI agree totally with you - the stewards are as guilty as anyone.
If I didn't have a family, including all the animals who live with me, I think videos like this would drive me to do investigative journalism on behalf of the horse.
I'm trying to figure out a way right now to take a trip west to do some exploring and documentation.
I also wish I could find ways to actively support riders who compete humanely. If you have ideas on that, please let me know.
I don't know much about horses in particular, but I do know about loving, respecting and protecting domesticated animals. This video shows nothing of that and my heart goes out to this animal who is not being showed any compassion or respect as a being with inherent pride and rights. This is all evident in the posture of the animal and a person only needs to have a heart to see it. And so I cannot respect any human (like the rider) who obviously lacks respect for domesticated animals and refuses to take proper responsibility for the wellness of the souls in his charge. It's good that you are speaking out about this abuse. Compassionate humans must be the voice of animals. I guess you connect with horses the way I connect with dogs. And yes -- they have rights and deserve respect. Good for you for calling animal abusers out on the carpet. I had a run-in with my vet last year that still sets me off sometimes because I felt that he goes by a blind and rigid social agenda without regard for the individual life and health circumstances of the animals in his care. I went off about it, too. I get it. Keep speaking for horses and I will keep speaking for dogs. We OWE them.
ReplyDelete-- L
L, I love what you wrote about only needing to have a heart to see what is wrong in the video. That is the bottom line, I think.
ReplyDeleteI was just saying to my husband that many times the need to deny something being "wrong" is all tied up in the fact that if we admit something is not right, we then have to make changes in the way we live. We can't maintain equilibrium without taking action. Many people go through life justifying things in order to live in the scaffolding of belief they've built.
Like you, I believe we owe it to our companion animals to treat them with respect and kindness. I believe we owe it to them to grow and change ourselves so that we can step outside the status quo and take a stand when one needs to be taken.
Good for you for taking on the vet. I've done that too, with cats and dogs and horses. It's all a piece of the same scaffolding, actually.
Thanks for tackling the part of it that comes into your domain!!