11/26/2025
Hoping Tamies words come through on this post—-
They didn’t: From Tamie Smith—
OPEN LETTER TO THE EQUESTRIAN COMMUNITY & GOVERNING BODIES
This morning at 6am, I woke up to a text that read:
“We have no hope in this sport if 20 months is all you get for abusing horses.”
That sentence has sat heavily with me — not because it is dramatic, but because it is painfully true.
I want to begin by acknowledging that I have immense sympathy for everyone involved, including Andrew McConnon. I believe that no one wakes up choosing to abuse a horse. People are shaped by their experiences, their education, their pressures, and sometimes their pain. Many of us, if honest, can reflect on moments in our early horsemanship where we reacted poorly out of fear or confusion — when we did not yet understand how horses think. But there is a line that must never be crossed: losing control, lashing out, or harming a horse out of anger is never acceptable.
Over the past year, I have ridden and cared for two horses previously ridden by Andrew, and my understanding of what happened has come not from rumor, but from the horses themselves. I had little context when they arrived — only small comments from those who had observed him ride, describing impatience rather than violence. So it became a fact-finding mission. Were these horses victims of abuse, or was the narrative exaggerated?
What I learned broke my heart.
The Human Side That Has Been Ignored
The owners who entrusted their horses to Andrew have been judged and ridiculed instead of supported. No one asked whether they were scared, manipulated, or unsure how to remove their horses safely. They were victims too — yet never interviewed or contacted by the FEI investigators.
The grooms who witnessed the behavior and chose courage over silence are heroic in opinion. I don’t condone those who falsely exaggerated the innocents however the actions that were explained to be weren’t in need of embellishing. Some of these people walked away from the sport entirely because they could not bear to watch abuse continue. They too were victims.
What the Horses Told Me
When the three horses arrived at my farm in January, they were 200–300 pounds underweight. Their necks were tight. Their bodies consumed by tension. They were described as “hard keepers” who “wouldn’t hold weight” — but after 11 months, now healthy and relaxed, they are easy keepers eating a quarter of what they needed initially.
One horse chased and bit his own tail in turnout — something I was told was simply a “quirk” that required the horse to be turned out in a cool coat. I later learned it is a severe trauma response. He hasn’t done it in five months.
Their reactions were unlike any I have seen in 30+ years training high-performance horses. Horses don’t lie.
Eddie (Ferrie’s Chello), stoic and robotic, couldn’t let himself feel. A 5* horse who slammed on the brakes not out of stubbornness, but fear, at jumps that were only 2 feet tall. Only after months of rebuilding trust — from the ground up, could he canter softly around a 1.15m course with confidence. For the first time in a long time, he was allowed to be vulnerable and because of this it got worse before it got better.
Dean (Jump Today 2 D aka DeLux Steele), loud and terrified, lived anticipating punishment. This fall he won the 3*L at Galway Downs — not because he magically became relaxed and brave, but because he learned that he would never again be beaten for trying.
That transformation is their testimony.
Why I Am Writing
I do not believe in a lifetime ban for Andrew McConnon. I believe in rehabilitation, education, and redemption. People can change — when they acknowledge harm and commit to structured help. But what I cannot accept is:
• A sentence that feels overwhelmingly light
• A process that never interviewed the owners, the riders, or pertinent people involved
• A conclusion issued without gathering critical testimony
• No mandate for counseling, education, supervision, or reform
• A message that risks telling the world that we tolerate abuse
We must be better. We must demand accountability and education, not silence and avoidance.
The Path Forward
There is an opportunity here — not just to punish, but to transform.
Maybe it is time for a required course on understanding the horse’s mind, trauma responses, emotional regulation, and ethical training.
Maybe it is time for governing bodies to reevaluate investigative processes so that every voice — including the horses — is heard.
If we truly love this sport, any equestrian sport, we cannot turn away from what is uncomfortable.
Ultimately
Our horses cannot speak.
We are their voice.
And we owe them better than this.
- Tamie Smith
After a protracted tribunal, North Carolina-based eventer Andrew McConnon has been given a 20-month suspension by the FEI for horse abuse. The suspension is backdated to the start of the provisional suspension McConnon received on
