Concern is growing about how long the US equestrian governing bodies knew of horse abuse allegations against eventing rider Andrew McConnon.
It emerged yesterday that the 38-year-old has been under FEI investigation for several months, following an “anonymous” report to USEF on May 12, followed up by evidence on June 12.
But the investigation was kept under wraps until yesterday (September 9) when USEF and USEA were forced to make statements; videos of McConnon were going viral while he rode at Burghley horse trials in the UK.
In one clip, he is seen schooling a horse over a small fence. It jinks to the side and then crashes into the fence support. The rider spins the horse round and round, and audibly slaps and punches it on the head at least six times.
There are also photos showing the flanks of a chestnut with multiple weals, and of another horse with its head forcibly tied down to its forelegs, apparently for a prolonged spell, although no alleged perpetrator is shown.
Two of McConnon’s owners have already spoken out against him on Facebook – Plain Dealing Farm Eventing and Allie Conrad, whose public post is distressing. Six commercial sponsors have severed ties already.
USEF has no jurisdiction over a member’s non-competitive activities until new powers are introduced on December 1. These result from USEF’s legal inabilty to discipline dressage rider Cesar Parra, the subject of abuse allegations last year at private sessions. Consequently, investigations into Parra and now McConnon fall to the FEI.
There are also suggestions that other alleged abuses by McConnon were reported in previous years, but no action was taken. On Sept. 10, USEF told HorseSport.com that it has never received any prior reports about McConnon, aside from the current complaint.
Others are asking why a rider under investigation was allowed to travel to Burghley off the back of a prestigious Rebecca Farm grant. This, it seems, is down to timing and a lack of communication.
The $50,000 grant is administered by the USEA Foundation and was awarded to McConnon last December. It is endowed by the Broussard family who say McConnon’s award pre-dates the current allegations, which they have only just heard about.
The family said that if McConnon had even received a FEI yellow warning card, his application last year would have been rejected. They added, “The actions committed by the rider in question in no way align with the values the Broussard family believes are synonymous with eventing and horsemanship.”
Asked about this sequence of events, USEA referred HorseSport.com to its umbrella body USEF – who responded that they are not involved in the Rebecca Farm grant process “in any capacity” and that it was administered by USEA.
USEA only learned about the investigation on September 7, according to a statement. Asked if USEA could feasibly have learned about the allegations before now, USEF replied, “USEF did not notify anyone other than the FEI about the report received to maintain the integrity and confidentiality of the investigation.”
HorseSport.com has reached out to Andrew McConnon for comment.
Since 2016, the FEI Tribunal has sanctioned three people for out-of-competition horse abuse; a show jumping trainer, who sent a client’s horse home with raw whip wounds; an eventer, for abusively riding a teenager’s pony at a cross-country clinic; and a dressage rider for abusively riding his daughter’s Shetland-type pony – he was banned for three years. Charlotte Dujardin and Parra are currently provisionally suspended by the FEI for private training incidents.
Only a handful of national federations have powers to sanction riders out-of-competition. These include Denmark, whose national body recently suspended dressage rider Carina Kruth for eight months for whipping a horse during a private session at the disgraced Helgstrand barn; she is appealing that decision.