09/03/2020
Katharine Morel and her 8-year-old horse, Kerry On, died following accident during a cross country* competition in Florida, USA, on February 29, 2020.
The exact dynamics are not clear yet, but it seems that the horse hit an obstacle between her knees and chest during an attempt to jump over it with the rider on her back. The horse flipped forward prior to landing on her back: this is the so called "rotation fall" which has caused other accidents in the past, resulting in serious injury or death. The horse suffered fatal injuries and passed away shortly after the fall. The rider was immediately transported to a local hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries. In an interview in 2018 Morel said that she grew up with horses and that she sold her horses at some point. However, after a few years she went back to riding and competing and bought a 3-year-old thoroughbred mare named Kerry On. Katharine recalled that “She was a horse who didn’t race well, but after a few years of training she has turned out to be phenomenal.” What might seem a mere tragic fatality tells the story of how "sporting disciplines" that include the use of horses are likely to have extreme consequences on the lives of two living beings. It tells the story of a horse that died while trying to carry out the task that the person whom she trusted expected of her, and of a woman who, like her horse, committed her whole life trying to do what she had been taught. Would Morel have acted in the same way if she had been taught something else? If, for example, she had wondered why in nature horses instinctively tend to bypass obstacles rather than jump over them, unless they are forced by circumstances, would she have continued to be "the circumstance"? Or would she have understood more clearly that it was a kind of forcing - a "discipline" in fact - that was pushing in a direction opposite to instinct, to the point of endangering herself and the horse who wanted to please her? Unfortunately, it is too late for Kerry On and Katharine Morel. But at least their story can help us to ask ourselves these questions. For the sake of horses and those who love them. *Cross country is a competition to prove the speed, endurance and jumping ability of a horse across a country course comprising obstacles which are usually built to look "natural" (ponds, logs, hedges, walls, fences, ditches, jumps, steps and much more).The course may be up to 3 miles. Photo: www.cbc.ca/news/ SOURCES: https://ridersadvisor.com/2020/03/01/amazzone-canadese-perde-la-vita-durante-un-percorso-di-cross-country/ https://heavy.com/news/2020/03/katherine-morel-equestrian-rider-dies-florida-competition/ https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/tokyo-olympics-2020/11086268/katharine-morel-dead-33-olympics/