Don’t you love a good horse show? Whether it is Western Pleasure, Dressage, Jumping or Cross-Country, I love them.
And, of course, there are certain competitions that are considered “high-level” competitions. We can always expect to see the best horses and the best riders at these competitions. One of these “high-level” competitions is the Hampton Classic held last month.
In addition to the best horses and riders, we also expect to see certain qualities among the riders, namely sportsmanship and horsemanship.
That is why this video has gone viral.
https://youtu.be/RHrgd60j_ck
Johnson & Johnson heiress Jazz Johnson-Merton fell off her horse, Joe Cool, at the Hampton Classic. It wasn’t her horse’s fault. Johnson-Merton came unseated after a jump, but after getting to her feet, she tried to kick him in the stomach before leading him out of the ring. Unsportsmanlike conduct and poor horsemanship at the very least.
Unfortunately for her, the incident was caught on video, which has since gone viral.
One of the class judges, Chris Wynn, later stated of Johnson, “She got up, lost her temper and tried to kick the horse in the stomach. I’m not sure she made contact . . . It was one of those gray areas of, ‘Was it unsportsmanlike?’ Absolutely. Did it really hurt the horse? Probably not.”
Jazz Merton sent the following letter to the USEF.
“One of the greatest pleasures in my life has been riding and showing horses, and I have enjoyed this hobby since I was a little girl.
“In the recent incident at the Hampton Classic, I had a very inappropriate emotional response to my horse’s behavior, one that I have never had before. I was scared and angry, and reacted very badly. For that I am deeply sorry. My reaction was short lived, and immediately after I realized my mistake, I got back on to jump a schooling fence in order to finish the day on a trusting note with this horse.
“I can assure you that the apology that I gave to the stewards at the time and this plea to you now is genuine. I will never again exhibit this unprofessional display of aggression and poor sportsmanship.
“It pains me to see that I have brought negative attention to our sport, the sport that is most dear to me.
“Please accept my apology. Sincerely, Jazz Merton”
Do you buy the apology? I’m not so sure I do. Based on her horse’s response, it isn’t the first time she has reacted. And she seemed to zone out a little bit. Once she came back around the side from attempting to kick him, she seemed to come back to herself and get out of the ring as quickly as possible.
What do YOU think?
Blessings!
Charity
I would say the horse has experienced her temper before. His response was to flee which shows fear. She is just apologetic because she got caught.
I’m a 57 year old who has been riding horses before I could walk. I have broke and trained Quarter Horses since the age of 12. Jazz Merton’s horse has been the victim of her abuse many times before this incident in public recently. I say this due to Joe Cool’s behavior. As soon as she got to her feet, and started towards him, he started backing away from her IMMEDIATELY!!! That speaks VOLUMES!!! No, this wasn’t the first time! This spoiled snot needs to be ‘horse whipped’, banned, and shunned by the horse industry as a whole! If she treats her horse this way in public, I would hate to know the treatment her horses, dog, or any animal or child in her care, receive in private! We all know that the worst happen a in private!
I agree 100%. She should be banned from show ring or ownership of horses
I say let’s kick her in the stomach n see how she likes it. The horse is speaking to us by his reaction
I’ve been around horses all my life and this is nothing NEW to this horse. If it had not happened before that horse would have stood still for her to remount. This horse immediately started to retreat from her. He had seen this before!
NO ONE should ever treat any animal, horse or dog or cat, that way. She does not deserve to be allowed to show or even ride. The horse deserves a better home/ owner. The horses/horse are wonderful and did a great job.
Shameful ,. The horse has experienced this treatment before by his reaction. Riders or owners should be investigated in cases like these . Animals should NEVER be treated badly in any circumstances !
That spoiled brat has done that to her poor horse on many occasions as witnessed by the horse trying his best to get away from her because he knew what was coming. The only thing she is sorry about is that she did it in front of people. This is such bad horsemanship and sportsmanship.
Her horses reaction says it all. That poor horse didn’t want to go back to the stall, he knew what was going to follow. She’s a disgrace,and should be banned.
What a disgusting display of showmanship! The only sincere apology this woman has to offer is how sorry she is that her behaviour was video taped.
Jazz Merton you can tell a lot by the way a person treats animals and I can tell you should be whipped for your on and off camera abuse of Joe Cool.
For you Jazz are what one would call a high society animal abuser. You see no harm for your actions because you feed him well, he has a clean stable and plenty of room to run. What you fail to offer is a caring and nurturing environment. Sadly, no amount of money will buy that for you.
Her horse has been mistreated by her many times before, just looking at his reaction to her says volumes!!! When you see an animal react like this, there has been abusive training at some level. Disgusting for her to act like this!