‘We owe our horses better than this’: top rider speaks out as five-star eventer suspended for horse abuse

Five-star US event rider Andrew McConnon has been suspended for 20 months for abusing horses – as a fellow top rider said: “We owe our horses better than this”.

The FEI Tribunal has ruled on the case of the eventer, who had been provisionally suspended since January. H&H reported last September that an anonymous report had been made to US Equestrian (USEF) in summer 2024 and that “materials showing abusive behaviours” were sent to USEF shortly afterwards. The news came shortly after Andrew had competed at Burghley for the first time, coming 27th with Wakita 54.

USEF passed information to the FEI, which announced an investigation, and Andrew was suspended this year.

“In its decision of 24 November 2025, the FEI Tribunal found Andrew McConnon to have engaged in abuse of horse as well as in a conduct that has brought the FEI and equestrian sport into disrepute,” an FEI spokesperson said.

“McConnon was further found to have breached the FEI code of conduct on the welfare of the horse by those same actions.”

The rider was fined CHF 2,500 (£2,344). His suspension, taking into account that already served, will end on 8 September next year.

Since January, fellow top US eventer Tamie Smith has been caring for two horses previously ridden by Andrew.

Open letter

In an open letter to the horse world and its governing bodies, she said she had had a text saying: “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,” she said.

“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.”

Tamie said her knowledge of what had happened came via the two horses themselves.

“What I learned broke my heart,” she said.

“The owners… were victims too – yet never interviewed or contacted by the FEI investigators.

“The grooms who witnessed the behaviour 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.”

“Horses don’t lie”

Tamie said the two horses were underweight and tense, and showing “reactions unlike any I had seen in 30+ years training high-performance horses” when they arrived at her yard.

“Horses don’t lie,” she said. “Their transformation is their testimony.”

Tamie said she does not believe Andrew should be banned for life, as she believes in “rehabilitation, education, and redemption”.

“People can change – when they acknowledge harm and commit to structured help,” she added. “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 counselling, 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.

“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.”

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