The Chronicle of the Horse E5: Jon Holling and Maggie Deatrick

Safety in eventing is always at the forefront of the minds of governing bodies and participants, but the discussion has been reignited in the wake of the death of Katharine Morel and her horse Kerry On at the Rocking Horse Winter 3 Horse Trials in Florida on Feb. 29.

Improving safety in eventing is a multi-faceted challenge, which includes finding ways to make cross-country jumps safer with frangible technology, examining cross-country course design, looking at horse and rider qualifications and discussing rider responsibility.

Katharine’s accident occurred at a table on the cross-country course at Rocking Horse, and in the aftermath, five-star rider Jonathan Holling decided to start a fundraiser with other stakeholders in the sport for frangible MIM tables. 

Amateur rider Maggie Deatrick was moved to write a blog for EventingNation.com, which went viral, asking for transparency from officials after accidents that result in the death of a horse or rider.