Why has the Barbados Equestrian Association (BEA) issued a Letter of Suspension to Natya Soodeen? According to reports Natya Soodeen is the first rider to represent Barbados in the sport. She represented Barbados at the Pan American Games in 1995. An interesting footnote to this developing story is the known fact that Soodeen has paid her way when selected to represent Barbados.
The question remains, why has the Barbados Equestrian Association turned its back on Natya Soodeen?
On the face of media reports Soodeen … until recently [has been] trying to qualify to represent Barbados at the up-coming CAC Games. The BEA kept changing the rules on Natya, and without any explanation sent a notice to all that Soodeen had not qualified. Soodeen and her managers had thought she HAD met all BEA criteria and would qualify.
All of Natya’s results submitted to the BEA were received from the official show office of each show (German National Shows) and printed with the German Federation stamp endorsing these results.
When contacted by the media Nicole Tull, president of the BEA declined to comment.
Why is it Barbados authorities always disrespect the Barbadian public by refusing to disclose pertinent information? This is a sports person who represented Barbados. She paid her way on those times she represented Barbados and deserves to know what she has done to have earned the cold shoulder of the BEA. We live in times when full disclosure must be par.
Although the equestrian sport is associated with the elite in Barbados it does not mean an apparent injustice to Soodeen should not be exposed. On behalf of Natya Soodeen we urge the BEA to do the right thing by communicating what rule she has run afoul of or if she failed to meet the qualifying standards to compete in the upcoming CAC Games.
Fair is fair!
198 responses to “Barbados Equestrian Association (BEA) Suspends Natya Soodeen”
Or is it a rider headed to destruction.
@ xyz
I cant see why you would say that…..unless you mean that they intend to desroy her
I say again there is a stench associated with this topic.
If Soodeen qualified she would go to CAC so obviously she did not qualify.
How much money was spent by her for the Pan Am Games. She saaid she financed it, but I am sure the Olympic association would have finances
As they do in athletics etc. Is Soodeen and her backers telling the truth. That is the real question.
For her sake I sincerely hope so. The BEA must tell us their side, I am not convinced with what I am hearing from Soodeen’s side.
I am sure the BOA must also have a position on this
You have hit the nail on the head…Who determines if she qualified?? Dont you think that she would have been issued a criteria for qualification and she obviusly feels she has met it and according to the German Federation websites, the results are there. Of course the BOA will fund some but never the full amounts, they have to support all the various sporting associations no?
I dont see what the cost of the Panams has to do with any of this. And surely yo are not suggesting that that is the determining factor for her not qualifiying.
But the point is not about if she qualified or not, that s another issue, but the fact that she has been suspended, have they suspended her because she has not qualified?? I dont think so
@Concerned member
Kowing what little i have been able to piece together from yourcomments
a; thereis areason for her suspension i.e discrepancies in her results
The one thing missing so far is an explanation.right?
Now you have opened a new can of worms . My question to you is why BEA would want to destroy her giving her previous success? Doesn’t make any sense her suspension is only for 6mths which means she can resume her career .
@XYZ
So far you have not offered anything to logically challenge Sodeen’s position.
Why would she go pubic if the evidence according to you she knows existed would discredit her if BES went public?
Of course there is the extreme position that she would go public knowing there is negative stuff BES has on her but she felt she had more negative stuff on BES.
The point XYZ, you need to put up or call for BES to come public like all of us are doing.
If they suspend her for 6 months or a year, or however long her record is tarnished forever….Why would they? thats such a good question. They certainly would never have expected all of this attention thats for sure. And still no explanation..what are the discrepancies, are they any? Why would they destroy her, well she is a threat to the others that wish her spotlight, that wish to pay their way in.
The issue is still how can an association suspend anyone without a warning, a reason, and a chance to defend themselves.
There maybe a parallel to what is happening in the Barbados Cycling Union (BCU) and Barry Forde.
There has been a lot of disquiet in the cycling fraternity at the level of attention and resources Barry Forde attracts from the BCU to the detriment some believe of the other cyclists.
Is this what is at play here?
@Concerned
Well if what you are saying is true . Then her suspension should be looked at as personnel and having nothing to do with the results . That certainly is something worth looking into . However one would need proof to make such an accusation and that would not be easy to do in court.
you know, who knew of Ryan Brathwaite before he won his gold…but for sure we all lined the streets to cheer him on because he belongs to us, BARBADOS. Then he gets showered with land, cars, lifetime membership to a golf club….he doesnt need golf clubs, he needs sneakers and help paying for all the years of training he has had to get what he truly deserved, And I might add his training was not done here either.
David it would help if you actually read my post and not part of it before commenting.
I am asking for BEA to tell us their side
@ ac
I think a court could see that the manner in which the suspension was handed down was clearly wrong. As I said her results and the fact that there is a disagreement about whether she did in fact qualify is almost secondary to the suspension. I think this is what has everyone so upset.
@XYZ
Don’t worry, your comments are being read very closely.
PEOPLE… how would you like it if your boss at work just suspended you without pay for 6 months… and thats all you know how to do, in the middle of a recession, stuck in Germany with a whole pile of Germans…
It has nothing to do with colour, class or creed. This just seems wrong. I was an athelete who swam for Barbados, and I know the hours and determination an athelete puts into being the best. The BEA needs to at least give this child an opportunity to clear up their ‘discrepencies’. You cannot simply just say ‘ you are being suspended for 6 months because their are discrepencies with your results’. I just looked up Soodeen’s results.. they are all on the web and you tube… and the results she submitted to the BEA were apparently from the german federation… so how can their be discrepencies? Barbados is a small place… its easy to find out whats happening. #1. There were 2 people competing to represent Barbados at the CAC games in showjumping… Miss Soodeen and Miss Archer who is the Treasurer of the BEA
#2. Another coimmittee member Miss Roachford, her sister is also competeing in dressage to qualify to represent Barbados. Isn’t this a CONFLICT OF INTEREST????
In swimming, we were not allowed to have family members sit on committees to decide who goes to meets. Maybe its different in other sports.
is miss archer not also a Bjerkham? her sister sits on the committee , her trainer is the secretary, Roachford. The rider for CAC Dressage has two sisters on the committee too Roachford and Mckintire as Dressage Chairperson
This is not the first nor will. It be the last time an association disciplines
An athlete and whenever it happens there is always some controvesry.
We will have now to wait for the BEA position before we can make an informed judgement on this.
We are dealing with a lot of speculation and rumour abour conflicts etc
Soodeen obviously has a well oiled publicity machinery. However
The the story will always be only half of the story. Concerned Member seems close to the soodeen
Story now we need the BEA side to make an informed decision.
So to satisfy David I ask (again) for the BEA to give us their side.
Given the incestuous nature of BEA no wonder we are starting be where we are. Whatever happens from here going forward this matter has gone viral. The BEA will have to respond under the weight of public scrutiny.
i dont know the Soodeens XYZ, but I know the Association and it was only a matter of time before they got it all wrong and this time they certainly have, so I am a concerned member that is all for fairness, and nothing about any of this was fair. I agree with Savannah, people sit back sometimes for fear of being victimised so how would you like it if it happened to you or someone you knew especially without reason. Unless you call ‘discrepancies” a reason.
perhaps the Association will at some point come clean and maybe just maybe admit they have done wrong.
@XYZ
Many of our athletes and citizens in general can learn from this girl about fighting for what they believe in. It is up to the committee and other stakeholders to rule on whether there is merit or not.
I know of the Soodeens, I dont know them socially, however, like you I think the BEA needs to come clean. I think the Olympic Association should dig in to this one too. I think they should be a nuetral body where an athlete can turn to for advice. I am sure this is not over for sometime and hopefully more people will ask some questions, because there is alot of unanswered questions surrounding this.
The best advice BU can give to this matter is have her contact Minister Lashley who is responsible for Sports. He is on FB.
In fact BU has already sent the link to this blog to the Minister.
Offline BU reports on another elite sport:
@Like concerned said this whole matter is wraped into a Family network of those who know who and maybe Natya has beome their sacrifical lamb. It ‘s not over until it’s over.
I agree with you…I hope its not over. I will back her on principal. I dont think she would reveal to all her results if she knew she had failed, as far as the suspension goes, I hope the BOA and the world Equestrian Governing body will stand by her. It was dealt with the wrong way and hopefully this association will see that.
Natya Soodeen is not the issue anylonger….
The issue is the lack of transparency of any sporting association in barbados (the BEA in particular) and the embarassment of this whole situation to us internationally.
wow, had heard about this forum.
suspension?? this is only ever used in severe cases. If it was so severe surely the people on this board would have told her what she has done. No-one should be punished without knowing what the punishment is. Do the people running this board realise that they will have to make this right? They have to act quickly for this will do untold damage to the rider in question. Whatever the situation, but by the sounds of it , they have put the cart before the horse and seem to be digging themselves in to a hole. It sounds to me like a bunch of spoilt people on this board just trying to throw their weight around. This is quite embarassing. No response from them seems to imply a shakey excuse and reasoning behind this. Who knows?
Transparency seems to be the key word that is coming out of this discussion. Hopefullt the BEA will bring their cards to the table and maybe Ms Soodeens position will be clearer to all.
Someone mentioned that she provided all of her results, where can they be found independantly.. I dont mean the videos on you tube which she has posted.
David maybe you can assist with this.
@ David
Natya is not a Caucasian, alas you have not done your investigating properly. Her FB picture has 3 people in it, look again!
However I fail to see what this has to do with the colour of ones skin, she could be purple, green or blue! The point here is that she has been targeted for some unknown reason by persons on the BEA committee.
It seems quite apparent that the suspension was issued as the BEA’s way of throwing their weight around as it was issued only hours after (and the wee hours of the morning as well) the VP was contacted by a member of the press requesting a comment!
Someone commented that it is only fair that the BEA and BOA do not spend all of their funding to send Natya in order to allow others a chance to compete and represent their island as well. Well, where exactly are these “other riders”? Do your homework!! If there were riders properly qualified to do so, wouldn’t they have put forth their interest to compete and subsequently have undergone the qualifications criteria?
It is ludicrous to issue a suspension without outlining the reasons for the said suspension. Why don’t the BEA grow some “cojones” and come forward with their reasons? Could it be that once they do, they will be ridiculed as they will not be legitimate?
Yes, as others said, something most definitely does stink here, but the stench is wafting from the seats of the BEA committee!!!
@ XYZ
Simply google “Natya Soodeen”. The websites are german!
@ anonymous
Not sure I am googling right I see lots of stuff for 2009.
is there an official German equestrian site which shows 2010 results.
@ XYZ
The official site is http://www.psvwe.de, however unless you know the actual shows, it’s not easy to navigate.
Here’s one for the month of May that I found on google. They seem to correspond to her youtube videos as well. – http://www.equi-portal.de/db/reiter/181452/
I think it is a “class” and not race or a skin issue because of the racial make up of the persons involved.
@ Adrian
Please explain further as I’m unsure as to what you are getting at.
@anonymous, thanks for the link… its a bt complecated to read.
can you explain the below cut and paste from the site.
Results of the test Springprfg.Kl.S including taxes *
Hier finden Sie die Ergebnisse der Prüfung Springprfg.Kl.S m.St.* am 30.05.2010. Here are the results of the test Springprfg.Kl.S including taxes * on 30/05/2010.
Statistik zu Springprfg.Kl.S m.St.*: Statistics on Springprfg.Kl.S including taxes *:
Prüfung: Examination: Springprfg.Kl.S m.St.* Springprfg.Kl.S including taxes *
Ort: City: Bissendorf – Gut Stockum Bissendorf – Gut Stockum
Datum: Date: 30.05.2010 30/05/2010
Anzahl Starts: Number of starts: 27 27
Platziert wurden: Places were: 9 9
Verhältnis Starts / Platzierung: Money starts / rank: 33% 33%
Platziert: Places: Platz: Place: Reiter: Rider: Pferd: Horse: Verein: Club: Ergebnis: Results:
2. 2nd Abteilung Department
Ja Yes 1 1 Maira Große-Albers Large-Maira Albers Stakaletta Stakaletta RG Melle Ostenfelde eV RG Melle Ostenfelde eV 0/40.35* 0/40.35 *
Ja Yes 2 2 Markus Merschformann Markus Mersch Formann Made in Margot 2 Made in Margot 2 Reiterverein Osterwick eV Riding Osterwick eV 0/40.45* 0/40.45 *
Ja Yes 3 3 Melanie Haunhorst Melanie Haunhorst Charming Harmony 2 Charming Harmony 2 RFV St.Martinus Hagen 1927 eV RFV St.Martinus Hagen 1927 eV 0/48.97* 0/48.97 *
Ja Yes 4 4 Dennis Buddenberg Dennis Buddeberg Cumano 2 Cumano 2 RFV von Bismarck Exter eV RFV of Bismarck Exter eV 4/42.97* 4/42.97 *
Ja Yes 5 5 Frank Lugge Frank Lugger Gouverneur 58 Governor 58 Domäne Kinzigheimer Hof Bruchköbel Domain Kinzigheimer court Bruchköbel 4/43.02* 4/43.02 *
Ja Yes 6 6 Frederick Troschke Frederick Troschke Caravaggio 5 Caravaggio 5 RFV St.Martinus Hagen 1927 eV RFV St.Martinus Hagen 1927 eV 8/42.98* 8/42.98 *
Ja Yes 7 7 Mareike Kollenberg Mareike Kollenberg Corprizia Corprizia RFV Hollage eV RFV Hollage eV 8/68.22 8/68.22
Ja Yes 8 8 Leo König Leo King Cordijana II Cordijana II RG Melle Ostenfelde eV RG Melle Ostenfelde eV 8/69.88 8/69.88
Ja Yes 9 9 Maira Große-Albers Large-Maira Albers Quinaro 2 Quinaro 2 RG Melle Ostenfelde eV RG Melle Ostenfelde eV 8/71.51 8/71.51
10 10 Johannes Vornholt John Vornholt Carera 8 Carera 8 RFV Rulle eV RFV swampy eV 8/74.60 8/74.60
11 11 Markus Merschformann Markus Mersch Formann Lindsay 20 Lindsay 20 Reiterverein Osterwick eV Riding Osterwick eV 12/70.68 12/70.68
12 12 Frank Lugge Frank Lugger Landkaiserin AW Country Empress AW Domäne Kinzigheimer Hof Bruchköbel Domain Kinzigheimer court Bruchköbel 12/73.19 12/73.19
13 13 Karl-Jürgen Schröder Karl-Jürgen Schröder Giorni di Gloria Giorni di Gloria RFV Ostercappeln-Schwegerhoff eV RFV Ostercappeln-Schwegerhoff eV 12/74.05 12/74.05
14 14 Bernd Osterkamp Bernd Osterkamp Celesto 2 Celesto 2 RFV St.Martinus Hagen 1927 eV RFV St.Martinus Hagen 1927 eV 12/75.54 12/75.54
15 15 Heinrich jun. Henry jun. Holtgers Holtgers Romana 224 Romana 224 RV Oldenburger Münsterland eV RV Oldenburger Münsterland eV 12/77.56 12/77.56
16 16 Zhanna Kim Zhanna Kim Ransom 2 Ransom 2 Turniergemeinschaft Thaden Tournament Community Thaden 12/81.79 12/81.79
17 17 Zhanna Kim Zhanna Kim Antario Antario Turniergemeinschaft Thaden Tournament Community Thaden 12.750/86.20 12.750/86.20
18 18 Martin Haunhorst Martin Haunhorst Caitano 15 Caitano 15 RFV St.Martinus Hagen 1927 eV RFV St.Martinus Hagen 1927 eV 15.000/95.23 15.000/95.23
19 19 Bernd Stute Bernd Stute Bon Prix Bon Prix RFV Ravensberg eV RFV Ravensberg eV 16.750/86.14 16.750/86.14
20 20 Martin Haunhorst Martin Haunhorst Chaleur 2 Chaleur 2 RFV St.Martinus Hagen 1927 eV RFV St.Martinus Hagen 1927 eV 20/80.62 20/80.62
21 21 Natya Soodeen Natya Soodeen Indorina 2 Indorina 2 RFV Essen iOeV RFV Eating iOeV 34.750/94.63 34.750/94.63
@anonymous, sorry seems the paste did not work as I intended
what I am asking is what the
21 21 Natya Soodeen Indorina 2 RFV Essen iOeV 34.750/94.63
seems like a lot of numbers to me only thing I seem to understand is the 21, which I think represents number of competitors.
@ XYZ
This is a bit clearer, lol!
4/2 Springpferdeprüfung Kl.L
1. P Anna Sandmann (PSG Lähden e.V.) 862Carla de Balou 8.30
2. P Patrick Stühlmeyer (RV Oldenburger Münsterland e.V.) 791Toulago 8.10
3. P Natya Soodeen (RFV St.Georg Ankum) 865Quivantos 8.00
4. P Heiko Rabenstein (RV Oldenburger Münsterland e.V.) 88Cadilot 7.60
4. P Paweena Hoppe (RSC Handorf-Langenberg e.V) 149Carla Granada 2 7.60
6. P Fredrik Gustafsson (RV Oldenburger Münsterland e.V.) 188Chacciana 7.40
6. P Dennis Schlüsselburg (RV Oldenburger Münsterland e.V.) 269Constara 7.40
6/1 Springprüfung Kl.L
1. P Carla Dransmann (RFV St.Georg Georgsmarienhütte e.V) 380Franziska 196 0.00 / 43.75
2. P Michelle Wilkemeyer (Reiterverein Recke e.V.) 443Koriana 3 0.00 / 44.93
3. P Werner Hagstedt (RV Ganderkesee e.V.) 723Sure Lady 0.00 / 45.43
4. P Lea Mersch (ZRFV Riesenbeck e.V.) 775Win again 3 0.00 / 46.38
5. P Katharina Meyer (RV Ahlhorn e.V.) 315Cürten 0.00 / 46.59
6. P Semja El Khaoula (RV Diana Bad Rothenfelde e.V.) 299Costa Castello 0.00 / 46.78
7. P Hannes Bösche (RFV Nienburg) 275Cool Champion 0.00 / 47.90
8. P Nicole Kutscher (RFV Sögel e.V.) 354Encore Royale GH 0.00 / 48.95
9. P Dominika Turkova (Stedinger RFV Sturmvogel Berne) 827Carducci 8 0.00 / 49.97
10. P Natya Soodeen (RFV St.Georg Ankum) 864Indorina 2 0.50 / 58.50
11. P Petra Röchte (RFV Lohne e.V.) 334Don Rubin 10 4.00 / 43.83
12. P Franka Böckmann (RFV Lastrup e.V.) 871Genua 87 4.00 / 45.11
They don’t have M* except for those placed
Ok totally confused now! back to the day job
@anonymous
THe letter said”Discrepancies with her result” what would contribute to discrepancies with results . Not necessarily hers , but in general. Can you please clarify since i am not familiar with the sport.
Man, if there are discrepencies, just ask de damn gyal to clear dem up nah man! why ya have tah suspend she fuh? unless ya want to prove a point. And why nothing in the Nation?
Where is the press? have you guys checked out all the facebook stuff on this subject. Its wild… all for some defunct association who disses a member without reason. Miss sooden should leave BEA and join Polo where I hear is way worse.
If you google this Ms, Soodeen, the first picture you will find is one of her on the ground.
If she is this high profile rider then why are there not other pictures of her?
Many questions are to be answered… but I have to agree with Bushman.. something stinks about this
still nothing from the BEA…wow they really are looking professional and trying to” Build, Encourage and Advance ” the sport.
Anonymous tried to shed some ligh with regard to results. these results were actually from last year and are of a lower class, but will still try to explain…the number to the left is the place she came the numbers to the right of each line after the horse’s name etc are the faults and the time the round was completed in.
I agree with Savannah, where s the press?? One week into a suspension and the Bea still cant find the reason for it. Meantime she cant train, work or compete
I believe the ‘discrepancies’ are coming from the association themselves..lol and it definitely is NOT a Class thing.
Since the BEA has not seen fit to explain itself, we do not know what rule Miss Soodeen allegedly broke. Therefore the following is based on surmise – and a great deal of experience.
The history of show jumping in Barbados is completely incorrect. Many people have represented Barbados in show jumping internationally and Miss Soodeen is not the first. I know. I was certainly under the impression that when I was a member of teams comprising, among others, people like Jeff Chandler and my brother David etc., that we were representing Barbados internationally. In fact, the horse world’s bible, Horse and Hound, will reflect that fact in its back issues – see circa 1964 to about 1970. We too were working towards the Olympics. However, further education got in the way, as it has a habit of doing.
That having been said, I watched a film clip of Miss Soodeen in action and I found her form and style first class and of a FAR higher calibre than I have seen at BEA shows one of which, for my sins and as a former INTERNATIONAL show jumper, I was asked to judge (it has only happened once, thank God). I believe that my fellow judge (another INTERNATIONAL show jumper) happily and deliberately blotted our copy books with the “authorities” by asking each other (and a number of other people, quite loudly) why the competitors bothered with horses at all, as they could jump the fences themselves on their feet. Miss Soodeen is a cut WAY above the BEA standards, that actually lists what it calls X Bars (and we, their precursors, called “Cavaletti” and that we used solely as a schooling aid) as competition fences. WOWEEEE!!!!
Equestrian origanizations like the Pony Clubs generally are run by mothers almost exclusively for the amusement of their children and, in England at any rate, to give the mothers themselves social prominence on the roads by being able to attach a sticker to their cars that reads something like “GYMKHANA”. Which often shows that they have the money to own a horse, but are usually not quite sure which end bites and which end kicks. There isn’t much difference in Barbados. The object of the whole exercize is so that little Mary or little Johnny or little whoever can win a rosette and get reported in the newspaper. After all, it is character-building to receive a prize…….any prize……..no matter how lamanetable the standard. And this “win”, rather than reflecting talent, can often be ascribed to maternal influence. After all, who loves you most? Trust me, it is the equestrian equivalent to a coffee morning.
On the International level, organisations like the BSJA (British Show Jumping Association and, in its heyday before the mothers took over, the Barbados Show Jumping Federation) etc., are run with an eye to international competitions at places like Hickstead (where I and other Bajans, incidentally, competed on a number of occasions). And the matriarchal rule geared towards the advancement of their own children is NOT ALLOWED.
A rider of the calibre of Miss Soodeen means that no one else gets a look in, unless they do the hard work to rise to (and hopefully exceed) her standard. She sets the bar (both real and metaphorical) very high and I am sure that Jeff and David and Owen would agree with me that we sincerely wish she had been around in our day. We would have loved to have competed against her.
But, by its lack of response and pointing to the exact rule Miss Soodeen has allegedly breached, it looks to us all that the BEA, rather than encouraging its entrants to rise to Miss Soodeen’s international standard (and she is international standard – believe me) is adopting the position that Miss Soodeen must reduce herself to the standard of little Mary or little Johnny or little whoever.
If this is the case, Barbados will never produce an Olympic equestrian. But there again, maybe until the BEA can determine and rule Olympic standards, this is precisely what they want to achieve.
Now, that is a bouncer, yorker and inswinger all in one.
Thanks for the down to earth explanation Mr.Deane, especially coming from it appears, one who should know.
To Mr. Deane,
Thank you…you have managed to explain exactly what happens within this organisation and also state that to get where Miss Soodeen takes alot of hard work and dedication. Hard work and dedication usually with some luck, brings good results and of course with good results, that usually brings about jealousies and hatred.
There are a few who dare to leave their mothers and go off shore to learn more and train. I am a big supporter of that. Presently I believe there are three in the show-jumping arena that are training overseas. I commend them for it cannot be easy.
Thank you for your comment
@ ZYX
Rodrigo Pessoa, a very well decorated equestrian happens to pop his ass REGULARLY! Clearly YOU zyx have never ridden a horse or you would know that as it is an animal you are controlling under you, there will be times that you fall off! Dressage riders fall off too and they work on the flat only, and not over jumps!
Might I suggest you attempt sitting on horse back and jumping a 4ft jump before you cast judgement!
Brilliantly said Mr. Deane!!!!
On a side note, once you have been suspended by your association, you can’t continue to compete until that suspension has been lifted. It happens with jockeys and polo players world wide! What the BEA have done by issuing this suspension without reason is DEPLORABLE! They clearly aren’t very well versed either or they would have known the ramifications of issuing the suspension and would not have stated in the suspension letter that “she should continue to send in her results to them”! Seems to me the BEA committee is a group of self serving spoilt school children!
Ouch!!! Phone lines will be burning up within the BEA today
Mr. Deane, Your story is interesting, but alas we have progressed since the period 1964 – 1970. When was the last time you were at a show? last time I was there X-Bars(sic) were for child competitors new to the sport and being encouraged to become involved in shows. How dare you belittle the contribution of the Mothers who have taken this sport forward, Jean Rae, Alison Elliot, Di Clarke, Elizabeth Roachford, Roberta Foster Sandra Sampson and others who have done so much for the advancement of equestrian in Barbados.
Ms Soodeens form may look great, but I understand from an email sent to BEA members that she did not perform well in the shows set for qualification, which I also understand were at or below the standard of CAC.
This is a very complex matter, and yes I agree with Anonymous riders do fall, but when several opportunities in shows are given and the rider fails to achieve targets surely one must say, sorry but you have not made the grade… maybe next time.
The reaction of people close to Soodeen is also up to question I understand libellous correspondence has been circulated signed by a prominant professional, who will likely find themselves at the bad end of a lawsuit.
Does the sport need this I think not. People on this blog are responding very emotionally, but have they read what has been sent out by the association… I admit I didnt until last night, and was convinvced that the decision not to send Soodeen to CAC was the correct choice.
Re the suspension of Soodeen, that is a matter I will wait to hear from the council of the BEA.
If the BEA has supporting evidence to back their suspension, it would serve well to produce it and end all of this nonsense once and for all.
Anonymous, I agree and I am sure we will see a response.
The impression given is that Soodeen has been suspended from the BEA. Is that right or is it that she can’t compete for Barbados, but only in her individual capacity.
Anyone know the german rules on that?