When rules turn selective, sport stops being sport
At the 2025 GCL Super Cup in Prague, a rider’s loose helmet strap led to a retroactive disqualification that wiped out an entire team, raising bigger questions about fairness, consistency, and what safety really means in our sport.
Every sport has its “you’ve GOT to be kidding me” moments, but showjumping seems uniquely committed to delivering them at the absolute worst possible time.
The 2025 GCL Super Cup in Prague the past weekend delivered drama, just not the kind anyone expected.
Instead of a jump-off or a time fault deciding the championship, it was a chinstrap.
A rider’s helmet strap came loose mid-round, nobody stopped him, the round was completed, and then, long after, the jury disqualified him. Just like that.
But the story didn’t end there. Because the real twist?
The complaint that triggered the disqualification allegedly came from another team!
The same team accusing this particular rider, experienced the very same issues earlier this season in Monaco. But in their case, in sunny Monaco, there were no penalties.
No retroactive decisions.
No 2025 GCL Super Cup fallout.
And this is where this whole series of events gets messy.
Identical situations must have identical outcomes
First of all I’m probably the first one to say both rules and safety matters.
When it comes to a helmet, it should be worn correctly, full stop. End of discussion.
But if a rule is important enough to decide a high stake event such as the 2025 GCL Super Cup, or any other event for that matter, then it must be enforced the same way every single time.
Not only when a rival team decides to weaponise it.
Not only when the ground jurors are suffering from either mood swings, and or caffeine deprivation.
Not only when someone digs up footage and files a complaint.
Because rules are supposed to create fairness, not loopholes, not leverage, not selective drama.
Prague didn’t just disqualify a rider, it disqualified trust
What happened in Prague wasn’t just a penalty. It was clarity evaporating in real time.
Riders were left guessing.
Teams were left blindsided.
Fans were left confused.
But yet again, the message sent was loud and clear, the rulebook is only as stable as the people interpreting it.
If the sport wants to refer to this as safety, then it has to act in the moment, not hours later.
If the sport wants to call this fair, then identical situations must have identical outcomes, whether they happen in Monaco, Prague, or even at a 1m Young Horses class anywhere else.
Which proves that the real problem isn’t the chinstrap, it’s the inconsistency
Cause let's face it, this is not the first time a rider’s gear has malfunctioned. It’s not even the first time a helmet chinstrap has popped open mid-round.
Yet somehow, almost miraculously, not all riders are being punished in the same way for these kind of mishaps. So question is.
When do rules matter, and why is the outcome different depending on who breaks them?
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Horzing Around
Horzing Around
