State of Competitive Show Jumping - Spur Marks

There's been controversy about the FEI blood rules due to an incident involving Bertram Allen and his horse Quiet Easy.

 His spur marks drew blood and according to the FEI rules, any blood due to spurs results in disqualification. FEI Jumping Rules Article 242.3.1, "Mandatory Disqualification - Horses bleeding on the flank(s), in the mouth or nose or marks indicating excessive use of spurs or of the whip anywhere on the horse." The spur marks posted by his groom on twitter: 

I'm shocked by the amount of support I'm seeing for Allen from both top riders as well as my horsey facebook friends. Yes, it's a small cut, but it's still blood caused by spurs. This was Allen's response: 

"I am utterly devastated, just speechless. I have a fantastic relationship with all of my horses, and their welfare is paramount. My foot must have slipped against Quiet Easy's side..."

If you're doing Grand Prix level show jumping, maybe you should know how to not have you foot "slip" with the force required to draw blood"

... as I was riding against the clock." 

aka I was using my spurs to make my horse go faster

"He's a sensitive horse..."

I....what? If he's sensitive, then don't use spurs? 

 "...and it was just a tiny nick."

*sigh*

If you take a spur and rub it against your skin, as a human, it won't leave marks. But if you do it over, and over, and with excessive force...guess what...you'll bleed. As a rider, it's *our* responsibility to know the amount of force to place upon the spurs, we're the ones who can decide whether or not to use spurs, or how sharp/what shape/what length they should be for our particular horse. 

Do I think this guy abuses his horses? No, I'm sure they're well cared for and he didn't intentionally cause his horse to bleed. But I do think that he was rightfully disqualified and he should take this as a lesson to learn from.The rules are there to protect the horse's welfare and I'm still shocked that people are fighting against it.