getting pulled

[Trish Weber <trish@endex.com>]

here i go, second post in two days.  uh-oh, getting to be a habit.  :)

big thank you's to heidi for her articulate posts concerning the positive
benefits of posting pull information.  these are very good reasons, imho.

i support the publishing of the information as well, but for a slightly
different reason.  i support it just plain on principle.

my immediate reaction to this whole thread was:  since when is there shame
in getting pulled?

if there's shame involved in this sport in getting pulled, i don't  want to
participate.  it's not what i was told the sport was about, and not what i
signed up for.

a wise person said to me once "we're only as sick as our secrets."  they
weren't talking about endurance riding, but i believe all the important
lessons in life relates to enduracne & vice versa.  imho -- the sport is
best served by being as forthcoming as possible about pulling.  that way we
keep shame & stigma from being attached -- and cause riders to be more
willing to put the horse's welfare first, knowing that they (the riders)
have nothing to lose.

if we start withholding information about pulls, ANYWHERE, then that very
act serves to attach stigma and shame.

when i write down my name on my ride entry form, i understand that i stand
the risk of seeing my name published with the word "pull" after it.  i'm not
only okay with that, i wouldn't want it any other way.