Dancer

[Marinera@aol.com]

I am going to rise to the defense of the man who blew the whistle about the 
rider of the lost horse on the Oakland Hills Ride.  I know Pat McDonald very 
casually--enough to say “Hi”   if we meet in camp or the trail, no more than 
that. I have neither seen nor talked to him since the Oakland Hills ride 
which we both attended. 

.  I respect Pat for his courage in speaking up publicly where so many lacked 
the courage.  Can anyone tell  me what he possibly  had to gain?    He has 
been skewered unmercifully on this forum for making public something that 
should never have happened. Most of the assaults on him have come from riders 
out of the area who have no knowledge of what preceded this tragedy. It was 
months an even years in the making and predicted by many who were not 
surprised  at the eventual fate of an exceptional horse.

I do not know the rider of the lost horse personally.  I am told by those 
that do that  he is very charming and personable. I  know that the rider and 
the horse have been the subject of endurance camp  gossip, innuendo, hearsay, 
scuttlebutt  and rumor in the West Region  for at least two years.  
Approximately a year and a half ago I asked two veterinarians that if the 
gossip that both veterinarians and riders were discussing was true, why 
didn't they pull the horse.  The answer was that the horse was a remarkable 
animal who  recovered metabolically. The reported abuses were on the trail 
where neither ride management nor veterinarians are located.  In spite of 
this,  the appalling treatment meted out to this horse over a long period was 
a hot topic. 

I have heard three first hand stories of witnesses who saw  abuse of the now 
lost horse.  The names of two of them are familiar to 90% of the people in 
this sport.  The other is a personal friend who gave me a first hand account. 
 I had a teenager tell me he could no longer ride with the tragic duo because 
of the treatment the horse received.  I had a vet tell me she looked the 
rider in the eye and told him to shape up. I know a ride manager who a year 
ago was trying to figure out how to keep this man from entering her ride. I 
know one rider who said she was going to try to buy that horse if it meant 
mortgaging her home. I have had a veterinarian tell me that this man should 
never be allowed to have a horse again.  Following a ride three weeks before 
the last fatal ride, Pat McDonald conferred with veterinarians as to what 
could be done to save this stellar horse.

Am I going to name names? No. It is up to them to decide whether to step 
forward.  Can I  support their reports with facts?  No.  I never saw the 
rider or the horse on the trail.  However, I do know who I believe and 
respect. 

 Accidents happen where no one is at fault and there is no guilt attached.  
Horse fall off cliffs, horse die of heart attacks and colic on the trail and 
at home in their pastures.  If it happens to me again as it has in the past,  
I hope my fellow riders will show more charity than I am in this case.  

I have no doubt that the offending rider grieves over the loss of his horse. 
I have no doubt that he spared no expense to try to save him.  I have no 
doubt that he has learned something the hard way—that there are those willing 
to speak out  to protect a forgiving animal. 

 I am no match for some of the vocal voices on ridecamp.. I liked to be liked 
and this letter is probably not going to be too well received.  Poor judgment 
resulting in the abuse of our animals can be excused (I am guilty), but 
repeated poor judgment  after many warnings is not excusable.  In my years in 
this sport, I have never heard of any horse more pitied than Dancer.  The 
people who predicted the end result were unfortunately right on target.

I ask that people grieve not only  for the man who lost his “beloved” horse 
but also for the horse that lost his beloved life. 

Julie Suhr