"truth is. . ."

["Whitney Bass" <bass@bigsky.net>]

I was reading the magazine "Horse Show", last night -- and a few of the
things that the AHSA President wrote (Alan F. Balch), reminded me of
ridecamp.  Thought I'd share!  
	"Truth is the child of time, because over time, more and more ideas are
brought forward, more opinions are contrasted, and more discussion takes
place.  Open exchanges can be extremely frustrating to those who would use
our process for personal or hidden agendas, and frustration can easily lead
to incivility and bad manners.   . . .Some of us still have to learn that
personal characterization and attempts to manufacture villains or enemies,
in order to foster adversarial relationships, is counterproductive in the
long run.  It might make someone feel better and someone else feel worse in
the short run, but it serves no really useful purpose for the sport.  It's
one of those things we learned in kindergarten, or should have."
	. . . "The welfare of horses need not collide with the profit motive, of
course,  We are here to see that it does not.  Yet it is always a
temptation, and if the profit motive ever does overcome our commitment to
equine welfare, it will also swamp our commitment to fairness of
competition.  This threat is greater now than it has ever been, as the
prices of horses rise ever higher, driven by higher stakes in competition,
driven in turn by the ability of competition management and professionals
to derive exceptional profit from both competitions and the sale of horses.

And my favorite part!  
	"Yes, you say, this may be true, but how does it differ from any other
sport where 'professionalization' has overtaken the old and simple sporting
experience?  The answer is clear:  the other sports don't consider the
welfare of an innocent, magical animal, as we do.  The horse, and its
integrity, makes all the difference in the world."  (Yeaheaheah!!)