dead horses

["John & Sue Greenall" <greenall@vermontel.net>]

I shudder to think what will happen to our sport if the media 
presents to the public the wrong image of what it is all about.  Yes, 
we care for our horses.  Yes, the vets and riders do everything to 
keep from hurting horses.  Yes, things happen that no one could 
foresee.  But, consider how a non-horse animal lover could view our 
sport after seeing horses trotting out lame, horses peeing black,  
horses on IV's, horses dying.  Ah!  Unfortunately, one of these 
things happens at just about every ride?!  We cannot continue to 
blame these incidents on "newcomers", for that, in reality, is not 
always the case.  As our sport becomes more public, we, as 
riders, need to understand that risk.  I commend our ride 
managers, vets and fellow riders for taking this into consideration 
during a ride.  And I beseech all managers, vets and riders to take 
every precaution possible, even if it means extra work, taking more 
time or pulling, in order to preserve the image of our sport.  
John and Sue Greenall
mailto:greenall@vermontel.net
http://www.vermontel.com/~greenall