Re: Re: Re: Darolyn & Barefootin'

["Heidi Smith" <heidi@sagehillcmk.com>]

> > Ummm.....   Pain is something the horse feels--if he can't feel it, it
> isn't
> > pain....
>
> So you never heard of a kid chewing up the inside of his mouth after
leaving
> the dentist. Surely the kid didn't feel any pain. Okay so if there is no
> perceived pain is no damage done??

Cheryl, it still isn't pain until the anesthesia wears off.  Last I checked,
anesthesia was still prohibited under AERC's drug rules.  What you are
talking about here is damage, not pain.  And since our shod horses are
running with nerves intact and not altered by drugs, if any damage is done,
it becomes pain, which is, indeed, felt.  The result to feeling pain in the
feet is lameness.  If we are inflicting all this "pain" by riding our horses
shod, why do the vast majority of them finish sound?

For the record, here is what Webster has to say regarding pain [inserts are
mine]:  "a basic bodily sensation [in other words, you can FEEL it] induced
by a noxious stimulus, received by naked nerve endings [in other words, NOT
anesthetized], characterized by physical discomfort [once again, you can
FEEL it], and typically leading to evasive action [in the case of running
over rocks, most likely limping]."

Heidi (who despite 8 years under the Clinton administration, still believes
that words have precise meanings)