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I was just out feeding my horses, and got to
thinking about what Phil said. I have a few questions. Were the
riders in question 'sanctioned' for their actions? Surely refusing to get
off a suffering horse and then yelling at the people in charge is poor
sportsmanship as well as dangerous behavior. Was this person welcome at
other rides put on by the same management? Was this person written up to
the protest and grievance committee?? We need to sanction ourselves.
I surely would have nothing to say to this person for the rest of his
career. Has anyone made him feel unwelcome because of his bahavior?
I think the bad apples will be weeded out if we make them feel unwanted.
Just a thought.
Laura
Laura Wrote:
I honestly do not think that in most (or any)
cases that it is riders making
the decision to continue if their horses
are not able - the point of having
veterinary judges is to pull those
horses - and they do, without hesitation.
Phil
Wrote:
I beg to differ with you. In the last two years of our ride we
have had riders who continued riding whiles their horses heads were dragging
the grown. One was at the time a well known junior in the Southeast who
refused to quit after many riders ask him to pull his horse. We (a vet
included) finally went out on the trail and literally took the horse away form
him and put the horse on a trailer. He then screamed at us that the
horse could continue. This rider now rides in the adult class and still
runs the heck out of the horses he rides. At our ride this past year we
had a rider ride his horse until the horse dropped over. He said he
figured the horse could make 25 miles without any problems. (His first ride)
Again he was asked by other rides to stop and walk the horse which he refused
until the horse fell. While we were attending to this horse a woman
rides up with an exhausted horse and says her horse is just lazy. Ken
(our vet) started to hose the horse down and the woman screams not to get the
saddle wet. She then stated that the saddle was worth more than the
horse. After a very heated discussion with myself and Michelle Owens
telling this woman she had no reason to own a horse she hopped back on her
horse and took off. Luckily these horses recovered but none completed the
ride. Don't assume that every rider has the horse's best interest at
hand. There ARE people out there that want to win at any
cost.
Phil
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