Ridecamp: Re: [RC] IAHA ride aka speed?

John & Sue Greenall wrote:

> Howard..sometimes from you comes a gem of a statement...
Please don't encourge him:-).

> Here is the danger of publicizing our sport on TV, "interpretation".  
> If "one of our own" was concerned about how the horses looked, 
> imagine how the uneducated masses viewed it???  Following the 
> widely publicized deaths of two horses at the WEG, we, as 
> endurance riders, need to realize that we don't look so good to the 
> rest of the equestrian poplulation, let alone some PETA group.   
> We all need to keep that in mind at the next ride we attend!
>  
A few years ago I was crewing at the Biltmore. That was the last year 
when the "Biltmore Syndrome" hit us. The treatment vet was very busy. I 
noticed a woman with a camera taking pictures of horses being treated. 
I'd never seen her before. We must remember while the advent of rapid 
and sometimes aggressive treatment has made our sport safer - it may not 
appear that way to the 95+ percent of the people who think horses are 
"cute," but have not idea of endurance riding.

It was the sole image of an eventing horse exhausted at the 92 Olympics 
that gave eventing a bad name with many. It only takes one image to wipe 
out the 10 years worth of PR work.  

This year on the FL ballot there was a constitutional amendment. It had 
to do with how breeding hogs are kept. The petition process was funded 
by the animal rights activist and if enacted will cost the hog farmers 
of FL tons of money - may even put them out of business. When I read it 
I didn't think it had a snowballs chance in hell of passing. But the ads 
on TV were very powerful images that implied abuse. It passed.

Don't ever underestimate the power of a single image and I don't even 
want to think about the power of an image of a treated horse (with the 
appropriate words wrapped around it) - much less a dead horse. The TB 
industry has money to fight them, but do we?  

Truman

> John and Sue Greenall
> mailto:greenall@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> http://www.vermontel.com/~greenall
>  




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