>I have to agree with Kim. The
resouces are there if you take the trouble to look for them and use them.
And again, I'll remind all that I specifically
asked how we educate "people like her." Those who take the trouble to look
for the resources are easy. It is the other kind we need to address.
And perhaps "educate" was a poor choice of words--how do we step in and
intervene when it is clear that they have NOT sought the education? A part
of the problem here is that because WE are compassionate and understanding of
our horses, we assume that others have the same approach. And when we find
out that we were wrong, it is easy to wallow in anger and shock and horror over
what "they" did. What I'm trying to do here is to jolt us out of the
convenience of our anger and to look at where we might have stepped in, had we
only known. Perhaps I am closer to this, as a ride vet--I HAVE to take
action if someone isn't doing right by their horse. But I think it is
something we ALL need to consider. I did a lot of soul-searching about how
we could have prevented the death-by-abuse of a horse at a ride in 1983.
It was mind-boggling that anyone could be so dense as the woman who rode this
horse to death. But the reality is that there ARE people like that out
there. So the burden is on us to recognize the warning signs. If
those involved learned that from this horse, then there has been a forward step
here. But if all that was accomplished was anger and shock and horror a
year later on RC when the protest is finalized, then we haven't learned a bloody
thing, and the next one will die, too.
