RE: [RC] Education - doing something about it - Alison Farrin
I had originally brought this up (on the AERC MEMBERS list) as an
idea to catch just these folks. For the RIDER's first "x" rides (I think
3, but the number is open to discussion!) they must ride as "RED CARDS". A
red card rider can have additional parameters set either by AERC or the Ride
manager to keep them slow enough to give their horse a chance to stay
safe. For example, on an 25 mile LD ride, the 30 minute hold is increased
to 45 minutes and they may not finish the ride in less than 3.5 hours. The
rider MUST attend the LD meeting (the ride manager can sign their card as proof
they were there) and the vets will know the moment they see the ride card that
this is a newbie. A vet that might give an experienced rider the benefit
of the doubt on a marginal horse should just pull a red card horse on the
assumption that the rider doesn't know he may be making
mistakes.
Anyone
that joins AERC gets a rider # with a "P" at the end for provisional, then gets
a sticker to put on your AERC card as soon as you meet the minimum criteria and
your provisional license is removed. If you are not a member of AERC, you
show the Ride Manager 3 completed rides with your name on the completion list
and they won't assign you a red card.
Yes,
its a little bit more work. But these are the people (witness the recent
protests) most likely to kill a horse at a ride. These are the people
least likely to seek education in traditional channels. So, figure out who
they are, Make them ride slower as they learn, and have a system to let the
Powers that Be know who they are and keep an eye on them.
Alison A. Farrin Innovative Pension Innovative Retirement
Services 858-748-6500 x 107 alison@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
-----Original Message----- From: Heidi Smith
[mailto:heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Saturday, August 23, 2003 8:47
AM To: Dana B.; ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [RC]
Education
>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.
