No if you read what I said that's not at all what was said. In an
emergency situtation there are three things that go into stopping.
First is the reaction time of the rider to issue a que to stop. Next is
the reaction time of the horse to recogonize and respond to the que.
If the horse donesn't recogonize the situtation as a danger to him, his
fight or fright instincts won't trigger him to react so he will have to
take his que from the rider. Neither of these times are zero.
By the time a rider sees a person in the trail and says to himself, "
Is sure hope that person is going to move..........it's not going to
move.....ah....sh...........and he the brakes a second or two could
have gone by. A rider is not normally looking for an emergency
situtaion to arise and that could impact the reaction.
While it might me a good idea - how many people actually practice
"emergency stops" with horses? I would expect the reaction time of a
horse to the stopping que would be first to slow down and as it kept
being given to come to a stop but this again is not instantaneou.
So even if a horse could stop on a dime - there is a nonzero time the
situtation arises and the horse starts to stop. Even if only a couple
seconds the hrose has traveled 20 or 30 yards before he even applies
the brakes.
IMO if the ride manager cannot insure a safe finish line for all
concerned (spectators, riders and horses) - the riders should be told
before the start of the ride. If they are told and don't heed the
warning and ride accordingly then they have to bear the full
responsibility of such an accident. If they are not told or the RM
loses control of the finish line in such a way it puts either the
spectators, rider or horses at risk, the the RM has to bear the
responsibility of the accident.
I guess I have to ask since many people seem to want to trash the
rider, would it make you feel better if the horse managed to spin and
jump to the side avoiding the volunteer in the trail but in doing so
dumped the rider and injured them? From what I am reading in some post,
I have come to the conclusion that at least some thing " would have
served 'em right."
In either case this type of accident could have been prevented by a
properly designed and controlled finish line.
Truman
Carol Stiles wrote:
Truman,
While I agree with you, the more
time to stop, the better, ie. finish lines further away from camp, and
if it protects unknowing volunteers, maybe it's necessary. However, I
disagree with your experiences. Just because you've never had a 1000
lb. animal stop on a dime, you "assume" that it cannot happen. I assure
you that it can and does happen, especially with my horse. Furthermore
I invite you to ride my horse, Beau, if you don't believe me. But you
better be a damn good rider, otherwise you'll go over his head real
quick when he stops.: )
Carol
-- We imitate our masters only because we are not yet masters
ourselves,
and only
We
imitate our masters
only because we are not yet masters ourselves, and only
because
in doing so we
learn the truth about what cannot be imitated.
