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Hi Dabney,
Fred achieved a once-in-a-lifetime feat. I would have been soooo proud of
that horse. I would have paid a few extra bucks to board Fred at Hal
Hall's or somewhere then ship him back to me where I would have showcased
that bad boy for a while then put him back to work. Mack trailered him to
Tevis and he could damn well trailer him back a month or 2 later. Mack
was more than willing to take all the kudos for winning but refused to
accept responsibility for the wellbeing of Fred after the race. Here we
have a world renowned endurance vet setting the worst possible example of
ego centered riding. Obviously neither Mack nor Hal knew how much damage
had been done to Fred so they just threw him into another race to find
out. That is a really crappy way to assess the condition of a horse don't
you think? What were those 2 thinking about? I would bet my best EasyBoot
(I know you need several) that you would never have treated that great
champion horse like that.
Don Huston

At 05:18 PM 1/5/2006 Thursday, you wrote:

Whoa there boy. 
 
Unless I'm missing something, I just don't see how being sold to Hal Hall (just ask anyone who knows him--Hal's a gentleman who cares deeply and responsibly for his horses, and who has many years of successful endurance experience behind him), rather than being trailered thousands of miles back across the country after doing Tevis, could be considered "cruel." 
 
And, taking a horse in a 100 4 weeks after  winning another one is perfectly fine, so long as the horse is sufficiently rested and otherwise good to go (and Hal would know that, too).
 
Your attitude seems oddly irrational/emotional to me.  Maybe you're anthropomorphizing? (sp?)  As in, your own feelings would (understandably) be hurt if you did a marvelous feat like that for someone and then they "dumped" you? 
 
But, Black Beauty nothwithstanding, horses just don't think like that --they're more like cats: while they will readily bond with a human, they can get over it rather readily (generally) if their  owner happens to change. 
 
Dabney Finch
(cat & horse lover)
7826
----- Original Message -----

From: Don Huston

To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 1:19 PM

Subject: Re: [RC] WC Freiheit The Real Winner Not Mack

Hello Diane,

Thank you for the background on Fred (WC Freiheit). We all knew that Fred had to be a terrific athlete with years of conditioning to accomplish the tremendous feat of winning the OD and Tevis in one year. The very sad and very callous part done by Mack himself after Fred gave his all is of public record which required no "cocking" just pulling the trigger. =-O

Don Huston

At 12:37 PM 1/5/2006 Thursday, you wrote:

Wow... talk about going off half-cocked!  How can anyone not personally familiar with

this horse's history possibly claim that MMS callously sacrificed this horse for his

own ego?

Bear in mind, the AERC records are missing early incompletes.  Steve Hanson

rode Freiheit as a 5 yr old and completed 4 50's that year, 3 of them Top Tens, and

then as a 6 yr old another 5 50's, ALL Top Tens, none in more than 6 hours, then at

7, a 50 and a 100, both first place, and at eight a final 50, first place.  He then

sold this horse to MMS having ridden him a total of 650 miles, HARD, and when the

horse was still in it's growing years.

In 1992, Matthew rode his new 8 yr old on 2 rides and Top Tenned both.  The

following year he rode him on 1 50 finishing 22nd.  As a 10 yr old, Matthew did an

easy 50 (24th) and then Top Tenned 2 100's.  Then at 11, he did 3 100's, Top Tenning

the first and then winning the Old Dominion and the Tevis.  This for a total of 850

miles on an 8-11 year old.  MMS then sold the horse to Hal Hall in 1995 who rode him

on one ride 4 weeks later.  Then nothing till 1999 when he shows up in the records

being ridden by James Oury (who pulled all 3 of his 1999 rides).

From these AERC records, it would seem that Mr Hanson rode this horse pretty hard

for his formative years and that Mr Hall and/or Mr Oury was unable to keep the horse

sound.  But without knowing what actually happened to the horse, except to say that

Mr Hanson probably overrode him, one cannot possibly accuse MMS, Mr Hall or Mr Oury

of destroying this horse.

As to selling the horse directly after winning Tevis, I would guess MMS was offered a

VERY substantial price and thus had the choice of trailering him home some 3000+

miles or selling him.  I'd say selling him must have looked pretty attractive,

especially since it appears MMS had several other ponies at home to work with.

Don Huston wrote:

My God, what an egotistical "it's all me" attitude! Of course MATTHEW MADE IT HAPPEN and he destroyed the horse in the process. Who the hell thinks Mack won! Not me. The horse won. No horse, no win. Mack just happened to be callous enough to let the horse sacrifice itself for his ego and then dump it. Instead of retiring the horse for a while and giving the horse the benefit of all his veterinary skills while letting it recover from such a tremendous feat he sells it to another egomaniac who continues to race it 6 weeks after Tevis. A very crappy way to treat the real champion of Tevis & OD!

Don Huston

At 09:47 AM 1/5/2006 Thursday, you wrote:

*The horse wasn,t that amazing, it,s the rider that is amazing. Matthew made it happen, with alot of planning, work, & determination and of course luck. The horse never did anything impressive before or since. jvm*

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