Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

My first reaction to this message was, "Someone, somewhere, is responsible 
for a horse's last career-ending race."  That doesn't mean the horse must 
have crashed and burned, it just means that it was time to retire said 
horse, as the rider realized it was time.  And the lesson somewhere is that 
we don't know everything about horses and their physical capabilities.  We 
are all capable of making judgment errors.  I know both Hal and Matthew, and 
I believe neither would do anything to hurt a horse....knowingly.  And they 
both know a lot more than most of us.

So can we stop bashing Matthew and Hal now......please?

Barbara Mc
(Discovering there are more Barbaras on ridecamp than I realized.)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Huston" <donhuston@xxxxxxx>
To: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2006 3:27 AM
Subject: [RC] Lynne is right


> Hi Lynne,
> I think you are right that Hal is one of the "good guys" but does that 
> remove his responsibility for putting Fred into that last career ending 
> race? Hal's horses' have longevity because he rides them within their 
> limits and he probably assumed Mack did too which was a big mistake. I can 
> only imagine the sick feeling Hal had as he watched Fred crash after 
> riding him just that one 50 but he had no way of knowing Fred's true 
> condition and should have erred on the side of caution. There might be a 
> lesson in there somewhere.
>
> You are also right that I'm not a racer. I do admire the "hot shoes" and 
> congratulate them on riding fast while maintaining a sound horse.  I know 
> "stuff happens" and it happens to me sometimes and I am responsible to 
> personally take care of my horse and I've helped others take care of 
> theirs and have learned a lot in the process.
>
> So what is this axe I am grinding? Well I think Mack took all the credit 
> for winning then gave Fred a raw deal and got him badly hurt because he 
> decided not to be responsible for his care after such a remarkable 
> campaign.
> Don Huston
>
>
>
>
>
> At 01:07 PM 1/25/2006 Wednesday, you wrote:
> > Don, I am simply stunned at your conclusions.  IMNSHO you are totally
> > off base, and it freaks me out that you would draw such conclusions
> > about a guy with a record like Hal Hall's and his horses' longevity
> > in the sport and post them to an international audience.  FWIW Don is
> > in PS and Hal in W, and I suspect Don has never seen Hal or his horses.
> >
> > You are not a racer--and it feels like you are not willing to
> > consider that "stuff happens" whether racing or not, and that you
> > feel if a horse has to retire it is automatically something the rider
> > could have avoided had he simply not competed the horse.
> >
> > I am not a racer (either, at this point) but find Hal to be one of
> > the "good guys" in this sport that would pay attention to his horses'
> > longterm needs over his desire to compete. I've seen how he cares for
> > his horses (including at Tevis).
> >
> > Lynne
>
>
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Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

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