Personally, I believe the welfare of the
horse is more important than the bruised feelings and ego of a rider. That will
pass and perhaps this would be a deterrent to others. If “bashing”
a rider for poor judgment or overriding their horse, or even imposed sanctions on
riders by AERC for such behavior saves the life of even one horse in the
future, IMHO that is far better than hiding the facts to “protect the
feelings” of riders. According to AERC, the rider is responsible
for the welfare of their horse. That being the case, if they fail in that
respect they should be prepared to accept the repercussions. Endurance is an
extreme sport. When you enter a horse in a ride you are putting him in harms
way and you KNOW that death is a possibility. The horse has no choice in the
matter and I think too few of us are willing to speak on his behalf.
Besides, we have a surplus of horses anyway, I guess. What’s one more
dead horse? Miniscule in the overall scheme of life, I suppose. I’m
probably just “beating a dead horse” here.
Perhaps if AERC provided more detailed and
timely information, there would be less rumor and innuendo.
From: Barbara McCrary
[mailto:bigcreekranch@xxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Friday, September 14, 2007
10:24 AM To: Jim Holland; Marinera@xxxxxxx;
ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; AERCMembersForum-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [RC] GSFHR
I would suggest that if there was
extensive information published on horse deaths, there would be considerable
bashing on Ridecamp of the riders of those horses. It seems to be a
favorite pastime when a horse is injured or it dies on a race/ride.
Sometimes we truly can criticize a rider
for being imprudent, and there are times when accidents happen to the most
careful of riders. Criticizing other riders for their bad luck or
carelessness makes the rest of us feel so above their misfortune. Just
remember, a horse death could happen to anyone, at any time.
