Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I agree with Freda that, "...I don't think she is saying she is perfect and has 
never made a mistake... I think it was the syrupy outpouring of sympathy that 
might have been sticking in Melody's craw".

Yes April admitted racing at the finish but look at these comments.  They are 
usually reserved for someone who is the innocent victim of another person's 
violence, not for the person who did the violence:

I applaud you for your honesty in all respects. and your guts :)
April's story is a breath of fresh air.
Keep up your head up!
Don't beat yourself up!
Congratulations on a fabulous ride!  [Is this person nuts???!!]

April didn't do anything that deserves sympathy.
1) She raced foolishly (and according the write up by H Reynolds on the QSER 
site, not just at the finish) and hurt her horse.  As to, "Your horse sounds 
like he will be fine", don't bank on it.  More than one pony has been over 
ridden and then died within a week or two.  I won't consider Alamahn out of the 
woods till he's put in a few Top Tens.  Until that happens, we won't have any 
half way decent assurance that he didn't sustain permanent internal damage.
2) She acted stupidly after the race.  She's experienced enough to know you 
don't have to show for BC but she pushed on with the CRI business well after the 
15 minute time limit.  Assuming she took her horse to his trailer right after 
the finish, the smart thing to do so maybe she didn't, when her horse wasn't 
down to criteria at 15 minutes, she should have left him to eat quietly, get 
massage, cooling water, ice boots maybe.  But go to the pulse box for a CRI? 
And STAY there?  That was stupid.
3) She owned up to (some of) her mistakes.  That was brave but it was the RIGHT 
THING TO DO.  How does that rate gushing, syrupy sympathy?  Have we all 
downgraded our expectations of our fellow humans so badly that even a whispered 
I'm sorry gets rounds of applause?

I'm sure April really does feel badly about having hurt her horse and I'm glad 
she apologized, BUT...  She's been called "courageous" and "brave" for doing so. 
 I disagree.  It's called "damage control".  When you totally F up for all the 
world to see, you can do nothing and look like the total jerk you were or you 
can issue a press release explaining what you did (with your own spin), 
apologizing and promising to never do it again.  The choice isn't exactly rocket 
science.

On her getting "lucky this time", hopefully yes, but maybe no.  Time will tell.

And for the record, I am one of those people who "did not attend" the ride and 
"do not know April and have never even met her".


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=