Re: Ride Cancellations & 94 dollar question

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

Having been present at the PNER Board meeting where this subject first came
up, I have to add my .02 to this discussion.

First of all, to Steph, thanks for your concise explanation.  I would like to
add, though, that both you and Ramey were at the PNER Board meeting, supported
the ride managers there, and it was my impression that Ramey was going to help
draft the letter.  If the letter from the ride managers did not state the
cause of banning Pat from the rides, what happened to the help that was
supposed to have been given to these folks to make sure this was done
properly?

Secondly, to Pat, you and I have discussed this situation privately, and I
will not elaborate here about our private discussion.  However, I WILL share a
comment you made in a letter you wrote to the PNER Board--do not have it in
front of me to quote you verbatim, but the gist of your comment was that when
your stallion kicked Lori Stobie's horse, severely injuring him, you were not
aware of the incident, and you were upset that no one pointed it out to you at
the time.  That comment sent chills up and down my spine, and brilliantly
illustrated the reason why ride managers were so concerned--I cannot even
IMAGINE having my horse kick someone else's horse while I have him in hand and
me not know about it!  It is up to YOU to monitor the behavior of your horse,
not those around you!  While we stood discussing this very concept, you had
the horse on a lead, and he stood behind you misbehaving--no one else was
around to be hurt, so I did not call it to your attention immediately, but was
just curious how long it would take you to notice.  You never did.  After
about 10 minutes, I finally pointed out to you what he was doing.  You are a
very nice lady, and you have a very nice horse (if he wasn't so nice, somebody
likely would have been killed by now)--but it is like he speaks French and you
only understand Greek.  I hope you will take to heart some of the things we
talked about.  I am really disappointed that you carried this to the point of
an AERC protest, rather than trying to comprehend the situation and understand
why the managers felt they had to write the letter.  It is too bad that the
ride managers did not have better help in phrasing their letter, but from what
I understand, you won your appeal on the technicality that the managers did
not write their letter properly, not because the board thought you should not
have been banned from the rides.  Seems to me like a pretty hollow victory.
As to solicitation of managers to sign the original letter--I may be wrong
here, but I am not aware of any managers being "solicited" that had not
discussed it at PNER convention.  I think the writers of the letter were
merely circulating it to those who already knew it was being written and were
directly affected.  

Thirdly, to Sue Griffin and Sue Sommers--you two are two of the most non-
political and concientious endurance riders I know.  I have known Sue Griffin
since God was a kid, and Sue Sommers for enough years to know her pretty well,
too.  Both of you (as well as several other managers) spoke in a very fair
manner about this issue at the PNER convention, and your main concerns were
rider safety and ride manager liability.  You presented your problem in such a
generic fashion that most of us didn't even have a clue about whom you were
talking.  In fact, I think I was the one who finally asked, who the heck IS
this rider, anyway?  No one was out to "get" anyone here.  The issues are
real, the problem is real, and it is too bad that perhaps the ride managers'
letter to Pat was flawed.  I think folks are missing the point here, and I am
disappointed that the AERC Board did not look through the flaws to the real
issues.  Bad case of not being able to see the forest for the trees.  I do not
share Steph's sentiment that these ride managers somehow need a rest and that
others will fill the gap--yes, other rides may go on, but these are sincere,
dedicated managers who did an outstanding job, and when they needed help,
their sanctioning organization let them down.  They are not replaceable.
Shame, shame.  I don't blame them for cancelling, and my heart goes out to
them.  Little wonder that our membership is dwindling.

Heidi Smith, DVM--Sagehill Arabians (Oregon)