Re: RC: Getting Pulled

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 4/28/00 8:48:25 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
guest@endurance.net writes:

<< I have seen a lot of riders do their jobs and get pulled occasionally.   
We all agree this is part of this sport.  As Heidi said there is a rock, 
hole, etc with every horses name on it.  However, I have also seen riders not 
do their jobs over and over again.  This is what personally concerns me.  I 
do not care (or even wish) to see these later riders names slandered in 
public... I would like to see it prevented though. >>

My response to that is that we do not differentiate between which riders "did 
right" and which ones were jerks--so there is no stigma attached to the 
statistics.  There is no big star next to "Sally's" name that says "Sally 
overrode her horse and hassled the ride vets when they pulled her"--nope, she 
is just listed as a pull, right along with "Jane" who was a concerned rider 
and told the vets when she presented that she was concerned about "Flicka's" 
left front, and the vets concurred, and "Jane" said fine, I'm not going on 
then!  So why is there any stigma here at all?  In my experience, 90+% of the 
riders "make" the choice to pull given the opportunity to do so before the 
vet "makes" the call.  (And most vets give them that few minutes of grace to 
"make" the right choice, even if the vets are going to pull the horse in any 
event.)  So again, where is the stigma?  "Sally" is listed exactly the same 
way that all the caring riders are who pull for all the right reasons.

<<In addition isn't it the vets that need the historical information about a 
rider and horse... not the general public. >>

No--we all need it.  As I said in an earlier, it would be nice to be able to 
look at last year's ride to see what sorts of pulls there were--to prep 
properly, etc., or to inquire whether there are particular problems that were 
not addressed--before I haul hundreds of miles to attend.  It is also nice as 
a concerned rider to get a "sense" of what is going on among horses in 
general and to try to avoid the pitfalls through education.  ALL participants 
in this sport--vets, managers, crews, etc. as well as riders--benefit from 
education.

Heidi