Re: Why don't riders like to be judged? -- Let's get the facts straight

["Susan Evans Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

>  The final vet check back at camp is after you've cleaned your horse
>up and taken care of him, so that particular P&R doesn't usually show
>anything anyway.

Ok, I'm curious about one thing that really bothred me the few times I did
try NATRC (which was about ten years ago).  After I came back into camp, I
had however long, 30 or 60 minutes, (I don't really remember) before I was
supposed to re-present my horse.  The first two times I competed, I spent
that time untacking, picking out feet, walking Mikey around, letting him
roll, eat and so on.  I brushed and scrubbed off the worst of the saddle
grime with a damp towel, washed the salt off his face, and from between his
legs, but it was late afternoon, chilly with a stiff breeze, and no way was
it "good horsemanship" to put alot of water on the horse at that point in
order to get him spotlessly clean (and the only way of getting him really
clean at that point was alot of water---grooming alone wouldn't have done
it).  Good horsemanship  to my mind is taking care of the physiology of the
animal, not the cosmetics.  But when I re-presented him, I got marked down
big time because he was NOT spotlessly clean, therefore I presumably a poor
horseman.  It would be one thing if it were 100 degrees, but how exactly can
anyone remotely consider it good horsemanship to sluice water onto a horse
in a chilly wind, accomplishing nothing beneficial other than making him
pretty?  I saw another rider come in after me and promptly give her horse a
full soap bath, when the poor animal obviously wanted to eat and (judging
from the wincing and look on his face) be left the hell alone and stop
getting scrubbed on.  That rider did better than I did in the scorecard
department, but if that's "horsemanship" according to NATRC's standards,
well, they sure aren't using much common sense or consideration for the
horse.

Susan G
http://shady-acres.com/susan/



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