Re: RC: Boggs suspension

[Nancy DuPont <Htrails@Earthlink.net>]

Here, friends, is another viewpoint from Lacey's Arabian Ranch, written by
Dean Lacey here in California.  I have my horses in training with them and
in their kind care.  15 of my horses work weekly as a childrens horse camp
and during winter riding acamdemy providing lessons to beginners. 4 of these
lesson horses are winners in NATRC.  They are happy, fat and gentle horses.
They are easy to control.  They are members of my family.

I no longer show stallions and halter horses as I did with Rob Bick years
ago when I had a training barn.  I simply did not get excited over the
environment or boring hours of watching without riding.  I later found out
the horror stories that go on in back of the barn and it cemented my dislike
of the big shows.  After selling my stallion to a wealthy lady, Margaret
Lesher, here in California, I watched her put the horse in training with a
prominent name trainer who couldn't "handle" him (this is a horse we used to
teach beginners and who used to pull a cart at Christmas with jingle bells
on it) I watched the trainers starve him to make him easier to control.
After some flaming letters to the owner, the horse was taken out of training. 

Anyway, Dean has a point we all should heed.  The final buck stops with the
owner of the horse.  Ignorance can only be excused so far.  You better know
what they are doing to your horse!! 
Of course, Boggs must own horses too -- and for that he must be judged.


>From: DLacey7616@aol.com
>Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 05:28:15 EDT
>Subject: Re:  RC:  Boggs suspension
>To: Htrails@earthlink.net
>
>    Mr. Boggs is not a monster! He is a product of rules well meaning folks 
>have instituted in the breed.(This a very important point to make) He just 
>worked around them. What makes people like him so powerful is the owners that 
>allow this kind of treatment to happen in order to win!  How Many people 
>didn't dare (excluding the brave folks that did)  step up and say "I don't 
>want my horse treated that way" . Instead of saying " I want my horse to show 
>to the best of his ability , but no further". 
>    Trainers are , first trying to make a living ,and second Doing what wins 
>or makes their clients happy. All this in order (if they are horsemen and not 
>just opportunists )  to do what they love doing. Lets face it , dollars per 
>hour , This job SUCKS. It takes a special kind of idiot to do this for a 
>living.  Very few get any thing but a hand to mouth living out of it. Is it 
>any wonder that some fall into the trap of "The horse be damned , I have rent 
>to pay". If the owner is going to take that horse elsewhere if he doesn't 
>win, just watch and see what happens next.  
>    As a trainer I often find owners of horses on that proverbial "FENCE". 
>Feeling the pressure of both competition and finances that is demanded to 
>redeem the "cash-out-lay" a show and breeding career demands , it isn't hard 
>to imagine that frame of mind. Some folks will say " I would never allow that 
>to happen to my animal". But who can truthfully say if they haven't been 
>there. 
>    My wife and partner ,Sheri, and myself have long ago decided just how far 
>we are willing to go . While asking for the best a horse can give , We don't 
>want to cross that line into "To Much" .
>    The horses in our care are our family, And while any family member is 
>from time to time asked to give that extra "try" in a pinch , To ask for it 
>to often or on a regular basis will make them "sour or burnt - out. To push 
>any harder than they can comfortably give can severely shorten their careers 
>not mention ruin their soundness attitude. It's very hard to go to work every 
>morning and look at a barn full of animals that don't like you because they 
>are in pain . That single fact is what makes the difference between a 
>"Horseman" and a Trainer" (after all , "A trainer is just someone with a barn 
>and a sign") (quoted from Murrel Lacey). A trainer works their horse for 
>today, a Horseman works their horse always for the ride they will get the 
>next time . Never forgetting the best is always to come and the animal is 
>just that , a living , breathing, thinking, learning animal and not a machine.
>    No , Mr. Boggs is just a successful Business man who  was selling 
>something people were willing to buy . But keep in mind as long as the Judges 
>pick surgically altered , Athletically challenged manikins , anyone taking 
>money to show another's horse to it's best advantage , is obligated to meet 
>those terms. 
>    So , Where does that leave us ? In the uncomfortable position of being 
>responsible for the well fair of our own animals? I'm afraid so ! Unavoidably 
>"THE BUCK STOPS WITH US".
>     Show your horse but be involved . Visit, ride ,and listen to your horse. 
>If they are unhappy , they will let you know. Then talk to your Trainer, Tell 
>them how you feel. Then (no , it never stops) Tell I.A.H.A. how you feel. 
>They seem to think the only Horses that Count are at the Nationals . The 
>Horse industry is a "Grass Roots Industry". With out all of us regular horse 
>owners that just love to ride and be around our horses the breed has nothing 
>to stand for . DON'T LET THEM FORGET US . 
>    Yes , some Trainers take unfair advantage of horses and ignorant owners 
>,and worse yet , knowing owners. That is unforgivable. But , so is ignorance. 
>So learn and be involved with your horse's training and this kind of thing 
>can't happen . 
>    Find a trainer that has views that are like your own. Then be Patient , 
>Our kids go to school for years to learn the basics , but we want our horses 
>to be stars in months. The average stay for a horse at a training barn is 
>approx. 2.5 months . Pretty quick trip trough collage if you ask me . Try to 
>teach a chimpanzee to live in a humans world in that time and I think it 
>might shed some new light on the infinite forgiveness and intelligence of our 
>friends.
>    Never forget we are only passing these horse on to future generations . 
>    I wonder if they can survive our complacency as well as they have the 
>desert that gave them their heritage.
>
>Dean Lacey   
>        
>
>
Nancy DuPont, Executive Director
Heritage Trails
1350 Castle Rock Road
Walnut Creek, CA 94598

Our Mission: To preserve and protect trails and answer the question, "Where
are you going to ride your horses, and where are you going to keep them."
Telephone (925)937-7661 FAX (925) 943-7431


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