Ridecamp: Re: [RC] [RC] in response to Howard re horse deaths

Phil wrote:

> I beg to differ with you.  In the last two years of 
> our ride we have had riders who continued riding whiles 
> their horses heads were dragging the grown.  One was 
> at the time a well known junior in the Southeast who 
> refused to quit after many riders ask him to pull his 
> horse.  We (a vet included) finally went out on the trail 
> and literally took the horse away form him and put the 
>  horse on a trailer.  He then screamed at us that the 
> horse could continue.  This rider now rides in the adult 
> class and still runs the heck out of the horses he rides. 
> At our ride this past year we had a rider ride his horse 
> until the horse dropped over.  He said he figured the 
> horse could make 25 miles without any problems. (His 
> first ride) Again he was asked by other rides to stop 
> and walk the horse which he refused until the horse fell. 
> While we were attending to this horse a woman rides up 
> with an exhausted horse and says her horse is just lazy. 
> Ken (our vet) started to hose the horse down and the 
> woman scr eams not to get the saddle wet.  She then 
> stated that the saddle was worth more than the horse. 
> After a very heated discussion with myself and Michelle 
> Owens telling this woman she had no reason to own a 
> horse she hopped back on her horse and took off. 
> Luckily these horses recovered but none completed the 
> ride.  Don't assume that every rider has the horse's 
> best interest at hand.  There ARE people out there that 
> want to win at any cost.

I certainly hope they did not complete the ride as I 
understand the ride management can deny completion for 
such unsportsmanship behavior.

I realize it's not the easiest thing to do, but can't 
repeat offender riders be suspended from AERC membership 
if a formal complaint is filed and upheld?  Has anyone
done that in any of these stated cases of repeat offenders?
I also understand ride management can deny entries in 
documented cases like the ones you state above. 

This is not a position anyone wants to be in, but stating
that a Jr rider is consitantly behaving in such an 
unsportsmanship like way when there are ways within the
AERC rules to deal with unwanted behavior seems like side
stepping the issue. 

Yes, people need to know about it, but if these are on 
going problems someone needs to have the guts to deal
with them (and not just post complaints to Ridecamp).

Kathy Myers
AERC # 14992 
in Santa Fe, NM

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