When I read the first protest, my response
was the same as yours, Sandy. Then I noticed the name on the second one. I have
been at three rides this person has ridden in; met him back in March. The
lady who introduced me to him rode almost an entire ride with him. She said he
was teaching her how to be "competitive". Until I read this protest, I
never would have guessed any of this had happened. ( I AM NOT defending him, I
don't know enough about the situation to do that) It has bothered me since I
read it,but not necessarily because his horse died. OK, so he was
"competitive". He lost a horse. I feel terrible about that for the love of
the animal. However, I am not sure, after having my first metabolic pull
back in May( a ride this person attended) , that I feel the same today as I
would have in March. I have a different perspective. What if MY mare had
died when I got home? Would someone have filed a protest? I was doing MUCH less
than my mare was capable of on any other day, yet she would not pass her
CRI. There were comments from the tent when the vet told them why she was pulled
like,"OH my God, that's HORRIBLE!" (I heard them.) Photos taken of my mare 5
minutes later show an alert, active , uncompromised animal. I have other
horses I could have taken to rides afterward, if she had died. Would that have
made me heartless? Is there a respectable mourning period? Other riders
with MANY more years experience lose horses under WAY more suspicious
cicumstances, and no protests are filed.My point(I think:) ) is that these
protest readings are colored quite differently based on our past
experiences. (Hope I can still buy a horse from you, if you have what I need
;))
