>That is the part that angers me
most...her blaming AERC, the vet, her trainer and probably even the horse. What
happened to taking responsibility?
Sure it angers you. And you did the most
constructive thing you could with your anger--you supported Lynne's
protest. And the system worked--her protest was upheld. So now it's
time to move past anger to something more worthwhile and less
self-consuming.
Part of what I'm trying to say here is that anger
does more damage to you than it does to the perpetrator. Mourn the loss of
the horse, rejoice that you used your anger to good end, and get past it.
The shock and incredulity and all that stuff has been hashed here on RC more
than once already. Instead of being horrified or angry, be edified--the
anger will eat you up if you don't get past it, but the learning experience
should last you awhile, and should help you to spot a similar situation brewing
should you see one in the future. And having been through this experience,
perhaps you can spot trouble earlier next time, and perhaps you now have the
tools to intervene sooner. I had the same sort of a wakeup call as a young
ride vet in 1983. Sure, it made me angry as hell. But it isn't the
anger that remains--it is the wisdom to not let a situation get that far again
with a rider like that. We all want to trust people, and it is
disillusioning to find out that sometimes we can't.
I do think it is constructive to discuss how such
protests have been resolved, and to learn something from them. What makes
me want to just delete posts such as the original one on this thread is the fact
that drowning in the horror of it all this long after the fact is a kind of
cesspool all its own, and is in a way sort of sensationalizing and capitalizing
on the death of an innocent. If all he meant was "shock" and "horror" and
"anger" a year later, then he died in vain. (And the emoting about it
gets tiresome, as it isn't constructive.) If you/we learned something from
it, that is worth a whole lot more.
