Now, come on, I didn't do the same thing to another horse. That horse
is, and, as it turned out, was not ever in life threatening danger like Dance
Line. A shot of banamine, War Cry's gut sounds returned, and, he became
perfectly fine. But, yea, he did scare the crap out of me, because, I knew
I could not go through again what I did go through with Dance Line. Your
implications of me going through life threatening experiences with two
different horses is way off the mark.
Be that as it may, those are my only valid qualifications and it is the
reason why I take the stand that I do on this. The experience changed my
life (the first one). The second one shook me up and re-enforced the
experience of the first one.
It was a very long walk, those 3 miles to the away vet check area, with War
Cry, and the memories, with Dance Line, came back to haunt me.
And, yea, I did cry, but not as openly as the first time.
I hope to God it never happens to any of you, but, if it does, it will
change everything and affect how you feel about all of this, forever. And,
memories of the experience will make your stomach tighten up and
you'll feel queasy anytime you think about it.
I gotta tell ya'll, and, I do know some of you are out there because I have
met you at rides, but, I need others to speak out on this topic. I
know I'm not out here all alone, but, our mind set has to change. We need
to scream out for the world to hear us say that "our horses are placed
ahead of any riders' or owners' personal goals, and, their health and well being
during an endurance event takes precedence." If we don't accept the
idea of any changes ever happening to our sport, we have no chance to reduce the
numbers.
cya,
Howard (proselytizing, I had to look that word up).
To quote you, " I speak my mind."
Well, so do I! I call a spade a spade. You certainly have the right
to voice your opinion as well as I do. I have no objections to you
speaking your mind. However, in all your "tirades" you appear to me to be
just grasping at straws with no real objectivity to fixing the
problem.
Don't EVER call me a rider out there eager to "earn those
miles and points" cause that isn't who I am. The fastest 50 I have ever
done was around 7 hours so I am no speed demon. I am far more interested in
the miles than points.
I am offended that you think that I don't
care about horses dying.
So Howard, IF (and that's the really big question) new rules will
truly prevent horses from dying and still keep the "integrity" of the sport
called endurance, I'll be the first one on board. And Howard, I am not a
flag waving member of the "I hate Howard Club" (yet!) and I do believe that
you are passionate about this issue. But, I am getting really tired of all
your proselytizing. Let's leave it to the HWC and see what they come up
with. That's the end of my tirade and I am truly not trying to offend
anyone, Truman and Howard included:)
