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Re: [RC] Howard's rant to me - heidiTHANK YOU, Joe, for summing up clearly and succinctly what it is that a great many of us have been trying (unsuccessfully, apparently) to say to Howard for awhile now. I've been shoving Howard's last post around in the inbox trying to come up with a response, and John Teeter made a good run at it, but Joe, you said it better than any of us so far. And Howard--if you REALLY want us to take your rhetoric seriously, the FIRST thing you have to do is ride like you mean it--and I don't just mean the metabolic pulls and treatments, but also the foolhardy gestures such as trying to race with the hot shoes on the first loop, etc., that you so frequently brag about on-line. You can talk all you want about putting the horse first, but you need to ride like that, too! Yes, indeed, Howard--putting the horse first is what this sport is all about. Joe is right on the mark about that. But where that happens is when you are on their backs and going down the trail. Try it sometime--your horses will thank you for it. Meanwhile, I hope you print down Joe's post and tape it somewhere where you'll see it every morning. (The bathroom mirror comes to mind.) I've left it intact below in case you missed it the first time around. And the next time you get on a horse at a ride, I hope you have your own quote ringing in your ears: "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.'" Only next time place YOUR horse's welfare ahead of YOUR own personal goals, or feelings of macho-ness, or desire for a thrill, or whatever. And you don't have to scream it to the world--just whisper it to your horse. And mean it! THAT, Howard, is what "horse welfare" is about--a personal commitment one-on-one from a rider to his horse, each and every time he saddles up and climbs aboard. Meanwhile, like Joe, the great majority of us will continue to try to pursue changes in our sport that make sense, rather than pursuing change for the sake of change, just so we can feel warm and fuzzy about having "done something." Heidi On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 15:24:36 -0500, "Howard Bramhall" <howard9732@xxxxxxx> wrote: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.That those are your only valid qualifications is clear. Why do you not then try to understand what people with real qualifications tell you about it?The experience changed my life (the first one). The second one shook me up and re-enforced the experience of the first one.Those two sentences are somewhat contradictory, no? No matter how much you scream and rant and posture about horse deaths, it's not going to relieve your guilt feelings about what you did to your own horses. You need to work through that yourself, and you must begin by facing reality. It was not the AERC's fault, not the ride vet's fault, it wasn't because there weren't enough rules to prevent you from doing what you did -- it was Howard's fault. ...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.No doubt. I hope that if it ever happens to me, I'll still be rational about the subject. Actually, to a degree it did happen to me. Out of ignorance and inexperience I rode too fast on Kahlil's second 50 mile ride, and he tied up in the third vet check (and was treated with a shot of painkiller/muscle relaxant). The experience scared me down to my bones, and caused me to not only slow down but sent me to do all the research I was able on how to do it right. What it didn't do was make me blame everyone else for my mistake, demand immediate adoption of half-baked rules, or loudly claim that no one else gave a damn.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.Lots of us have been speaking out, but you don't like what we say.I know I'm not out here all alone, but, our mind set has to change.Yours does, that's for sure.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."That's been the fundamental AERC philosophy for a long time, you didn't invent it. It was the primary campaign pledge I made in every run for AERC Director, and my first priority throughout those terms. But oh, yeah, "that was then," and now it's only you who is trying to save the horses.If we don't accept the idea of any changes ever happening to our sport, we have no chance to reduce the numbers.Nearly all of us are open to change, but we want change for the better, not change for the sake of change, or for some warm-fuzzy feeling of "doing something" that in reality makes things worse. -- Joe Long jlong@xxxxxxxx http://www.rnbw.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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