What is it that drives a person to do a 50 or 100
mile ride on an animal they say they love? Do they think the horse enjoys
it? I volunteered at a ride this weekend, and believe me, none of the
horses appeared to enjoy it! And half the riders didn't appear to enjoy it
either??? What makes you want to put your beloved animal through that, is
it your ego? I've ridden a 25 miler in 4 hours, and I think that wasn't
bad, but question whether my horse or I would have enjoyed any more. And I
didn't really enjoy horses coming in with a high heart rate, and the
owners rushing to get through the P/R people and vet line, to get back out
there and abuse their horse some more. You love your horse? Sounds
more like an ego trip to me. I was impressed with the calm people who took
the time to take care of their mounts, went slower, and came in with a 46 heart
rate. And to those who's horses tied up, how can you even put your horse
through that if you love it? And the lame horses, why trot that horse 10
times, the first time showed he was dead lame, 9 more times isn't going to
help. Did you want to get back on and keep going, were you hoping he was
just sort of "off" for the first trot out? I really got my eyes opened
volunteering, I'll say that.
And what makes a big fat person, with boobs or
belly flopping for 50 miles, enjoy that??? Why do you expect your
horse to be an athlete when you couldn't run 100 yards yourself? Why don't
you go and train to run a marathon, maybe with a 50 pound pack on your back, and
see how long it would take you to get fit, and how much you would enjoy
it? Shouldn't people expecting their horse to be an athlete,
searching far and wide for the perfect horse that can go the
distance........don't you owe it to your horse to be somewhat fit
yourself??? Get out there and run a couple miles a day and get yourself
fit, and give your horse a break. If your horse was too fat you'd sure put
him on a regiment in a hurry. I'm not trying to be mean, just to give you
another perspective from a spectator, and what the animal rights people might
see also. The older I get the more I am on the side of the horse. I
don't like 2 year olds racing, or 3 for that matter. I don't like the high
level eventing and how tough it is on the horses. And I don't like the
jumping over fences and walls a horse can't even see over top of. I think
some of our so called "horse sports" are getting a little out of hand, and the
welfare of the horse is not a priority, or they wouldn't keep making the courses
tougher and tougher. Some are just down right dangerous!
Send all flames to Howard, I think he's used to
it.
