[RC] Awards, the horse's perspective - Jim Holbrook
I come from a competitive sports background, where
the theme was "show me a good loser, and I'll show you a
loser!"
So, being recognized for succeeding and winning has
always been a part of my mental make up. Hey, if you didn't keep score,
why do the event?
Now comes the hard part...my horse doesn't have the
same perspective.
I've witnessed folks truly abuse their animals in
this sport to gain this recognition. I watched riders enter consecutive
rides with the same horse and literally ride their horse to death in pursuit of
a coffee cup, a horse blanket or to get their name on a piece of wood and
brass.
I know of a rider out here that had a phenomenal
horse that won several 50's in a row. Then, one day that
horse died in his arms the night after an endurance race. I wonder if
he got a vision of his horse's perspective then?
Our animals are an incredible gift from God.
They teach us much about faith and trust as they surrender to our lead. I
don't ever want to forget that fact when I am in a ride and tempted to push it
just a little harder than I should.
Three years ago, my horse, Montana, who I had
ridden for 10 years, stopped eating and drinking at the 40 mile Bridgeport vet
check. That afternoon, I had been pushing him a little harder than I
should have. Montana had the heart of a warrior. Just a few miles
before that vet check, Cherryl forced me to slow down.
What neither I or the vets that treated him at the
ride, nor the vets at UC Davis, who ended up performing the colic surgery on
Montana that night realized, was the fact that Montana had a raging case of
pleural pneumonia.
That night, I realized what Montana's perspective
was. He had survived a 5 hour drive over the Sierras to UC Davis. He
came out of the horse trailer with a fever of 105 degrees, his gums were purple,
and his heart rate was 90 bpm.
He survived a surgery that probably sealed his
death warrant that night. After thousands of dollars in vet bills,
he came home. He lived about 2.5 years, but could never get past the
damage done to his lungs. We had to put him down.
Cherryl made the decision.
I didn't have the courage to be with Montana when
the vet came to put him down. But the night before he died, I fed him for
the last time. As I watched him polish off the last bucket of grain I
would ever feed him, I wept.
That night, I got my horse's perspective.
I wonder if AERC should refuse to recognize any top
ten placement for the same horse more than once within a 30 day time frame
to protect that horse from abuse?
I know I'd trade every blanket, plaque and coffee
cup I ever got from a ride for Montana's life back.
