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RE: [RC] To Limit or not to limit the number of rides - Jim HollandJody, as someone who has "been to war" with AERC over the horse welfare issue, I understand your concern and share that. I hope riders like Jim Holbrook will continue to share their grief with us to help others temper their competitive spirit with a genuine concern for the welfare of the horse. "There but for the grace of God",go any of us if we lose sight of that. If you don't put the welfare of your horse above everything else, we don't need you in this sport. I urge you to continue to write letters to the BOD, but please be patient. We have come a long way in the last couple of years. What was once a contentious issue has now become a "strategic direction" because of people like Mike Maul, Mike Tomlinson, and Dr. Jim Baldwin, who "calls 'em as he sees 'em". I love his Vet Committee Reports. My kinda guy! We have a Horse Welfare Committee, which is doing an excellent job. I urge the BOD to PLEASE make this committee a permanent part of AERC. Their session was packed at the last Convention, and the concern by our membership was obvious to everyone. They were so "on top of this", even an outspoken "Type A" like me had nothing to say....but I got tears in my eyes and a "warm fuzzy" about the future of our sport from the people on this committee. If you get the chance, TELL them how much you appreciate their hard work. The next step is to start penalizing riders for overriding their horse. For example, monitoring the number of metabolic pulls within a given period and severe sanctions for the death of a horse where the rider is found to be negligent. We are GETTING there.....perhaps not fast enough to suit everyone...but the BOD is working on it. Give 'em a chance....but KEEP PUSHING! AERC should set the standard for everyone else....and I think we can do that. Inertia is the enemy here. Thanks for a good post. Jim, Sun of Dimanche+, and Mahada Magic- -----Original Message----- From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp- owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Ridecamp Guest Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 4:14 PM To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] To Limit or not to limit the number of rides Please Reply to: Jody Rogers-Buttram jody.buttram@xxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ========================================== I have tried to stay in a neutral position on most ideas that are brought up on ridecamp. I really don't like to have people jump on me thru emai. But I will speak up on this one. To limit the number of rides that a rider can attend in a specified time limit to ME is just not the answer. You will have people out there who will still run them to death...if they are that kind of person. OK, I am one of the "old timers" that may not like change. Have done this sport for 25 years. Rode the same horse most of those years. Should we also limit how old the horse is that we ride???? That could be some form of abuse... couldn't it??? Look people, if you want to really help the horse, do something about the ones out there that are racing and selling and KILLING them in the process to promote. I wrote to the BOD here a while back, just over this issue. That if AERC wants to really work for the Welfare of the Horse, stop the ones that are repeat offenders!!! For goodness sake, we have member(s) that have killed several horses. But oh, they have 1000's of miles and compete at FEI levels. That is crap people. AERC...put your money where you mouth is. BOD, you do something to help the horses. Talk is cheap. Knowledge/clinics are good.... put punishment will last longer. If they leave the sport...good for the rest of us. We don't need their kind making our wonderful sport look bad. Do we really want to have PETA on us??? It has taken a very long time to get to the point where our horses and us are not looked down on by the rest of the horse community. Jody Rogers-Buttram AERC #1114 (go ahead...look it up people) =-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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