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[RC] People and Horse Welfare - Bruce Weary DCThe following are my personal opinions only and do not necessarily represent the thoughts and opinions of the AERC officials and committees I serve with:As long as people are imperfect, we will have challenges in always putting the horse first, or legislating and enforcing rules for their protection. One of the greatest strengths (and, ultimately, a weakness) about people is our need to be right. As a doctor, I face this tendency every day. Who wants a doctor that's only right sometimes or part of the time? A good doctor has to be at least a little bit anal, in that he has to feel compelled to find the right answer as often as he possibly can. Lives depend on it. In our personal lives, where the stakes aren't usually as high, we still correlate our "rightness" with our personal value, self-esteem, and how we think others view us. In other words, having our fallibility revealed to public view, can threaten us at our most basic level--our need to survive. I see it as similar to a herd of antelope announcing to a hungry pride of lions exactly who are the young, weak, old and sickly members of the herd. Naturally, we will go to great lengths to not be exposed as wrong/vulnerable, so we do dumb things like deny our horses post-ride treatment, or try to get our records changed so as not to mar our horse's ride record. I think some folks regard being pulled as a reflection on their inability to be right in their judgement and ability to care for and ride their horse safely, and are unduly embarrassed by it. The truth is, bad things often happen to good horses and good riders, and we should all recognize this and accept it. Only then can we teach ourselves that our first instinct ought not to be to stare judgementally at the rider whose horse is undergoing re-hydration therapy, or trailered off to the nearest equine hospital, but rather to offer aid and support with comments like: "I've been there, I know how you feel." Or, "Chances are he'll be fine. Is there anything I can do to help make it easier on you?" Society at large is quite critical, with the media constantly pouncing on the mistakes and downfalls of others, like buzzards on fresh roadkill. This atmosphere has probably taught many of us to keep our guard up and to be less than revealing about our foibles and mistakes. But the pressure of trying to maintain an appearance of flawlessness is overwhelming, and, ultimately, unobtainable by anyone. It may take a little thick skin at first, but if we tell ourselves as we roll into basecamp that we are there to have fun and to protect our horse, no matter what that might entail, or how it might look to others who simply don't or won't understand, at the end of the day our horse will thank us for it. And, he will likely be around to usher us down many more trails in the days to come. Bruce Weary D.C. aka Dr Q =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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