At the same time, I don't believe such practices would work for me, and
I have a hard and fast rule about riding two year-olds, but this rule is
for me, and it is not for everybody. Different people have different
experiences, participate in different sports in different ways.
There are some people who believe that just riding any horse is abuse;
those people should not ride horses. There are some people who believe
that confining a horse is abuse; those people should not own horses.
There are valid, reasonable arguments that can be made for holding any
of these beliefs, and there are valid, reasonable counter-arguments as
well. It is up to each individual to define his beliefs and then act
according to them.
At the same time I must recognize that they are my own beliefs and not
necessarily the beliefs of those around me, and that I should not impose
my standards upon other people. Which doesn't mean that I should not
hold those standards, or that I should not express them, but only that I
should not hold other people to them.
Which is why I was unwilling to support the recent California
legislation regarding the outlawing of horse tripping in Mexican rodeos.
It is not something I would ever do with my horse (or any horse), but I
would never presume to tell somebody else what they can do with theirs.
We, as endurance riders, should be very careful about calling anybody a
horse abuser, as there are many people who could make the perfectly
valid argument that it would be rather like the pot calling the kettle
black.
kat
Orange County, Calif.
p.s. I think I should probably spend more time re-reading my posts
before I send them, instead of after.