Re: 2-Way Radios

["Linda B. Merims" <lbm@ici.net>]

Angie wrote:

>Linda B. Merims wrote:
>>if you go to a big TWH show you will actually see riders wearing
>>ear pieces and being coached step-by-step around the ring by their
>>trainers. 
>
>Wonder if this is common, or if word of it got started with a fellow from
>Chattanooga named Forrest Cate.  He was completely blind and showed
>Tennessee Walking Horses.  He wore an ear piece and his trainer guided
>him from the sideline.  It was really inspiring to watch.  Maybe it has
>become common by now, but I can imagine someone who didn't know he was
>blind thinking this was overkill.

Hmmm.  Interesting.  It sounds plausible.  I don't know.  I do know that
the proposed Morgan rule forbidding radio communication does explicitly
exempt riders who are handicapped.  Indeed, one of the criticisms of the
rule was that it wasn't clear enough about what it meant by "handicapped."
(The joke was, "My IQ's too low, I need to be coached...")

Linda B. Merims
lbm@ici.net
Massachusetts, USA