>>>>>> Oh my, I remember those days too well. I remember joining the lists >>>>>> when I'd owned horses about 15 years (lessons and clinics since the >>>>>> beginning) and being told by a few self-appointed experts that I should >>>>>> shut up and "educate myself."
>>I might have been guilty of saying that. I know there was a time I was >>really having a problem with people just believing whatever garbage their >>farrier told them. But don't you think that most all of us on this list are already out to "educate ourselves" - not because we want to "fit in with the cool kids" (at least the ones who think they are the "cool kids", but are really the bullies) but because we are driven to learn? It's a big difference to me. The most amazing horsemen I've ever met are like sponges - always out to learn from every source they can learn from, about all aspects of horsemanship: health care, riding, herd management, relationships, tack and saddle fit... It's the people who told me that I had to learn from one source, one way only - that's when warning flags go up. Horsemanship is simply too complex - no one will ever know it all, not about everything. When people build walls around their breed, shutting out outside influences, that's when we start seeing the horrors like what was at this summer's World Championships. Man we never become so isolated that we don't see that sort of thing for what it is - abuse. Karen Thomas, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.19.0/1216 - Release Date: 1/9/2008 10:16 AM
