Thank you for being reasonable. I have had the experience many times of having a highly competitive horse lock onto a fence, or some other purpose (like staying with the field he’s racing with), and sometimes it’s necessary to practically wrestle them to a stop. It’s hard to do. A sudden, fast stop can do even more damage.
Sometimes it’s very difficult to figure out what’s going on beneath you when you’re riding at high speed on changing, uneven ground, and those who haven’t ridden that course, or Morven Park, or Fair Hill (as I have), might not realize how uneven the ground can be, so the horse doesn’t necessarily feel regular and rhythmic.
Just last night I was helping my daughter, who competes at a high level, with an OTTB I recently bought. Cantering on uneven ground she wasn’t sure that the mare was going sound or not. I saw that the mare was off and told her, but despite her experience and skill she didn’t feel it clearly.
Did Tryon make a bad decision? Surely. Was it understandable? Forgivable, even? Maybe. My entire point is that the lynch mob might just consider holding onto their torches and rope for awhile until a formal investigation is concluded. The investigation might well determine that what she did was horrendous, but until then, we might presume innocence until she is proven guilty, in accordance with our nation’s traditions.
Then the horse isn't trained well, and should not be at that level of competition. And yes it can be hard to do, but you do it.
Have you ever watched a well trained barrel horse. They can be stopped in just a very short space, even when the gate is open and the horse wants nothing more then to get out of the arena.
And that brings us back to the point, this woman did not even try to make an easy stop when the horse was so obviously lame, and she had the time to do it in. Also the horse was trying to slow down on his own, they were not going at a full out speed. But she got him stopped once she was done.
It can be difficult to figure out what's going on, that is why I said she should have stopped and checked.
And as far as waiting on others before I form my own opinion, I don't let others think for me when there is more then enough evidence to make an informed opinion. And I'm not a mob with torches and ropes...what ever they decide to do with her is fine by me. I can still have an opinion on what I think should be done.
Becky