HORSE: Bucking a negative letter

My daughter has been part of Sparkles and Spurs 4-H group for nine years and I can say with no hesitation the leaders are amazing. Their knowledge of horses and horsemanship is shared freely and with love to 25 young people and their parents every year. I am amazed at their ability to take all of those girls with varying levels of riding and all of those horses with varying levels of training and not only keep them safe but also teach them ground work, proper care, equitation and training. With safety in mind first and foremost, discipline of horses is often necessary because if those 1,000 pound animals start using the flight/fight side of their brain, someone is going to get hurt.

What you witnessed was NOT a horse spooking but a horse acting out repeatedly and kicking at another horse, and the “beating” you witnessed was the rider getting off and moving his hips over in a circle until he calmed down and focused on the rider. It was the right thing to do for the horse, the rider, all the other riders and for the people hiking along on the trail. What a shame someone would take a five-minute incident with no prior knowledge of the horse in question or the situation and would write a letter that slanders a remarkable 4-H club and leaders that have had an amazing impact on the horse community in this area and hundreds of youth.

KELLIE RHODES

Athol