Letter: Not all training of horses based on brutality

Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2000 | 9:50 a.m.

It is a tragedy a horse broke his leg and needed to be euthanized -- but proper controls are in place at the Olympic Trials to make that a rarity. Nobody doubts the animal was in pain and the decision to euthanize was the humane one.

My problem is in letter writer Ruth DiMaggio's statement, "horses do not jump naturally, they are terrified and the behind the scenes training methods are painful, grueling and stressful." Obviously she knows nothing about how jumping horses are trained.

Yes, abusive trainers exist -- but those people do not achieve Olympic caliber performances. A jumping horse is valuable, and very well tended. If the animal is terrified and brutalized -- it will not perform without obvious signs of stress; pinned ears, lashing tail, violent avoidance, or flat out crashing through the obstacle. Anybody with the remotest familiarity with horses can tell the difference. And jumping training is based upon gradual building of the horse's confidence and ability -- trust me on this. I'm learning right now.

The biggest problem is that DiMaggio is generalizing from a tragedy that was not caused by the events she is citing. In the future I would recommend animal rights people to actually research their facts before attempting to malign those of us who truly love and respect, and cherish our friend: the horse.

LYRIA HALL