--vervolg--

One of my clients was a prosperous, educated couple. They were very
congenial, and they owned three Quarter Horses. One day, they called me to
come to their home to worm their horses and check them over and booster
their vaccinations. When I arrived, I found only two horses, so I asked
where the third one was.
"Oh, he's in training as a reining horse, with ____________" (a
successful and notoriously brutal trainer who also happened to be one of
my clients).
I said, "Oh, I see."
Then the wife said, "We know how cruel he is to the horses, but he
wins!" I never felt the same toward those people, again.
This same trainer (he's been dead for many years) once said to me, "Doc,
why can't you guys cut the tails on my horses? Why do you make me drive
300 miles round trip to get my tails done?"
He was referring to the illicit surgical paralyzing of the tail,
common in reining horses so they can't switch their tails. ALL of the
horses in his barn had their tails cut.

I said, "Were you ever beaten in a show by a horse that you knew
had its tail cut?"
"Oh sure," he said. "Lots of times."
"Well," I told him, "I didn't cut the tail nor did my partners. We
won't do anything against the association rules."

This same guy, a world-class competitor, kept every horse in his barn on
Serpecil, a tranquilizer not approved by FDA for use in horses. I have no
idea where he got the drug, but somebody was selling it to him.
I believe that a conspiracy exists in the horse show industry. The
trainers are judges, and the judges are trainers. Too often, they scratch
each others' backs.

If Western Pleasure horses were shown as they were 50 or 60 years ago, a
good amateur could turn out a champion. But it takes a real pro to produce
the freaks seen in today's Western Pleasure classes. And, after the horse
goes back to the owner from the trainer and is no longer winning, it has
to go back to the trainer for a "tune-up".

A few days before I wrote this article, I got back from Bishop Mule Days,
a unique event I attend every year that has no equal anywhere in the
world. I had the pleasure of seeing Western Pleasure mules that WERE NOT
"peanut rollers".
The trend began some years ago, but the mule people balked at it and ruled
it out. GOOD FOR THEM! You see, to be a mule lover, you REALLY gotta love
horses!