Response to Vaccinating race horses is fair - for some like us!

Since the inception of EI, I have frequented the Horse Deals blog site and empathised with many that have posted comments. I like many, have found the blog site a great source of honest information, people telling it like it is and not what the powers to be think should be told. EI is such an emotive subject and when you read comments like the one that you posted, emotions continue to divide. When I read your blog, I could not believe that someone could be so shallow and write that her NEED to have her horses vaccinated FIRST and FOREMOST was above paddock bashers.

Well luvy, I guess my ‘ponies’ fit into ‘paddock bashers’, and I hate to be the one to give you a little bit of reality, but I, like many others would like my horses vaccinated as I have no desire to see them unwell, not because I view them as a commodity and my bank balance will suffer. My paddock basher will still be paddock bashing in MY paddock long after your ‘product’ has made somebody’s puppy happy at the dining table.

My paddock basher was partly the source of income for a trainer, like yourself, and that trainer also has a property to maintain, also has a child to care for, also has groceries, medical expenses and mortgage. Many trainers associated within your category of ‘paddock bashers’ or the more politically correct ‘pleasure/recreational horse’ do not have your luxury that they CAN CONTINUE to train.

As for your comment that ‘you guys are still able to work’, uuummm, time to wake up luv and smell the roses, are you not seeing what people are writing or are you choosing to only see what you wish? Many within the industry, unlike you and your partner, do not have a skill that they can just go out and get a job, their skills lie within the horse industry by providing a valuable service, sharing their knowledge and contributing sometimes at the detriment of their own bank account to share that knowledge. I have witnessed first hand the devastation that EI has inflicted on the ‘pleasure/recreational/paddock bashing’ industry and your narcissistic view that YOU should be placed above all is insulting to horse owners regardless of THEIR chosen speciality field.

My husband is self-employed and in the past has suffered at the hands of an industry, yet he was not entitled to any ‘handouts’ from the government. It is a requirement of him being licenced that he has income protection insurance, maybe this is an area that you should look into.

The saddest thing is that none of the trainers that I know would ever dream to put pen to paper and insult an industry that is already divided. It is one thing to express the hardship that you COULD endure, but not at the detriment of being discourteous to others.
Therese