Behind the Bit

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"If my luck was as bad as yours..." Posted: 11 Jan 2010 01:34 PM PST Recently a fairly well-known eventer, Jennie Brannigan, lost her top horse Cooper (pictured right). It was not her first sad experience with a competitive horse she owned and trained -- she'd had many challenges and disappointments in her young career. In a recent article in the Chronicle of the Horse -- a tribute to Cooper -- she recalled that an acquaintance once said to her "If my luck with horses was as bad as yours I'd quit the sport." Jennie shared her honest reaction to the remark, which was "it pissed me off." No Kidding Of COURSE she was pissed off. Who are these folks? Are they callous? Are they being intentionally mean? The tactlessness of the remark leaves me in awe. Who would say something like that after a *devastating loss. Jennie's "friend" was probably making a subtle dig. Good for Jennie for calling it out in the article, if not in person. I hope commenter read the article and saw herself reflected through Jennie's eyes. Is this a universal experience? Alas, I think it is universal, and the horse world has more than its fair share of snarkiness. Not too long ago, a woman visited Riley's barn. She watched while I struggled to wrap my restless youngster's hoof in Elastikon. She didn't offer to help, but asked "What's wrong with him?" She seemed to feel she had a right to know, this stranger. I am tired of explaining it, and the question annoyed me. Trying to sound blasé, I gave her one sentence synopsis, "He had hoof surgery." Her loud and indignant response: "Well, is he EVER going to be right???" The urge to slap some Elastikon over her mouth was overwhelming. Without looking up I told her yes, he'll be fine. This was an educated, professional woman who I'm sure is capable of tact when it benefits her. The thing about snarkiness is, it says so much more about the speaker than the subject. I try to remind myself of this when I'm on the receiving end. *The comment was not made about Cooper, but about another horse Jennie rode that had a career ending injury.

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