Weens beperkte spasie, mag briewe verkort en geredigeer word.

In memoriam
Dr Marc Walton of Ceres writes:

Our sympathies go to Claire Holliday on the loss of her young gelding "Xantium Argento". Argento choked (got an obstruction of the oesophagus) on his lucern on the way to his first ever endurance ride in the Eastern Cape. Despite aggressive treatment by the equine treatment vet at the ride base, he developed a massive pneumonia from breathing food and saliva into his lungs, and passed away 48 hours later. Our thoughts are with Claire and her family for the loss of this brave young gelding.

What about morality?
Debbie Marshall of Knysna writes:

Recently I made myself unavailable to judge dressage at our local club, because not only am I appalled by the misuse of horses continually seen at events, but also by the club's acceptance of it. I am pleased to be able to say that a visiting judge was equally horrified, so it's not just good old bunny hugger me!

I don't suppose for a second that this is confined only to our local club and I am sure that misuse can be seen countrywide – the question is what can be done. For as many horse and rider combinations as there are, there are as many opinions on what is correct and what isn't, and as all gadgets and whips and spurs are legal, there is not much to be done from the rule point of view. The culprits are, in some cases, Sanef-qualified.

I guess it all boils down to morality and, as with everything, a club can only be as good as the people who hold office and if those people don't have the confidence to pull the offenders up, then it will continue.

Net die beste
Izak Vollgraaff of Nieuwoudsville skryf:

Wanneer mens hart en siel in teling belangstel, is net die beste goed genoeg. Die strewe is om bo uit te kom en wanneer jy dan bo is, wil jy bo bly. So, alles draai om prestasie. Om egter bo uit te kom, moet jy baie spandeer aan tyd én geld.

Dit is daarom 'n groot teleurstelling as jy gaan skou en jy verloor, want dan moet jy van vooraf beplan en spandeer. Dis egter 'n groot skok wanneer jy verloor en besef die man wat jou beoordeel het is oneerlik, of ken nie sy vak nie. Dit is dan dat mense op verskillende maniere reageer. Party is baie teleurgesteld, vernaam mense wat afrig. Baie telers raak só kwaad, dat hulle belangstelling verloor en selfs die bedryf verlaat. Dit is dan 'n groot verlies vir die ras waarmee hy geteel het.

Ek doen dus 'n beroep op telersverenigings om hierdie tipe situasie te verhoed. Ek dink hier spesifiek aan die Fries-, Hackney- en Vlaamperdtelers en -vertoners, aangesien ek lid is van al drie. Die beoordelaars moet ook presteer en kan, indien moontlik, ook aangemoedig word. Dit kan geskied by wyse van die een of ander toekenning.

Ek wil dus die volgende voorstelle maak en vra dat dit by wyse van bespreking op die jaarvergaderings vervolmaak word:

1. Die voorgeskrewe beoordelaarskursus moet gevolg word en volgens daardie spesifieke ras se standaarde geslaag word.
2. Die vertoners wat aan 'n spesifieke skou deelneem, moet 'n punt uit 50 aan die beoordelaar(s) toeken. Hierdie puntetoekenning moet dan aan die betrokke ras se kantoor deurgestuur word.
3. Die beoordelaars wat landwyd die hoogste punte kry, moet aangestel word om die streekskoue te beoordeel. Hierdie streekskoue moet volgens die sogenaamde "hi-low"-stelsel beoordeel word.
4. Die drie beoordelaars wat die beste op die streekskoue vaar, moet dan die onderskeie rasse se nasionale kampioenskappe beoordeel.
5. Die beoordelaar wat die beste vertoon, moet outomaties deurgaan na die volgende jaar se nasionale kampioenskappe en, solank hy presteer, moet hy toegelaat word om die nasionale kampioenskappe te beoordeel. Hy kan ook 'n prestasietoekenning kry.
6. Die volgende jaar, nadat hierdie stelsel in werking getree het, moet die proses weer van voor af begin en beoordelaars moet op meriete aangestel word.

Ek glo so 'n stelsel sal meer tevredenheid bring vir telers, afrigters en eienaars wat self hulle diere vertoon.

How not to enter the USA!
Caroline Irish of Knysna writes:

On 19 May this year I left our Knysna farm and my obliging husband, Nick, to attend a Heritage Sale at Little Kings Ranch in Madison, Indiana. Nick and I have dual passports – we fly out of South Africa on our South African passports and enter the USA or or Europe on our EU passports, thus doing away with visa requirements. All went well until just before landing at Dulles, when cabin staff brought around those little slips to fill in. I pulled out my travel documents and happily filled all the forms, until it came to putting in passport numbers. Turning to the main page, I found myself looking at a photo of my husband!

This same passport I had checked and stamped as I boarded the flight, and though we both wear glasses, this is where the similarity ends! The cabin staff were appalled, and to say I was rigid with anxiety, is putting it mildly. The collecting of suitcases and queuing for passport controls was agony. When my turn came, a very composed lady listened to my story of how I must have picked up the wrong passport out of the safe, and sent me down a passage to a huge "waiting room", filled with what seemed like hundreds of chattering anxious people.

My turn finally arrived and I found myself telling a young man about the dual passport saga. He asked when I had last visited and if I had used the RIGHT passport, then clickety clacked on his computer and yes, there were all the details. I was told to take a seat and a few minutes later he looked up and asked: "Say lady, what is the purpose of this visit?" At my answer: "I have come to attend a birthday party for a 30-year-old miniature horse", he stopped typing and said: "Well, that is so weird, it must be true!" I signed a waiver, and in no time was on a flight to Chicago.

Yes, that was the dream, and that was what all the thousands of miles were all about. To attend a Heritage Sale, to pay homage to a miniature horse called Boones Little Buckeroo. The week in the USA was worth every cent and every bit of discomfort, but NEVER will I leave home without checking and re-checking all my documents. My hosts, Moe and Judi Patterson, Little Kings Ranch, my travelling companion from South Africa, all those delightful people at Dulles airport, I can't thank enough.