26th May, 2012 When the S*** hits the fan

Why is it that when a story seems really bad, people disbelieve it and doubt the motives of the person telling it? When the tenants moved into the house next door to us, we told them about the trials that the owners had put us through when building it (two years of the track being practically ploughed up so that we couldn't have any visitors round) but more importantly how badly the house had been built. For example, they forgot to put a damp-proof course in, forgot to add the chimney, the bricks were all wonky and the guttering doesn't work. Not only that, but they had grassed over one of the manhole covers to the septic tank and the septic tank was not big enough to cope with a family of four with all their showers, washing and dish-washing. They looked at us as if we were mad, but sure enough eight months later they moved out with a pending court case against the landlord and liquid human manure running down the track. They had grown tired of having the septic tank emptied once a fortnight at a cost of £300 each time.

The same is true about first hand stories about the treatment of the elderly or people with learning difficulties. It seems that there has to be a grand expose with someone with a secret camera before anyone will listen. In the animal world people like Mary Chipperfield, lauded by many as a lover of animals with a special gift, was exposed for her cruelty and neglect. At a local Owl Centre, an undercover member of staff exposed the extremely poor treatment of the birds in their care (now under new management).

I wonder when the same thing is going to happen with some of the horse trainers I hear about? In particular those that use water deprivation as an integral part of their training and others who have half starved horses or expose them to ragwort poisoning. Years ago some show-jumpers were exposed for using electric prods and bottle tops to 'rap' horses as they went over jumps and it is well know that 'soring' techniques are used with Tennessee Walking horses and Arabs. In some cases, this stuff is not going on behind closed doors and can be seen and heard straight from the trainers' mouth and yet no-one is really hearing what they are saying. Water deprivation? Really? Does that make a horse love you then?