Victor Molina Is in Trouble

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

I am not offering a defense of Victor Molina, or those kind of actions, but I think that there is a basic hypocracy in these kinds of threads. Considering all the lousy things that go on in horse racing, and the general blind eye most of us turn to them, I'm not sure this specific situation should get everybody up in arms. I have a friend who was an exercise rider and backstretch worker, one day I asked her what she was doing that afternoon and she said " pulling manes. " When I suggested that sounded boarderline cruel she said " we do a lot of mean things to horses. "

It's a brutal game that we love....let's not pretend we're animal rights activists here.

Well said blackthroat.
As you might have guessed, most times it's not about being "mean" or "cruel",
but rather to remain in control of a very big critter that needs to learn that you're not willing to allow it to hurt you.
This doesn't happen often with me.
A quick story, and I was not the kicker.
A nice mare named Miss Lewis showed up at the farm. She's not mine. I was just trying to help give her a bath.
She's on a lay-up since running at Aq this past winter. I think she won in Feb, but I really didn't follow her.
She's a nice looking mare but must have stepped on something that hurt her left front. She tried to kick the blacksmith the day before, so we held her other leg when he drained the absess. She was quite grouchy.
So, the next day when we were giving her a bath and I held the lead, she goes off again. Those hooves can reach quite far.
It was like, three of us trying to hold an angry crocodile.
Then came the kick that told Miss "Crazy" that her antics weren't appreciated.
She settled down.
We ended the "game" when I put her back in her stall and when I was taking the chain off her bridle, she tried to take off my fingers. I got the snap undone and didn't react further.
I'll be watching her the next time though.