Steeplechase Trainer Vows To Shoot Horses if Racing is Banned
*sigh*
Throughout history, people have made grandiose gestures in order to get attention for their cause. Sometimes they sit on top of a pole for three months, sometimes they take off their clothes and streak through a crowded event, sometimes they throw blood on people wearing fur, sometimes they refuse to eat. On one infamous occasion we're all familiar with, they flew planes into buildings. Whether the gesture is large or comparatively small, whether the cause is just or horribly unjust, these showy exhibitions typically have one thing in common:
They don't do a damn thing to help the cause that inspired them. Usually, they make the cause look like it is supported by some combination of hysterical drama queens, violent neanderthals, and utter fools. Not an impression that gets you very far when you are trying to change society or the law.
They may get the show-off his or her 15 minutes of fame (or infamy, as the case may be), but other than that, they're generally worthless. Causes are won and lost through lifetimes of slow, plodding, frustrating work. It's not exciting, and while it may get you in the newspaper from time to time, it's doubtful anybody will remember your name ten seconds after finishing the article. If you want your 15 minutes and to see yourself on TV, silly theatrics are definitely the way to go - but we have to draw the line when they hurt others, and if this idiot is serious, he ought to be placed in a straitjacket immediately and heavily medicated.
"A LEADING trainer has vowed to shoot his horses and deliver their heads to Racing Minister Rob Hulls if jumps racing is banned in Victoria...."
Um, why don't you shoot yourself and have someone deliver your head to him? The horses will be safe and the gene pool in Australia will be vastly improved.
"A passionate Mr Londregan said shooting his six horses would be the only option if the ban was enforced.
"They are not the type of horses that someone would ride to pony club, they are pretty unruly so I would have no choice but to shoot them," he said."
'Cause of course, this asshat thinks he is the Best Trainer EVER and no one else could possibly retrain a racehorse. Any of you Australian trainers want to make a bet you could have one of his horses packing a Pony Clubber in less than a year? My money's on you!
"I can't afford to feed them for the rest of their lives and no one else would be prepared to look after them as well as I do."
OMG THE ARROGANCE! Not only is he the ONLY competent trainer in Australia, but he is the ONLY competent owner, too! And death is better than being owned by anybody BUT him! (And as one poster to the news article correctly pointed out, it is doubtful Mr. Londregan had any intention of feeding his racehorses for very long after they stopped winning, anyway. Touche!)
Steeplechase racing in Australia is under fire because there have been a lot of deaths recently. Well, do something constructive - look at ways to make the sport safer. Threatening violence against your animals is hardly the way to get the public to sympathize with the possibility you may lose your job. After reading this, I'm pretty sure 99% of the public believes that even if steeplechasing survives, your training career should not!
All I can say about Mr. Londregan after reading this is that I suspect his ex-girlfriends have some primo material for Psychotic Letters from Men, and I do hope they stumble upon this blog and share them with us!
In the meantime, dear Aussies, I highly recommend that straitjacket...
