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In Response to the Recent Controversial Donkey Roping Segment on RFDTV July 2008Recently there have been many letters sent to Patrick Gottsch of RFDTV regarding the episode of AQHA's "America's Horse". In this particular episode, roper Steve Orth demonstrates how to rope, initially using a wooden dummy, then progressing on to a standard donkey. I watched this show and wrote my letters. I also watched the last tiny segment as they were breaking away from the donkey segment.....where Steve Orth chases after the donkey with much speed and with his rope swinging. If you were not paying attention, you could have easily missed it. Note, this was not his student Larri Jo Starkey simply walking and trotting behind the donkey. Nor was this the first time RFDTV has shown donkey roping on their network. Several years ago (Sept. 2005), on "The Roping Show" a donkey was used for recreational roping. Our letters to RFDTV were polite, although I can't speak for everyone who wrote. We were unhappy then, so we wrote our letters and voiced our opinions. It happened again in July, and numerous people feel our letters several years ago were in vain. I recently spoke to one person who called Mr. Gottsch by phone in 2005 and he told her "she was wasting his time with this kind of garbage", then he hung up on her. I still have another email (again from 2005), where Mr. Gottsch wrote an almost identical reply to a woman in the Midwest. When RFDTV showed yet another donkey being roped recently, as donkey owners we feel this was a step backward. Although this perhaps might have been an oversight from the producers of RFDTV, (they may not have viewed the video prior to airing it), but in any event, someone blew it! When a video is delivered to RFDTV, do they not have a contract to sign? Such as "no vulgarity, obscenity, pornography, nudity, animal abuse, etc.?" Why not add to the contract "in no event shall there be donkeys or any other equine shown being roped simply for recreational purposes"?After this was shown several years ago, we silently hoped that precautions were put in place. We were wrong. It's apparent that RFDTV and the American Quarter Horse Association promote animal abuse. Shame on the sponsors who support these programs!! (Wrangler Jeans, Ford Trucks, Bayer Health Care, Tractor Supply Company, Bank of America, Fort Dodge Livestock, Professionals Choice & K9 Avantix). With this present economy where people seem to be tightening their belts on spending, if I were a sponsor, I would tend to stick with the trainers or networks that are not controversial, nor one that promotes animal abuse. To the sponsors who are associated with the AQHA, don't you think your advertising expenses would be better served with a less controversial subject matter?! Obviously RFDTV didn't listen to our complaints several years ago. It happened again, so again we feel compelled to get their attention. If the viewers can't be heard, perhaps they will listen to their sponsors. As a suggestion, (attempting to be positive), can RFDTV add additional language to all of their contracts with all ropers including "The Roping Show" and "AQHA Presents" prohibiting any and all abuse to any equine, including but not limited to roping donkeys? Kudos to everyone who wrote letters! This form of abuse won't stop unless we voice our concerns. We can't assume the donkey/mule organizations and the trainers who aire their tapes on RFD will get involved, nor be inclined to "ruffle the feathers" of the network who promotes their name. Has anyone ever attempted to train a donkey once it's been the victim of being roped by cowboys? I have had clients send me donkeys that they rescued from ropers and my job was to train the donkeys and gain their trust. In one case a small standard gelding came to my ranch. This little guy was too small to ride, but the owner rescued him (bless her!) and thought perhaps he could occasionally pull a small cart, and for the most part, he would be a family pet. This poor donkey had too many years of being shocked with a cattle prod. His trust for simple ground driving was less than successful. He feared someone walking behind him so he would bolt, and he wasn't too fond of a human leading him or being in his space. In this case, it would take years to un-do the abuse and distrust this donkey had for humans with no guarantee he would ever trust again. I sent the donkey home after one month with very little progress, telling the owner that this was not going to be a quick fix. Chalk one more up to the ropers! Sadly, I have witnessed many similar stories to this. Clearly, to say that donkeys are not abused from years of being roped (and for many that includes being shocked with a cattle prod or hot shot), is to say one has not witnessed the baggage suffered from years of abuse. In many cases the damage (mentally and physically) is irreversible. Perhaps if some of the critics to our letter writing campaign would attempt to train a severely abused donkey (one that has been roped and been a victim of cattle prods - since they quite often go hand-in-hand). Show to the public on camera how difficult it is to gain the trust, and turn the same donkey into a trusting pet with perhaps saddle or cart training. We would be thrilled to watch that segment on RFDTV. Likely that won't happen anytime soon. Three wrongs do not make a right. One being the roper who chose to rope a donkey, the second being the American Quarter Horse Association who endorsed and filmed the segment, and the third being RFDTV who aired the segment. The victim is the donkey, and perhaps hundreds or even thousands of other donkeys who still continue to suffer this form of abuse. If we, as viewers of RFDTV can't be heard, and we are scolded for writing letters to the very souces who aired the abuse, who will speak on behalf of the donkey? Crystal Ward |
Crystal Ward
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