Lessons from Tilikum?

Tilikum, the killer whale - we have all heard the news stories over and over.

Yesterday, I was watching Dr. Oz after a long work day and he was interviewing Julie
Scardina from Sea world about the tragedy. Something she said resounded in my
head. She said, the trainers don't take risks, every second they watch the
animal and if they see "anything" that makes them think something is off, they
don't get in the water. She said, maybe it is how they flip their fin that makes
them think, "humm..that was different today...maybe something is wrong." -
According to Julie, this is how close the trainers watch these animals and
access their risk. It is assessed constantly, minute by minute, not day by day or
week by week.... EVERY single second they are in that animal's presence.

So obviously I was stunned to read this on another website shortly after watching this show. A 72 year old onlooker (Skaggs) was interviewed and it was written:

"Skaggs said he heard that during an earlier show the whale was not responding
to directions. Others who attended the earlier show said the whale was behaving
like an ornery child."

It made me wonder if Dawn overlooked the warning signs? Had she not been
careful enough, observant enough, paying attention? Could this have been
prevented had she noticed, heeded the warning? Or could she have thought too confidently? Pride get in the way?

That of course lead me to our horses, working, handling and training them. (yeah, maybe not 12,000 lbs, but certainly big enough to hurt even kill nontheless). HAVE WE educated ourselves enough to learn warning signs of our equines? Every animal is different, so it means knowing EACH animal...inside and out. How do you tell your horse is having a bad day? How do you know he is intune? How do you KEEP him in tune?? How do you know his attitude that day? Are his eyes different? Did he respond different while lunging today over yesterday? If so, how? Can you
feel when he is not listening to your cues? Ignoring? Do you ignore the warning
signs when you see them??

For me, this made an impression because it is everything I am learning these
past few months with my curly gelding Reese. Things I ignored and didn't learn or chose not to learn. THESE are the very things that put you in DANGER.

To own horses and be 100% fufilled, you MUST learn to train, you must learn to
ride well, and you MUST learn horse behavior to read and understand them well.
period.

It has always made me wonder why there are so many horse women crippled with
'fear?' Could it be based on a bad experience where they ignored the signs?
Assumed too much risk, not knowing their mount? I think we can all say we have
been there! Maybe more times than we care to admit. =] I know for me personally, every single negative incident in my past was because I failed to see, heed and respond properly to the warnings.

As we approach this year's riding season, let's all be ever so mindful and respectful of our equines. Seize the opportunity to gain as much information as you can to become fully aware of your horses so the outcome does not end like Dawn's. Be safe, be smart and most of all do not let your pride get in the way of your safety.