[QUOTE=ynl063w;8305507]
It won’t have any impact at all; someone else already mentioned how quickly people forget things like this, and the fact that Tori is young will help that along even more quickly than usual.
It’s funny how so many seem to forget that this team is hardly the first to get busted using GABA, but there weren’t 20+ pages of comments stringing up the previous offenders and wondering why the riders in those cases kept on showing after the busts. Except for the fact that a) Tori has ben the USEF sweetheart for years and years, b) everyone loves to hate Betsee Parker, and c) we’ve all been given the opportunity to read about what goes on behind the scenes thanks to Brigid’s civil suit. Same offense, different consequences (based on online opinion/interest).
I’m not willing to participate in this pile-on for several reasons. None of those reasons have anything to do with the idea that I think it’s okay to break the rules and drug any horse at any time. I don’t at all. All of the reasons have to do with the fact that I think every big name barn that travels the circuit all year is just as guilty as this team is guilty, they just haven’t been caught yet.
It’s naive to think that this particular team is the only one participating in this type of behavior. They all know what everyone else is doing, and they’re all doing it. Based on the suspension lists that come out on a regular basis, I can’t believe that any of them are doing it to every single horse in the barn at every single show.
To assume that every horse that Tori has walked into the show ring for the last ten years or whatever has been drugged is ridiculous. And it’s equally ridiculous to focus solely on her for this incident when it’s impossible to believe that every other barn out there showing at the same shows isn’t doing the exact same thing. They’ve just been lucky enough not to have had their turn yet.
I’m not excusing anyone involved in this particular incident, but I don’t think it helps the cause to act as though this particular team is evil and keeping them from entering the ring ever again is going to somehow fix anything. This is not the first team to be caught using this stuff, and it’s unlikely that it will be the last. The USEF needs to come up with a complete overhaul when it comes to punishments for drug infractions, and it’s not just because of this incident. It’s also because of everyone who has been lucky enough NOT to have been caught yet.[/QUOTE]
There is more interest in this case because they are the highest profile team to get caught. Tori gets the most media attention, and it’s absurd to think her indiscretions (or those of her team) won’t also get significant attention. Note the number of people condemning her increased on this thread compared to the prior related thread, due to the transcript release, I’m certain. After reading that transcript, I disagree with you that it’s ridiculous to assume every horse she sat on for 10 years was drugged, I think it’s a reasonable conclusion to reach. And sorry, but I’m not willing to turn my head simply because everyone may be doing it.
A high profile case is more likely to bring reform than news of the trainer out of Oregon that nobody knows. This case presents great opportunity for change if enough people (and publications) are willing to talk about it and not let it get swept under the rug.
