02/08/2021
So sad on so many levels but thatโs what people do these days, kick them whilst they are down, rip beautiful jet set and condolences to all connections , so sorry your heartbreaking decision was made so much worse by all the keyboard warriors ๐ข
๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ง๐ผ๐ธ๐๐ผ - ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐, ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ข๐ป๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐๐ฏ๐๐๐ฒ
Sometimes you just can't save a horse. That is the medical reality of serious leg injuries such as the ruptured ligament suffered by Swiss Olympic event horse Jet Set in a freak accident at Tokyo on Sunday. However hard you try, however much you might wish the horse better, some injuries are just impossible to overcome with an acceptable quality of life for a horse.
Take Jet Set's ruptured ligament for example. You can't explain to a horse why it has to be tied up standing still for the best part of a year. You can't explain why it can't lie down instead because the weight of its internal organs would crush each other. You can't explain why its other three legs have to support its 500kg weight all on their own and why they're subsequently so sore. You can't explain why they are so full of energy but can't leave the confines of their four walls. And you can't explain (or even guarantee) that at the end of these months of near-torture there is a tiny chance that that horse might be half sound. And if, at the end of all that, the horse can't even walk pain-free it won't be a happy horse and it certainly won't have a happy life.
As hard as it can be to understand on the face of it, sometimes, it really is the kindest thing to let a horse go.
Now back to Jet Set and his heartbroken rider. After heeding the Olympic vets' advice that the only kind option was to let his beloved horse go, Robin Godel shared the news with his followers on Instagram in a grief-sticken tribute to his horse of a lifetime. At that point, the online 'pile-on' began:
'๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ข๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ , ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ โ๐๐๐ ๐.'
'๐ธ๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐'
'๐ด๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ ๐๐'
'๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐ข๐๐ โ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ โ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ก ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐ข๐ ๐ก ๐ค๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ'
'๐ผ โ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ โ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ข.'
And so the comments went on, hundreds upon hundreds on that post and on almost every other post from Jet Set's devastated 22-year-old rider.
In a world where mental health, kindness and compassion have never been more talked about, it must take a special kind of bitter savagery to trawl through months of posts on someone's social media feed, to target and tarnish every special memory with that wonderful horse with ill-informed hateful comments. It's as if people who ride horses are somehow fair game.
It may not be a beating with sticks and stones, but it is bullying nonetheless.
Those who have been in the awful position of having to make that final call, of putting head and science over heart and letting a beautiful, magnificent and much-loved animal go will know just how hard it is to do. It is not a decision anyone takes lightly and it is one which takes great courage in its own way.
Robin Godel and all of Jet Set's connections did the right thing by him at the end and it is clear that the horse was well-loved and incredibly well cared for in life. That combination is as much as any horse can hope for and Robin Godel deserves support and empathy rather than abuse and hatred at what is undoubtedly a low point in not only his career, but also his young life.
To all those who see fit to abuse a young man at his lowest ebb because you do not understand the complexities and necessities of a human caregiver's obligation to their horse, perhaps educate yourself both on that subject and on decency before you press send on your hateful comments.
To Robin Godel, for acting as any true horseman should and showing compassion and kindess to your horse in the most important decision of all: thank you.
Source: The Horse with no Name
