What has happened to Christopher Reeve is something we all hope will never happen to a loved one. I had the opportunity to hear him speak once and was impressed with his compassion and concern for others.
The saddest part of the whole affair is that it was preventable. Reeve himself has stated that jumping horses is “the most dangerous thing I do.” When will we learn that imposing our will on animals is bad for humans as well as animals? It is anything but a natural act for a horse to do high-jumping with a human on his or her back, and accidents in this type of event are commonplace. Usually it is the horse that is injured or killed, which, of course doesn’t get much news coverage, if any.
There are thousands of forms of entertainment that are challenging yet do not involve the enslavement of animals. It would be a far better world if people stopped looking at animals as a source of entertainment but rather as individuals deserving of lives free from exploitation.
