Horse and pony incident not fair (09/22/2008)

To the editor:

On July 27 at 11:30 p.m. at the Jay County Fair, the mother of an autistic child was told her child would not be able to show the next day at 8 a.m. The reasons given were that a horse shown in a walk-trot class could not be shown in a walk-trot-canter class. There is no county rule, checking pages 13-16 in the Jay County 2008 Livestock Rule Book. It only appeared on the show bills passed out to the kids on the days of the shows.

There is a rule in the Indiana 4-H Horse and Pony handbook, page 55, stating that any "exhibitor" showing in a walk-trot class cannot show in a walk-trot-canter class at that same show, with the emphasis being on the rider, not the horse. In my opinion someone turned the rules around and then tried to enforce them.

The family and others who tried to talk sense to the 4-H leader who claimed she had nothing in it or the 4-H Council president, were told, "if you have a grievance put your hundred dollars up."

When the state rule book (page 6, rule 18) was read to him stating that 4-H members with special needs are encouraged to show horses, and show management shall allow assistance and rule modifications when appropriate, the world "shall" was repeated. He then asked what does "shall" mean? By the way, "shall" means will or must with certainty.

Because the original version of this letter was too long, I had to cut out much of what went down that day, but needless to say Purdue said the kid shows and we knew it that morning. So why did they hold the junior 4-H Horse and Pony show off until 7:30 p.m. when the 4-H Council president said we would know within the hour? Then he came back and told the parents in front of all the other parents and kids: That's what you get when you file a grievance. Why were we all treated like we're the bad guys when they blatantly discriminated against this family and child that day? We were all witnesses to it.

In my opinion it's time to publicly ask for the 4-H Horse and Pony leader's resignation, because she knew in September of 2007 that she had a special needs child showing, and she took the special needs class out anyway. It is also my opinion that the 4-H Council President should also resign immediately, as he went along with rule changes and pointed this family out and publicly humiliated them, blaming them for the reason the show was put off. Was this just a power thing or what?

Anyway, he showed his horse and he did great. All this other stuff could have been avoided if they only had a heart for kids - all the kids. When this was over another special needs child walked up and hugged me and thanked me for standing up for that little boy. The tears welled up in my eyes. She was told to stay away from meetings, that they might retaliate against her, too. Will they retaliate against my daughter because I'm writing this letter? I'll let you know.

Oh, by the way, they owe this family an apology. Publicly would be nice.

There is a 4-H Council meeting Tuesday, Sept. 23, at 7:30 p.m. in the green building. All 4-H meetings are open to the public.

A 4-H parent that cares.

Aaron Huey

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