mule diving: why fact checking pays off!

many years ago in long island, a local horseman decided to give something back to his community in the form of a real country fair.

in that same community, an animal rights activist called everyone in a highly agitated state begging for people to help stop "animal abuse" urging all to call the local board of supervisors to stop this same fair because it would feature mule-diving!  i received one of those calls and immediately registered my concerns with the board of supervisors, but after i hung up the phone, reality hit!

just what the HECK is MULE-DIVING!  

rather chagrined at voicing strenuously my "objections" over something that i had no clue what it was, i got in my car and drove over to the barn owned by the horseman by the name of bud papish (a delightful breeder and trainer of pacers).

i located him inside the barn tending his horses and smiled, introduced myself and explained that i had received this call earlier and after realizing i had never heard of this topic, i wondered if he would mind telling me exactly what "mule-diving" was?

he looked stunned and said i was the FIRST person to actually ask him about this... that since the fair (free, btw) was announced, he and his wife had received many hate-filled, vicious calls including death threats to his family if he proceeded with the fair.

as we walked outside, he explained how, as a young child, he had attended his first fair and fallen in love with the animals, especially the horses - and had hoped by bringing such an event to his community (riverhead, n.y.), he could return some of that magic to the community that he loved.

we approached a clean, large paddock and he reached over to scratch the ears of the most adorable gray mini-mule i've ever seen. "this is smokey!", he said.  "he's the star of the show!" smokey was spit polished clean, fat, sassy and one VERY funny little guy with attitude that said "I AM STAR! GIVE ME CARROT!"  with him were two additional little guys, all contentedly grazing in the paddock.

bud then introduced me to tim rivers, the man who raised and trained the mules.  rivers and i spent the afternoon talking about his unusual act (combined with his "banana derby" where monkeys as jockeys to several laps on their minihorses and miniponies).

rivers said that he had been under attack by peta and local animal rights groups for years (this was in 1992) and that they had threatened to put him out of business financially if they couldn't stop him in the courts.  

these groups filed multiple lawsuits against tim, claiming the purpose was to expose the exploitation of animals in entertainment.

he explained the training process. he bought minis at auction (where if not sold, they go to slaughter). he took them to his large spread and waited to see which ones like to go swimming... those he keeps, the others he sells.  he used a ramp leading to the lake surrounded by a fence - so each week, he'd raise the ramp a bit to see which ones would go and jump into that refreshing lake.

finally, rivers ended up with a few fearless high divers that would, with no prompting, go gleefully up a ramp 30 feet off the ground into a circular swimmning pool below.  they jumped unasked and without pressure - they checked the crowd to see when they had the full attention of everyone watching then dropped their front hooves over the edge, leaned out and over they'd go! (one at a time)... the real trick was getting them out of the pool afterwards. they'd swim and play in the water and have to finally be coaxed to exit by a really tasty carrot!  the orign of the act traced back to the original coney island diving horse act of w.f.carver (featured in the film, Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken .  carver trained river's father, rivers took over the act in '83 after his father's death.

so, why the hysteria? why the protest? especially if there is no harm and no abuse and the animals really enjoy the event?

simple. attention.  attention translates to money.

i called the board of supervisors and sheepishly said i had been mistaken, there was no abuse.  then i called the local protesting group and told the man who headed it that there was no substance to the charges.  i invited him to come out to the barn with meand see for himself! he showed up in VERY expensive clothes (not barn attire) carrying a state of the art camera to "document" the abuse for his group (paid for by his "organization", no less).  after meeting bud and rivers, AFTER walking up the ramp himself to check the saftey of the setup, he grudgingly admitted that all animals were healthy, well taken care of, not abused in ANY way, shape or form.  rivers explained to us that the monkeys he trained were surplus from scientific labs and would either be sold to other labs or be euthanized. he bought them, trained them and he and the other handler were usually seen with a monkey happily draped around their necks.

as i left with this "activist", i said, "so, you will not be protesting this fair?"

his response blew me out of the water.

"oh, we are still going to protest!  even though there is no abuse, it is good for our cause! we want to PROTECT animals!"

nevermind that there were three starved horses kept less than a mile away. never mind that these animals were healthy and happy.  never mind that these animals were NOT abused in ANY way. never mind that they were slandering tim and bud through the papers and telivision by their antics.

oh, one more aspects of this story i forgot to mention?  they were "selling" animal rights buttons and literature and handing out peta literature.  i found out that peta "sells" their literature to these organizations and prints and sells them for much higher prices than legitimate publishers. AND, even more interesting, peta demands 50% of the "take" of each table!  so, it was all about the money.  period.

rivers told of a herd of 150 abandoned horses in texas, left starving by their owner.  all of the ranchers were taking on these extra mouths to feed, so tim decided to ask peta to join in the fundraising to feed the large group of rescues... $100.  their response was no. they stated "we are an EDUCATIONAL organization!"  [one that is divided into many divisions, MOST are NOT non-profits... hmmmmmm]

second sad note, while the fair was a huge success, bud was so hurt and disappointed by the attitude of the protestors and board of supervisors that he never again brought a fair to the kids of all ages in riverhead.

now you might be wondering why this diary and why now.

let me simply say that knowing the facts BEFORE one leaps to conclusions is important.  not just for mule-diving, but in all aspects of one's dealings - but especially in politics, where our actions impact more than a few kids, some rescued monkeys and mules and some happy adults.

in the last two days, i've witnessed this community experience the same type of hysteria that was brought about by the lack of knowledge of mule-diving. that ignorance sadly has repercusions.

for the sad ending to this tale, go here.  

pity, isn't it.