All of us have had that moment when we have realized that something we said was untrue, foolish, hurtful, or a leap to an unwarranted conclusion. (Open mouth, insert foot, chew vigorously; when tired of flavor, change feet.) We can apologize profusely and sincerely, but we can't unsay what has been said. If lucky, it is maganimously forgiven and forgotten, or it takes on a more humorous existence as the butt of a long-running joke among family or friends. If not lucky, it rankles in someone's memory or travels from ear to ear as a rumor, continuing to cause damage as it goes.
Writing has always had its hazards too regarding saying what cannot be unsaid, but prior to the advent of modern communications, its impact was apt to be limited unless it somehow found its way into print. But now, when you can be your own publisher at the click of a button, the problem of hasty words is magnified. Once posted on a forum, blog, or website, your words are essentially immortal. Even if deleted after you have thought better of what you have said, they may be resurrected to continue doing harm, and they can come back to haunt you at any time. Even things that were said anonymously can often be traced back to their source, the more so now that AI can build up an electronic "fingerprint" based on your vocabulary, writing style, interests, and known leanings.
What brought these thoughts to mind was the recent brouhaha surrounding Canadian champion Ginger Brew, which started when Last Chance Direct Ship Horses---a Texas kill pen which uses its Facebook page to advertise horses that will be sent to slaughter if not ransomed---posted the mare's photo on March 23. Within 45 minutes of the ad's posting, Michigan rescue operator Gail Hirt saw the ad and promptly ponied up the US$1,400 to buy the mare and get her out of danger.
As fast as Hirt acted, posts hit the Internet even faster, most of them screaming blame at someone. First it was breeder-owner Adena Springs, but a modicum of research would have revealed that Adena Springs had not owned Ginger Brew since her sale for US$90,000 through the 2021 Keeneland November. This was hardly a case of dumping an unwanted animal without any regard to her well-being. While Ginger Brew was being culled from the Adena Springs broodmare band, she was 16, believed in foal to the good stallion Hard Spun, and could reasonably have been expected to produce more foals after 2022. She was bought by Mark Collinsworth's Forks of the Paluxy Farm for the harem of their newly purchased stallion, Grade 1 winner Mr Speaker.
As soon as that came out, Collinsworth was the next party under fire, and it turned out that the venom flung his way was equally undeserved. As reported by The Blood-Horse and Paulick Report, he had given the mare to someone else who checked out as a reliable horse person and wanted to try breeding her. The mare failed to get in foal, and that person, in turn, ended up giving the mare to someone who claimed he wanted a family horse for his children---a common ruse for dishonest dealers, who promise a good retirement home and then haul the horse off to auction or slaughter. More than a few well-meaning but naive horse owners have been deceived in this fashion.
Then, of course, there were those who wanted to excoriate the entire horse industry for not providing absolute safety for every horse from the foaling box to death from sheer old age. Certainly, everything that can be done to ensure that horses are cared for and treated humanely throughout their lives should be done, but utopian ideals are no more possible to fulfill for horses than they are for humans. Oddly enough, the people who seem to have largely escaped the media firestorm are the person who got Ginger Brew on false pretenses and the kill pen operator, which two would seem to me to be the most culpable for the whole mess.
Ginger Brew is safe now, but the damage done to Adena Springs (which has long had a good retirement program) and Collinsworth by a public rush to judgment remain, and neither is likely to receive any apologies from those who chose to prove how much they "cared" by hastily posting unfounded accusations. So, let this be a cautionary tale about hitting the keyboard before listening to calmer voices and doing some homework. You are far less likely to regret the words you didn't say than the words you did; no one is paying you for a scoop; and the reputation you save by refraining from hasty words may, in the end, be your own.
Writing has always had its hazards too regarding saying what cannot be unsaid, but prior to the advent of modern communications, its impact was apt to be limited unless it somehow found its way into print. But now, when you can be your own publisher at the click of a button, the problem of hasty words is magnified. Once posted on a forum, blog, or website, your words are essentially immortal. Even if deleted after you have thought better of what you have said, they may be resurrected to continue doing harm, and they can come back to haunt you at any time. Even things that were said anonymously can often be traced back to their source, the more so now that AI can build up an electronic "fingerprint" based on your vocabulary, writing style, interests, and known leanings.
What brought these thoughts to mind was the recent brouhaha surrounding Canadian champion Ginger Brew, which started when Last Chance Direct Ship Horses---a Texas kill pen which uses its Facebook page to advertise horses that will be sent to slaughter if not ransomed---posted the mare's photo on March 23. Within 45 minutes of the ad's posting, Michigan rescue operator Gail Hirt saw the ad and promptly ponied up the US$1,400 to buy the mare and get her out of danger.
As fast as Hirt acted, posts hit the Internet even faster, most of them screaming blame at someone. First it was breeder-owner Adena Springs, but a modicum of research would have revealed that Adena Springs had not owned Ginger Brew since her sale for US$90,000 through the 2021 Keeneland November. This was hardly a case of dumping an unwanted animal without any regard to her well-being. While Ginger Brew was being culled from the Adena Springs broodmare band, she was 16, believed in foal to the good stallion Hard Spun, and could reasonably have been expected to produce more foals after 2022. She was bought by Mark Collinsworth's Forks of the Paluxy Farm for the harem of their newly purchased stallion, Grade 1 winner Mr Speaker.
As soon as that came out, Collinsworth was the next party under fire, and it turned out that the venom flung his way was equally undeserved. As reported by The Blood-Horse and Paulick Report, he had given the mare to someone else who checked out as a reliable horse person and wanted to try breeding her. The mare failed to get in foal, and that person, in turn, ended up giving the mare to someone who claimed he wanted a family horse for his children---a common ruse for dishonest dealers, who promise a good retirement home and then haul the horse off to auction or slaughter. More than a few well-meaning but naive horse owners have been deceived in this fashion.
Then, of course, there were those who wanted to excoriate the entire horse industry for not providing absolute safety for every horse from the foaling box to death from sheer old age. Certainly, everything that can be done to ensure that horses are cared for and treated humanely throughout their lives should be done, but utopian ideals are no more possible to fulfill for horses than they are for humans. Oddly enough, the people who seem to have largely escaped the media firestorm are the person who got Ginger Brew on false pretenses and the kill pen operator, which two would seem to me to be the most culpable for the whole mess.
Ginger Brew is safe now, but the damage done to Adena Springs (which has long had a good retirement program) and Collinsworth by a public rush to judgment remain, and neither is likely to receive any apologies from those who chose to prove how much they "cared" by hastily posting unfounded accusations. So, let this be a cautionary tale about hitting the keyboard before listening to calmer voices and doing some homework. You are far less likely to regret the words you didn't say than the words you did; no one is paying you for a scoop; and the reputation you save by refraining from hasty words may, in the end, be your own.