Page 18 - 2 November 2012

accountability
it’s not the same as responsibility.
Responsibility may be bestowed, but accountability must be taken.
by Stacy Pigott
Every once in a while, despite our best intentions, we, at Speedhorse, make a mistake. It might be a misspelled owner’s name, or a picture that gets
identified incorrectly. No matter how large or small the error, it affects us all the same—we don’t like it! Inevitably, you, our readers, will call or e-mail to let us know about the mistake. You hold us responsible. And we do what we can to rectify the situation, printing corrections and even changing inner-office procedures to make sure it doesn’t happen again. It doesn’t matter why or how the mistake was made, we hold ourselves accountable.
Responsibility and accountability—those two words have taken on a lot of meaning in the Quarter Horse racing industry lately. The first, responsibility, has been used most frequently in conjunction with the so-called trainer responsibility rules often referred to during hearings and investigations of positive drug tests. Using California as an example, California Horse Racing Board Rule 1887(a) states: “Trainer to insure condition of horse. The trainer is the absolute insurer of and responsible for the condition of the horses entered in a race, regardless of the acts of third par-
ties, except as otherwise provided in this article. If the chemical or other analysis of urine or blood test samples or other tests, prove positive showing the presence of any prohibited drug substance defined in Rule 1843.1 of this division, the trainer of the horse may be fined, his/her license suspended or revoked, or be ruled off. In addi- tion, the owner of the horse, foreman in charge of the horse, groom, and any other person shown to have had the care or attendance of the horse, may be fined, his/her license suspended, revoked, or be ruled off.”
It would be a safe assumption that most people
in the racing industry know and understand this basic concept—the trainer is responsible for the horses in his/her care. In addition to the sanctions imposed by state racing agencies, trainers are also now facing discipline by the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), which recently announced additional restrictions for 11 trainers suspended for Class I drug violations in Louisiana and New Mexico. Some of these trainers continue to race horses while appealing their suspensions, yet the AQHA is holding them responsible. An Oct. 9 AQHA press release stated: “Effective immediately, AQHA has suspended any AQHA memberships issued to the above train- ers pending final outcome of their cases with the Louisiana or New Mexico Racing Commissions.
Furthermore, effective October 19, 2012, horses in which the above trainers are listed as an owner or trainer shall be ineligible to receive AQHA racing points or AQHA honors/awards including AQHA year-end Champion or AQHA Regional High Point recognition. Finally, effective October 19, 2012, horses in which the above trainers are listed as an owner or trainer shall be ineligible to enter any AQHA Challenge regional, bonus or maiden races including the upcoming 2012 Bank of America Racing Challenge Championships to be held October 27th at Prairie Meadows Race Track and Casino in Altoona, Iowa.”
AQHA Executive President Don Treadway said, “The vast majority of our members love and enjoy spending time with their horses. They want the drug issue cleaned up, and AQHA is dedicated to using the resources we have available to make sure this happens. The statements made over the last several months
by tracks such as Los Alamitos, Ruidoso Downs, Remington Park and actions taken by racing jurisdic- tions such as California, New Mexico and Louisiana show that progress is being made. We applaud them and others for their efforts in addressing these issues, and encourage all racing jurisdictions to reciprocate and recognize rulings from other jurisdictions.”
There can be no doubt, there is a definite increase in the amount of responsibility being doled out in the Quarter Horse racing industry these days. But what about accountability? Has it increased, too?
To answer that, it’s important to understand the subtle distinction between those two words. The New York Times bestselling book The Oz Principle wrote about the difference in an online blog: “While the words responsibility and accountability are
often used interchangeably, we believe there is an important, fundamental difference between the two. Responsibility may be bestowed, but accountability must be taken. In other words, responsibility can
be given or received, even assumed, but that doesn’t automatically guarantee that personal accountability will be taken. Which means that it’s possible to bear responsibility for something or someone but still lack accountability.”
The powers that be are bestowing more respon- sibility, but that’s where it seems to stop, as our industry as a whole seems poorly lacking in per- sonal accountability. So what? You might say. The trainers are getting punished; The vets are getting
16 SPEEDHORSE, November 2, 2012
UNDER WRAPS