February 08' Letter of the Month I was appalled at the letter, ‘Tip of the Iceberg’, in January’s edition, describing the cruelty endured by a trekking horse in an establishment that has already featured in this magazine for a similar reason. Equally appalling was the description in HLBW’s letter of the month of how a horse was treated in a show jumping ring.It seems that horses can suffer equally in the hands of the ignorant and the informed. Letters to the editor reflect the obvious differences in opinion around how people regard horses and how they should be treated. My plea, however, is: if you witness behaviour or actions towards a horse that you consider neglect or abuse then for goodness sake, speak out, report to the police or the SPCA or ILPH. Do something, and advocate for the horse that can’t defend himself. It is not clear in the ‘Tip of the Iceberg’ letter what was done to intervene in the treatment described. It’s obvious that the author found the situation distressing but not knowing the outcome, or whether this treatment was allowed to continue or what happened next was distressing for me and perhaps others to read. Please would someone confirm that this trekking establishment has been notified to the authorities?  The value of publishing these stories must be to raise awareness of this issue and to encourage intervention. Otherwise what is the point? This magazine has a responsibility to support the welfare and fair treatment of horses, therefore those that contribute “horror” stories to this magazine which then publishes them must, as a minimum, be proactive in telling us what the outcome of their intervention was. Rosalind Jackson, Tauranga