Have you ever felt like this at a ride?

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

Guest Guest Guest@Guest.com
I am posting this anonymously for reasons you will see.

I did a ride recently and I had a very un easy feeling the whole time I was there.  I have been doing
CTRs for 3 years now and I have done rides all over the place.  I have meet so me super 
people and all ride Mgrs have been the best.  I have scored well and I have scored not so well,
but each time I felt that my scores were fair and I felt that everyone did their job (even me and my
horse).

But this recent ride was like no other.  When a friend and I arrived we were greeted by ride Mgr
and we got a less then enthused greeting and the Mgr made sure she pointed out what state
we were from, we found her greeting odd, but we just were happy to there and smiled and
greeted her nicely back and parked and set up campwhere we were instructed to.

We got ready for hands-on and trot out.  Every other ride I have done, the lay judge and vet have
greeted me w/ a nice hello and smile and maybe a tad of small talk.  This was no like that, this
was just "lets get to work".  The vet never even looked me in the eye and with all the people 
going over my horse I could not even figure out which on the vet was.

After about 15 or more minuets the vet was still commenting on my horses though pins (sorry
for the spelling of that) and I asked "is that only cosmetic" and they vet agreed with me, but she
still did not like them at all.

She asked me to trot out now, and she kept me trotting for quite some time.  When I came back
she told me that my horse was lame in the right hind.  I just nicely informed her that he just
had his vet, massage and chiropractor appt the day before and he was 100% and he has
never been lame one day in his life.

She said I could try and trot again the next day, I thanked her and off I went.

The next day, we trot my horse out and she said he is still lame but it's not consistent and 
she must allow him to go according to the rules, but she will be "watching me", and it's a
good possibility I'd get pulled at the hold.

I thank her once again and I went on the ride.  I only went on the ride because I know 100%
sure there is nothing wrong with my horse, if I thought he had a hang nail I would of never
rode him.  I did not know this vet and I did not trust her.  She just seemed to have it out for me
or my horse, she was not professional at all.  I felt like I needed to prove to her that she
was wrong.

So, off on the ride we go.  I have my partner keeping an eye out for my horse and she never
sees anything (my friend is an RN and has proven her self over and over again when it 
comes to a horse being off)

At the hold, I am still free to go on my way, but if looks could kill.......

We Finnish the ride w/ 30min to spare.  We hang out in a field for quite some time.  When we walk
back in, the horses are 100% cool and dry.  My horse has such a low pulse all the time, he is
amazing.  My watch reads 32, but I still take my 20 minutes.  I call for P&R and the ride Mgr comes
over.  She places the scope on my horse and tells me I have a 48 - There is no way my horse
has a 48, he has never been a 48 in his life and just a second ago he was 32.  Not to mention that
my horse has a deep chamber and it takes the best vet with the best ears to even hear his heart
and this person has no problem.  I felt that if I said anything, they would of done something bad to
me, shooting me came to mind, I am not kidding!  This is the feeling these people gave me, very
Erie.

I said to my partner. "I bet you they are going to blood test me"  The vet has it in for me.  Sure
enough, the vet blood tested me, and the smile on her face was amazing - she looked like
the cat that ate the canary.  I just welcomed her in and was very pleasant.

I must say, that after all this.  I got 3rd place with a good score of 93points.  When I got my score
sheet the vet had my horse labelled as an 9 out of 11 for lames and at the end of the day she
gave me a 10.  Now if my horse was a 10 on lameness, I think someone other then the vet
would see this right???  I was giving her the benefit of the doubt. I said maybe she has a very
keen and trained eye.  So I thought she'd have him down as a 1 and at the end of the day a 2, 
but to put him down as a 10 ??  This lady is whacked!

In the mean time, I had my horse check out by my vet and he is not lame at all.  He is 100%
SOUND and happy.