STUPIDITY and our poor horses

[DebiG54@aol.com]

In a message dated 06/28/2000 10:52:08 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
suendavid@worldnet.att.net writes:

<<  I saw the horse's chart and under "diagnosis", one of the
 clinicians had written STUPIDITY. >>

Susan G. and all:

STUPIDITY, ambition, and greed are the cruel weapons that our horses suffer 
from in every venue of horse sports.  Endurance is no exception, although, in 
general, endurance riders are more empathetic, concerned and informed about 
their horses than most other horse sport disciplines.  STUPIDITY from humans 
has plagued horses since the beginning of our association with equines.  It 
will always be a part of the equation, unfortunately.

But ambition and greed are just as harmful.  At every level of horse activity 
and sport, people are looking for "the edge," the quick road to success and 
victory.  I've seen this ambition expressed in many different ways.  
Overriding is only one of those ways and the one most associated with 
STUPIDITY.  Even worse is the constant pursuit of untestable drugs to help 
nudge a hurting horse through a competition.  This happens at the highest 
levels of horse sports, including endurance.  I've heard the discussions and 
seen the drugs, some hidden in the trunks of cars.  Some drugs are legal in 
other horse sports.  Of course, none are in endurance horse racing, but that 
doesn't mean there aren't unscrupulous attempts to find the next "miracle" 
(and untestable) drug.  And sometimes the most informed horse people are 
behind the most STUPID moves in the constant pursuit of "the edge."

My point is, it's not just ignorance that leads to the destruction of our 
equine friends.  Sometimes, it's the most intelligent and experienced of our 
horse leaders who are blinded by the STUPIDITY that accompanies ambition.  I 
don't know what made me get up on that soapbox, but there are lots of ways to 
express STUPIDITY where horses our concerned.  

Debi Gordon

<<Susan G. wrote:
<<
I'm sorry to say we had a horse belonging to a similar mindset guy come
into the CSU teaching hospital not too long ago.  The owner decided he
wanted to give endurance a try and bought himself an Arab (not particularly
suited, mind you, just an Arab, but one that had been described as a
prospect because "it never got tired of running") and to "train" it for
distance, took it out right off the bat and galloped it about forty miles.
He said he was planning on fifty, because of course that's how far the
endurance ride is, except the horse collapsed under him at forty.  Honest to
God, he thought that was how you trained a distance horse.  When asked about
water, he told us very proudly that he knew all about how you don't give
water to a hot horse, so the horse apparently went that far without a
mouthful.  They had the horse on fluid therapy for several days, but the
poor horse's kidneys and muscular system were totally shot, he started
foundering, his guts were a mess and they eventually had to put him down
after three days.  I saw the horse's chart and under "diagnosis", one of the
clinicians had written STUPIDITY.

The frightening thing is that this isn't the first horse I've seen come into
hospitals like this---when I was working at an equine hospital as an
undergrad, one very similar came in, and also died.  Almost the exact same
scenario of an owner that thought that was what endurance was all about.

Maybe we need more general lay articles from our resident writers in
magazines like Equus or Horse Illustrated explaining what endurance is all
about and what it is NOT about.  JMO.

BTW,  fantastic response, Angie. :-)

Susan G>>


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Subject: RC:  Posted today on a mostly Dressage Riders' BB . . .