Re: Pondering about cause and effect.

["Susan Garlinghouse" <suendavid@worldnet.att.net>]

Bob, I'm not a vet for another two years, but I can tell you my feelings on
people that send me questions about nutrition.  I love having a good
dialogue with people that are obviously thinking for themselves what's going
on with their horse, and are willing to reconsider old beliefs of 'but
that's the way we've always done it'.  I like it even better when they've
already put the effort into educating themselves as much as possible before
asking for an opinion or help.  Example, I got a question the other day from
Belgium from a rider who had read all she could on beet pulp, and was
concerned about too much potassium being a factor in performance, similar to
too much calcium.  That person put some serious thought into her question,
and I'm willing to put some time and effort into helping someone like that.
That same day, I got an email from another girl who hadn't read a thing
(despite being aware of at least one in-depth article), she just wanted me
to explain exactly why beet pulp might be good for her horse
specifically---even though all her questions would have been answered by
just reading the one article. Sure, I'll still help her, but it'll mostly be
a suggestion to read the article first.  There are just so many hours in the
day.

In working on the emergency team down at the teaching hospital here at CSU,
the clinicians pretty much have the same attitude when a client wants to
know about cause and effect, what are the options, what to do next.  Of
course, they treat everyone courteously, but they will put alot more effort
into talking with a client who is *listening* , planning on relevant
changes, and asking questions that build on the previous answer, versus
questions that just ask for a different, more _pleasing_ answer.  Another
example, we had a client with a badly colicking horse last week who would
have been a good surgical candidate had he been brought in the day before.
As it was, he was in agony and close to death when he *was* brought in.  The
best the surgeons could do was euthanize the poor animal.  The owner wanted
to know why her horse was dying, and how it could have been prevented, but
she *didn't* want to hear that procrastination had been a big factor.  She
wanted someone to tell her that switching to a different vitamin supplement
last week had caused it---in essence, she didn't want to think that her own
actions had had anything to do with it.  And when she didn't get an answer
she liked, she just kept asking the same questions.  It must have been the
feed, or the weather, or the saddle, or the trainer's fault, never anything
that was too difficult for her to have to deal with.  I can understand how
painful that would have been, she wasn't a monster---just a human being that
didn't want to look deeper than was comfortable.

Anyway, the upshot IMO is that it's human nature to want to dwell on the
'easy fix'.  Much easier to go buy another bucket rather than get riding
lessons, or get yourself fit to help your horse, or realize you're asking
more from the horse than you do from yourself.  It's hard work, and not
always particularly pleasant, to have to look much deeper to see cause and
effect, rather than grab at treating the surface symptoms.  But I absolutely
agree, to fix a problem, you have to analyze it and jump up and down on it
until you've considered every last possible angle.  Yes, you can ask the vet
to help you do that, but it isn't fair to ask your vet to do your homework
for you.  The right thing is to consider the angles and possibilities, do
your own research from VALID sources (for God's sake, don't just ask a
supplement manufacturer, they'll just sell you another bucket) and *then*
ask form an informed opinion from the vet.  I can't speak for all vets, but
I know *I* would be happy to look deeper with someone who's willing to put
in the effort.

One last comment I can tell you from analyzing research data from Tevis,
Swanton, etc---there are a lot of little details that seem to add up to
tangible differences in health of the horse during a ride.  Everyone tends
to grab at what they think is a major factor (say, weight of the rider)
rather than figuring out how to get their horse to drink better the day
before the ride.  From what I'm seeing in the data, no one thing makes or
breaks great performance.  Alot of great performers are just horses with
riders that are considering every last tiny detail, and not just stopping at
the surface---in other words, looking HARD at cause and effect every chance
they have.

Sorry to be so rambling.  Of course, this is all JME. :-)

Susan G