Ridecamp: Re: [RC] RC: Vetting procedures

> I must be weird or something but, I'm one of those people that says that
> if your not sure how an aircraft works
>  you probably shouldn't be operating one over densely populated
> residential areas. By the same token, if your not educated in the
> functions of the horses body as well as familiar enough with your own
> horses mannerisms to determine whether or not it's having any physical
> difficulty. You probably shouldn't be riding it in an endurance ride.
> After all the horse's welfare is the sole responsibility of it's rider,
> the vets are there to aid the rider in determining the horse's condition
> therefore determining whether or not it's fit to continue. If you own it
> and ride it daily, you should be more aware of what is normal than
> somebody that's only seen it once or twice in the last year as well as it
> being one of a hundred or so looked at in the last 24 hour period.

Rob, I agree with what you've said here.  However, the reality is that there
are riders out there who don't, and as a ride vet, one has a responsibility
to do the "substantive exam" called for in the rules.  One can do that
"substantive exam" quite rapidly if one is an experienced ride vet--it need
not be a half-hour pre-purchase exam.  That said, there is still no way a
ride vet can "see" what he/she needs to "see" about a horse without ever
touching or listening.  If the horse has good gut sounds, one can often
start at the head with a cap refill (noting gum color at the same time), run
one's hand right on down to check skin turgor, assess muscle tone as one
runs one's hand on over the shoulder, pick up one's stethoscope with the
other hand, listen to 3 or 4 heartbeats for quality and rythm, slide back to
the tummy, listen with one hand resting on the loin or rump still noting
muscle tone, and observe the legs for swellings, interference marks, etc.
while listening to guts--and picking up a thumper while one is back there.
One also gets a general impression of skin temp, sweating or not, etc. this
way.  That is fairly substantive, and is very fast if the gut sounds are
good.  But one misses a great deal of info if one never touches a hand or a
stethoscope to the horse, no matter how "experienced" one is....

Heidi


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