Re: Re: Reply/History

["Heidi Smith" <heidi@sagehillcmk.com>]

>For those who don't know, Catoosa was a
> race set up by a Yahoo who put up a big jackpot and barred vets.  It was
> NOT AERC sanctioned. The distance wasn't that long, 15 or 25 miles? and I
> believe 15 horses died.

Just a clarification.  The Catoosa ride had originally applied for and
received AERC sanctioning, but the AERC regional rep at the time became
aware that they were NOT planning to follow AERC veterinary guidelines, and
pulled sanctioning on them at the 11th hour, so to speak.  (I believe the
rep at that time was Dane Frazier, and I believe he was in a unique position
to realize what was happening, because if memory serves, he also had some
role regarding the planned ride vetting, and management was essentially
planning to take the control away from the ride vets, and virtually run a
race with no veterinary criteria, using the vets as window dressing.)  The
conditions were horrendous, as they can be in summer in the midwest--high
humidity, and hot temperatures.  If memory serves, the ride not only had the
equivalent of an LD, but also had a 100-miler.  And someone correct me if
I'm wrong, but I think AERC allowed a "quickie-ride" for the AERC riders the
same weekend, as a substitute for Catoosa (since the sanction was pulled at
the last minute)--a course was set up quickly, the environmental conditions
were virtually the same, but given AERC veterinary standards, that ride was
held with NO deaths, and no adverse outcome.  The realization of what could
(and did) happen at Catoosa, and the very public refusal to condone it was,
IMO, one of AERC's shining hours.

Heidi