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Re: [RC] Re:Protests - Truman Prevatt

Barbara,

I saw a rider ride a horse into his grave in '94. When the horse collapsed at the 42 mile check she just handed the lead line to someone else and walked away. Two vets worked long and hard to save the horse and poured a lot of fluid in him but the damage was done the the horse died two days later.

No one protested - maybe they should have but I guess everyone was to horrified to even think about it. The person never did another ride that I know of.  I am not even sure she was an AERC member and there was nothing the AERC could have done to bring the horse back or "punish" the rider since that is the only ride I know of she did.

If we ride long enough we will probably have to have our horse treated. It is not a risk free sport and the numbers will eventually catch up with you. I think it's how it happens and it's how we handle the emergency that is important. When our horse does crash that is when it needs us most and that is when our responsibility to its welfare is the most critical.  The issue was not that Lud's horse was on fluids - the important thing is Lud had the vet put his horse on fluids for the sake of the horse. You also made the (probably hard) decision to sell him and start over with another horse. You guys took the responsibility to help your horse in his time of need. I don't see how any one could see that as negative. If they did I would suggest they don't understand the risk involved in this sport.

Truman

Barbara McCrary wrote:
I've been thinking about the protests and the issues involved.  Since I haven't a clue how the rider reacted, how he or she did or did not take care of the horses in question, I can't pass judgment.  All I can say is that some horses, my husband's in particular, can and do get into metabolic trouble through no action on the rider's part.  This horse refused to drink, particularly on a desert ride in the winter.  The air was cool, it was also dry.  The horse flat out refused to drink enough.  He could, and did, thump and colic as a result.  We were not riding fast.....only at a steady, moderate trot, slowing down where appropriate.  He caused my husband great anxiety, so we finally found a wonderful home for the horse.  Horse is now enjoying a plushy lifestyle, he is loved, cared for, ridden for pleasure and in small local shows.  His new owner is jumping him (we didn't know he had the talent for this!) and generally having a great time.  Maybe he just wasn't suited for endurance........  Maybe there is a side of the story we don't know about the riders against whom the protests were filed?  Maybe we shouldn't be too quick to judge?  I don't know.  All I know is that someone could have seen my husband's horse hooked up to an IV drip and said, "Did you see that?  Lud McCrary overrode his horse!"
 
Barbara
  

Replies
[RC] Re:Protests, Dennis, Nancy & Bill
Re: [RC] Re:Protests, Barbara McCrary