Karen, I was not asking a vet to stick his neck
out. I wasn't even asking for a vet to comment on any particular case. This is
not a delicate sport and shouldn't be treated as such. That certainly
is NOT in the best interest of the horse. I'm the rider, I'm
responsible, I need the info, too.
For treating a horse that has crashed, what would
be the first thing to do? What is the protocol for a sanctioned AERC
ride? These vets are the ones who are suppose to have the knowledge
and experience unique to our sport. I can ask my vet, but he is not there nor is
he an AERC vet. And the AERC vets are not just vaccinating a backyard horse,
they are working on an athlete that is now having some problems. That stuff
usually doesn't happen at home.
Is it asking too much to have our vet committee,
education and horse welfare committees to get together and come up with some
information we could ALL use when things go bad?
I have to agree with Bob. I keep driving home the
education part and we don't even have a map yet. The HWC does need to set forth
better guild lines and not be a clearing house for complaints. I also agree with
Angie about having some sort of consequence for actions because like Truman
said, words won't keep horses from dying. I do hope the plan set forth by the
HWC is scratched and rewritten. The comments on Ridecamp and the forum have been
very valid and could be more useful than just tattle-tailing.
If some of our vets
would have chimed in and said, "IF this happens, this is what we MIGHT
recommend and here may be some alternatives." Instead, we got nothing.
Nothing helpful and nothing educational. Except of course, from Heidi and
Kim. If I am going to be totally responsible for my horse, I need all the
help I can get in making the best educated decisions for my horse.
It seems to be a delicate situation and a
lot of vets are probably not willing to stick their necks out and make
statements regarding the treatment or demise of a horse, especially when they
were not there and do not know all of the circumstances.
For those who
want to know more about how their own horse should be treated if they end up
in a situation like that, they should talk to their own veterinarians.
Or, talk to the next friendly ride veterinarian they meet up with at a
ride.
I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to participate
in a discussion on this topic with my local vet (not a ride vet). We
talked for a long time. He told me that he feels that a high profile
ride like that would not use inept vets, and second if they were that inept
the rider should be seeking legal council not reporting it on the internet,
and third if that person came in needing a horse treated to let him know who
it was because he would not touch their horse. So, you can see why ride
veterinarians are not going to be commenting on such issues. My vet did
go on to say that treating the horses is the easy part. It's what is on
the end of their lead lines that is usually the difficult part.
