>Trust me, when a vibrant, healthy, well conditioned horse gets into
metabolic trouble at a ride, especially if it has to be put on IV or dies, it is
endurance related. To think otherwise is burying your head in the
sand. We're not a bunch of chicken little's here screaming the sky is
falling when it is not. The sky, quite frankly, isn't falling, but, to
think that these deaths are purely coincidental with the fact that the horse
just happened to be competing in an endurance ride at the time is about as lucid
as George Bush's grammar.
'Scuse me. But I've seen plenty of times when
the crashing horse on IV's had NOTHING WHATSOEVER with endurance riding.
I've listed my own personal experiences with this more times than I can
count. Yeah, I've seen some that have, too. But yes, Howard, when a
tumor ruptures, or an internal abscess ruptures, or an aneurysm ruptures, it IS
purely coincidental that the horse was on a ride at the time.
Furthermore, as I recall, several of the incidents
last year involved things like horses getting loose and getting out on the
highway--the sorts of accidents one sees day in and day out in veterinary
practice with, again, nothing whatsoever to do with the sport. When the
vets look at deaths like these and draw the conclusion that neither veterinary
standards nor ride management could have prevented such deaths, THEY ARE TELLING
THE TRUTH.
Next I suppose you will tell me that my filly died
this morning because I'm packing up to go on an endurance ride next week, so hot
damn, it must be ride related...
