When the Greenalls get ready, maybe, they'll tell us the entire
story. Somehow, I don't think they think it was the rider in this
situation who was to blame at all (I really don't know). And, my
belief is, it wasn't the rider at all in Maggie's. Not to compare the two,
since Malik is alive and well. But, if he were not, would any of you be
jumping on Maggie? Shame on you if you were to do so. It can happen
to anyone and her case proves that to me more than any other I've heard of
recently.
Shortening the distance between vet checks and making a few other changes
could turn all of this around. What should really be opening our eyes is
when we lose horses at the top lever rides. These are our best horses and
riders. Our very best. And, trust me, there are ways to get even
them to go slower.
There is a really good idea coming down the pike that would slow riders
down. I'm not going to bring it up because it's not mine (most of what
I've listed are not mine, btw). IN case you missed those ideas I'll list
them again. Please read them and consider which are acceptable to you and
which are not. Keep in mind if we want things to change, we really do need
to make some changes.
I really feel that if the membership does not get behind this things will
remain the same; 7 deaths per year at our rides and a large number of severe
metabolic incidents where treatment was required to save the life of the
horse. Please, really, down deep in the pit of your heart, the center of
your soul, try and put the horse ahead of what your personal goals in our sport
are. Mentally, ask yourself what you would do to make our sport the best,
instead of one of the worst, places for a horse to compete and for you to
enjoy. I don't think I posted these on Ridecamp; please, take a serious
look at them and try not to make it personal. I don't care if you dislike
me for talking like I do about all of this but when you voice your venom towards
me it really takes away from it all (maybe, that's your intent). Pretend the
list below came from someone you do like, rather than myself. Read them
objectively, I really am begging you to do this. Like I said, they're not really
all my ideas anyway.
1) Make 60 the standard beats per minute of the horse's
heart-rate across the board. Consider reducing it to 56.
2) Make the maximum distance a horse can travel between vet checks 15
miles. No longer. And, actually, make sure via an independent source
that the miles listed by the ride manager between loops is accurate.
3) Have a prerequisite for entering 100 mile rides. I suggest
300 miles of 50's before a horse is allowed to do it's first 100 miler.
4) Longer hold times at the vet checks; 45 minutes minimum and 1 hour
at the half way mark. I also suggest we use 11 hours of ride time (does
not include hold time) for the 50 milers and 22 hours of ride time for the 100
milers as the time limit to obtain a completion. That way, if the Ride Vet
wants to add more time at the holds it won't affect the rider's available "ride
time" on the trail.
5) All AERC vets most hold a license. It doesn't have to be a
license in a state where the ride is held, but, it does have to be a license in
one of the 50 available. No unlicensed vets at any AERC rides.
6) Log books on horses similar to what they're doing in
Australia. It holds the rider accountable (they are) and makes our record
keeping more accurate. And, it will save the life of a horse or two along
the way.
7) The Education Committee needs to explain distance traveling while
going to a ride and returning home. I know that Stagg has written an
article where this topic was mentioned, and it was a good one, but, this needs
to be re-emphasized time and time again. We must make sure every rider
knows that the distance traveled to a ride along with the distance traveled back
home increases the danger of a horse getting into trouble during an endurance
event. It is part of the event! If a rider travels out of region to a
ride I think we should require them to keep a log book of their travel to the
ride. Not for punishment, but, for educational purposes. This form
is turned into the Ride Manager prior to the manager accepting their
entry.
If we ever want to get serious about this (and, yes, it really is
happening; it's not some sort of illusion) we need to take action and make some
changes. And, this will help to eliminate all those bad apples from the
sport I keep hearing of. But, the only way it will happen is for ya'll to
make it happen. Otherwise, it's just words, and I got plenty of
those. It really is time for some action.
I watched a horse die of heat
exhaustion (the autopsy is not complete, but nothing else showed up) last
weekend. I watched the whole thing. The sport killed the
horse. Spain...same thing. Pan Ams, the same thing.
Gee, I don't think so. Actually, I think the riders killed
these horses. The difference between the horses that die and the ones
that don't isn't "the sport"--it's the riders. You could have five mile
loops with hour holds--and some people would still manage to ride their horses
to death. As long as experienced riders, who know what they are doing,
are prepared to risk the consequences of riding 'on the edge', there is no
place you can put the edge where they won't find
it.
