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Re: [RC] Preventing Treated Horses at Rides - Ideas Please - Howard Bramhall

I'm not sure where Bob gets the idea that having a horse hooked up to an IV
is a sign of "honor."  I could not disagree with him more concerning this.
When this happens at a ride, the rider/owner is usually crying and there are
tons of friends trying to console them.  This is not an honorable position
to be in. It's scary and everyone I've ever seen who has gone through this
takes it very seriously.

I like Stagg's idea, but, I must say, if AERC was to try and implement such
a thing wouldn't we be regulating our rides to the lowest common denominator
of rider by doing this?  The rider must know their horse better than anyone
else.  Checking the pulse rate of your horse is something that all riders
must do during the vet check holds. Knowing those numbers of your particular
horse, what is normal, what is not, inside and out is crucial. If you're not
doing this, you should learn how to do so, or get someone to teach you.
It's that important!

The bottom line is, if there's a problem at a ride, perceived or real, pull
your horse.  Do it yourself, you really don't have to have the vet do it for
you.  The completion should not be so important that you take a chance on
that which is.  The horse.

cya,
Howard


----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Morris" <bobmorris@xxxxxxxx>
To: <Stagg_Newman@xxxxxxxxxxxx>; <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <staggandcheryl@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 11:43 AM
Subject: RE: [RC] Preventing Treated Horses at Rides - Ideas Please


Stagg:

I must agree with Heidi and the Hausers that having the vet
check the horse just prior to leaving is a much better
control situation. On arriving at a vet check the horse is
still "up" and some problematic factors will be
unnoticeable.

Another point is the current practice of not placing FULL
RESPONSIBILITY for the welfare of the horse upon the rider.
I see a trend for the riders to expect the vets to have that
control. When we early in the sport it was a stigma to have
a horse that needed treatment. If you lost a horse at a ride
you had quite a reputation to recover from. Now-a-days
having a horse hooked up to a "jug" is almost a sign of
honor.

In my mind (and many persons do believe it is warped) there
should be a provision for having a competitor "set down", as
in flat track racing, for things such as allowing a horse to
get into a condition requiring treatment.  Another
punishable position would be where the Vet needs to tell the
rider the horse is not fit to continue. The Preferable
situation is the rider telling the Vet the horse is not in
condition to continue.

So, my position on greatly reducing the number of treated
horses is to make the rider the first line of
responsibility. To quote from the AERC Rules and Regulations
"The AERC services the requirements of the competitor by
promulgating and establishing rules and regulations,
recording and publishing results of events, and providing
awards; but the competitor is ultimately responsible for
self and mount before, during and after an endurance ride"

Let us start to mitigate the problem by strictly enforcing
this maxim.

Bob

Bob Morris
Morris Endurance Enterprises
Boise, ID

-----Original Message-----
From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of
Stagg_Newman@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 8:38 PM
To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: staggandcheryl@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [RC] Preventing Treated Horses at Rides - Ideas
Please



 Folks,

 Would like to start on a thread on ideas of how to prevent
treated horses at rides.
 IMO greatly reducing the number of treated horses is one of
the most important
 actions we can take to improve the sport. Moreover with
increased scrutiny
 from animal welfare activists and others, it is one of the
most important.
 And it is the right thing to do for the horse.

 I would suggest separating the discussion into three areas:

 1. What are the reasons we have to treat horses and the
early warning signs?
 As Dr. Jeannie Waldron frequently says, one of the problems
is "we just don't
 know enough". So what do we need to do to learn more?

 2. What are actions that we as riders and crew can take to
prevent our horses
 from needing treatment?

 3. What if any changes should ride management or ride vets
consider to
 prevent horses from needing treatment?

 I will offer to compile the ideas received and then
distribute to ridecamp.
 And if warranted we can the get the ideas more widely
disseminated as I firmly
 believe rider education may be our most important tool.

 In order to get the discussion going, here is my first
idea.

 WE AS RIDERS SHOULD TAKE THE HORSE'S PULSE JUST BEFORE
LEAVING A HOLD
 AND ACT ACCORDINGLY.

 Rationale: I believe one of the best indicators of how a
horse is doing is
 the pulse at the end of the hold period. My belief is the
pulse of the horse that is doing well
 should continue to decline during the hold period. If at
the end of the hold period the
 pulse is down into the 40s then the horse is not likely to
have metabolic problems
 on the next loop. On the other hand if the horse's pulse is
hanging at 60 or
 has gone even higher than at the vetting in, that is a red
flag the something is
 wrong. A few rides have tried exit checks at some holds and
they do seem to find
 some horses that are starting to have problems. But we as
riders do not
 need to rely on ride management. We can check the horse's
pulse and then if we are
 concerned check with the veterinarians, slow our pace,
and/or withdraw.

 In addition to posting on Ridecamp, please cc me directly
at
 staggandcheryl@xxxxxxxxxxx since work sometimes
 interferes with my keeping up to date on Ridecamp. Have to
pay for the
 horse somehow :>)

 Stagg Newman







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 Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

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Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

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Replies
RE: [RC] Preventing Treated Horses at Rides - Ideas Please, Bob Morris