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[RC] one more thing... - terre

...then I'll shut up, I swear!
I think this thread (mostly called "preventing treatment") has actually dealt with several completely different issues that need to be separated.
1)causes of equine deaths. There seem to be 3 kinds--due to injury; due to preexisting medical condition; due to overriding. We as an organization are really only equipped to deal with the third kind, altho we should be identifying the other two for statistical purposes . The second kind would require a necropsy to prove it is not the third kind!
2)causes of metabolic failure. We may never be able to do anything about horses that are overridden on the first loop (be it the first loop of an LD or the first loop of a 100) other than educate or sanction the rider. I think what we need to concern ourselves with are the horses that are passing vet checks with problems we cannot detect. Yes, it's the rider's responsibility--but us riders could use a little help here! I think we need to remember that the WEG horse that died on course was about 12 miles out of a vet check--even if there had been another check on that loop the results may have been the same for that animal.
3)education vs enforcement. We need to establish the proper atmosphere. No one can legislate compassion or honesty--or intelligence. The consequences of ignorance are indistinguishable from those of callousness. But we must not become so enraged at the latter that we promote the former! We dare not make people afraid or ashamed to report their problems. We DO have rules against deliberate abuse; protests have been launched over this--the machinery is in place. A certain degree of confidentiality may be necessary to protect the 'innocent'--ALL statistics, etc should be freely available but not necessarily names and specifics.


terre (ok--I'm done now!)


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