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Re: [RC] Horse Welfare Committee Article - Jim HollandActually, I can see how this could happen. At a ride in the SE, we had a serious colic going on....had the vets all a-twitter trying to figure out the cause. Then, Dr. Ken Marcella happened to notice that the horse had "onion breath". Seems he had been snacking along the trail on the wild onions so common around here....and he wasn't used to eating those. Another indication that it's a good idea to make sure that you "condition" your horse's diet at home to what he's going to see at a ride. Yanking him off a nice green pasture 24/7 and feeding only hay for several days IMHO is asking for a colic. Radical diet changes are not a good idea anytime, but stress condititons exerbate the problem. I can see how a horse could end up with beetle poisoning by eating hay (possibly somebody else's) contaminated with beetles at a ride. It's an "indirect" cause, but certainly worth noting to remind riders that quantity, quality, and "normal" diet are issues that should be considered. We can learn something from EVERY horse death, which is why it is SO important that we document each one, determine why it happened, how it might have be prevented, and provide that information to the membership, in excruciating detail. Even if we're not sure it was ride related, and it was anywhere close to a ride, let's look at it. Can't hurt, might learn something! That said, I'm still looking for RIDE information on each of the horse deaths. Until I see that, IMHO, the "report" is incomplete. Jim, Sun of Dimanche+, and Mahada Magic Ridecamp Guest wrote: Please Reply to: Sheila Larsen Sheila_Larsen@xxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ========================================== I have just mailed a letter to the editor regarding the article from the Welfare Committee. The long and the short of it, and which you can read hopefully in the next issue is that they had better do a better job in defining what constitutes a horse death as a result of endurance riding. Beetle poisoning as a result of endurance riding, I don't think so. ============================================================ REAL endurance is sleeping in the tack compartment of your trailer w/the door open, and your horse snorts/snots on your forehead every 30 min! ~ Heidi Sowards ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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