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[RC] vets - Ridecamp Guest

Please Reply to: ti tivers@xxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Hello Diane,

Thank you for taking the time to put together such an informative post. You've
added a great deal of valuable information to our limited knowledge base of
this sport. Unfortunately, I am in the doghouse in a big way. My wife said that
I should have never submitted my post of my opinion of our vetting experience
at Biltmore, and that my big mouth has probably gotten her blacklisted with all
the endurance vets in the country. For the sake of domestic tranquility, I hope
not. I shall now return to lurkdom and  in the future, be very careful as to
which rides we attend. Thank you again,

Dennis>

Your wife is probably correct, unfortunately. In the Middle East, this kind of 
problem is often resolved through the gift  of a Toyota Land Cruiser or 
something akin to that.

The underlying problem, though, is that VC parameters are not accurate 
predictors of "readiness" and you can quickly get into a horseshow-like, 
totally subjective, "judging" system that can be manipulated to suit the 
desires of the "judges" and their favorites--hell, that's the way some of the 
US international team members are picked every year--so it goes beyond just VC 
vets.

Because of the nature of the human animal, absolute power = absolute abuse. The 
solution will be to develop better, more accurate VC and selection 
protocols--removing the "human" element as much as possible.

Until then, though, you're stuck with the cliques and the politicians--all of 
whom have a price of some kind. The price may be a simple matter of just 
"sucking up" or something more substantial. Racing internationally, it is 
probably better to finance your own excursions overseas and run independently, 
if you have an international-level horse. Otherwise you have a committee of 
know-nothings telling you how to exercise and feed your horse--or even shoe 
it-- for an extended period of time--bad news.

Meanwhile, at ride VCs, avoid the bent vets and keep a low profile. Complaining 
simply gets the whole clique on your case.

ti


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