Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

 Thanks for your comments, Ed. As a member of the Horse Welfare 
Committee, I have certainly learned more than I have contributed 
regarding the nature of events that seem to surround the deaths of 
horses--as they participate in our sport or otherwise. I recently 
finished preparing a death report on a horse that was ridden sensibly at 
a 50 miler, finished the ride with no apparent problems at the final vet 
check, but hours later deteriorated and was euthanized. This tends to be 
a typical pattern in some of the horse deaths we study, however, a very 
significant percentage of deaths at or around endurance rides have 
nothing to do with how the horse was being ridden. Accidents, falls, 
kicks, spontaneous fractures, aneurysms and other similar situations are 
just as likely to result in a horse's death. If I had to make 
recommendations based on these findings to help prevent deaths, I would 
suggest focusing on safety measures in the mere handling and transport 
of our horses, safe trail negotiation,  and safe horse camping 
procedures, including fool-proofing horse containment. I would also 
suggest that, since many horses are on medications--such as steroids, 
for example--as part of treatment for injuries and other medical 
conditions, you discuss with your vet the safety of putting the horse 
back to work and any vascular complications that might occur. Even 
though meds are stopped 72 hours or more before a ride, the lasting 
tissue side effects may linger and be a potential threat. Lastly, horses 
were designed to eat growing grass, which is 90% water. I believe in 
wetting their hay before, during and after an endurance ride to keep 
their gut moist and possibly less prone to compaction under conditions 
of dehydration from work. Even though many riders feed moist feeds such 
as wet beet pulp, the majority of the gut content usually comes from dry 
hay which must be rehydrated. IMO, this may lead to a sort of chronic 
dehydration in horses that isn't usually a problem at home, but may be 
an aggravational factor in colic during or after rides.
 Our desire and responsiblity to protect our horses is a contextual 
one. What we are asking the horse do to in participating in an endurance 
ride is inherently risky. That risk, by definition, cannot be reduced to 
zero. So, when it comes to risk management, we are talking about 
"maximally minimizing" it. Even though we can't get a perfect score, I 
think it makes us better horsemen and horsewomen.       FWIW, Bruce Weary  


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