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Bruce:

You stated "10)  A recent rule proposal that will likely
pass, will require 
that a horse meet criteria within 30 minutes of the finish
as opposed to 
60 minutes. This will influence those who race harder later
in the ride 
when fatigue is at it's greatest."

On what basis did you determine that such a change in the
rule will be of benefit to the equines participating in our
sport? 

Has there been any statistical or even anecdotal
determination that supports such a move?

Remember that our rule 6.2.1 says  "Because
an equine at the finish line is not, in actuality, going on-
and not going into the wilderness far from veterinary
aid-the
standards for completion need not be as strict as those on
the
trail,"

On what basis are you changing that long term philosophy?
Since you also state "The statistics that show that far and
away the majority of 
horses that die at rides are either being ridden well within
their 
limitations, or die from some occurrence entirely unrelated
to riding. 
(Fractured leg from a kick, CVAs, falls, blister beetle
poisoning, 
spontaneous spinal fracture, and the list goes on)  Oddly,
the "racing" 
horses don't seem to die very often. 
     5) The post mortem results that show that almost none
of the 
horses reflect siginificant ulcerative disease." what is
your justification for this proposed major change?

Bob

Bob Morris
Morris Endurance Enterprises
Boise, ID 

-----Original Message-----
From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bruce
Weary
Sent: Friday, January 05, 2007 8:56 PM
To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [RC] Progress


  It's been fun reading the memories put forth about the
1987 ROC, and 
other stories about the "good old days", as I am old enough
to remember 
some of them. However, I disagree with the opinions put
forth that there 
has been no significant progress in horse welfare measures
since that 
time. Here is a short list of things that have come into
existence since 
the 1987 ROC:
    1) The Welfare of the Horse Committee, of which I'm
honored to be a 
member.
    2)  The Pride Project
    3)   The AERC fund that will pay for a post-mortem on
any horse 
that dies at a ride.
    4)  The statistics that show that far and away the
majority of 
horses that die at rides are either being ridden well within
their 
limitations, or die from some occurrence entirely unrelated
to riding. 
(Fractured leg from a kick, CVAs, falls, blister beetle
poisoning, 
spontaneous spinal fracture, and the list goes on)  Oddly,
the "racing" 
horses don't seem to die very often. 
     5) The post mortem results that show that almost none
of the 
horses reflect siginificant ulcerative disease.
     6) Susan Garlinghouse's study that showed the
correlation between 
body condition score and completion rates.
      7) Complete death reports written by a certified AERC

veterinarian and published in Endurance News.
      8)  WSTF recently raised the minimum participation
age to 6 for 
the Tevis, and instituted mileage prerequisites for the
rider before 
entering.
      9)  There has been a steady decrease in pulse
criteria, now most 
commonly 60 or even 56.
      10)  A recent rule proposal that will likely pass,
will require 
that a horse meet criteria within 30 minutes of the finish
as opposed to 
60 minutes. This will influence those who race harder later
in the ride 
when fatigue is at it's greatest.
     I could go on.
  I have heard it said that when we are convinced of an
opinion, we 
will accept weak evidence in it's favor, and ignore strong
evidence to 
the contrary.
  Cindy Collins said: " I do believe that good people with
good 
intentions are trying hard to make things safer for
horses...just not 
sure they've accomplished that much in changing people's
basic 
personality and behavior."
I think there are only so many human factors we can control
or 
effectively influence.   Is there anyone else who agrees
that the job of 
AERC is "changing people's basic personality and behavior"?
This 
ought to be a lively discussion...............  Dr Q
  




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