Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Title: RE: [RC] Reducing risk

To answer your question, this is maybe something related to individual freedom (your constitution ???).

Anyway, at FEI rides, if the vet asks you to bring your horse to the equine hospital, you have no choice that to obbey. Also, we are happy to go to bed after the race knowing that there will be one or two vets circulating around the stables... Now it is not always as ideal as one would like it. Sometimes there can be also some anarchy in the way the FEI rules are enforced in some countries. But in most western europe countries, I can tell you that we can rely on the vets to take care of the horse.

Now maybe I will get a rude email in my teeth saying "OK, Leonard, but if you would not be riding your horse to the edge you wouldn't have to rely on any vet to take care of your horse"... true and false... this is a race and a metabolic crash can happen and adn it can happen to everybody, no matter hw much you know or care for your horse.

Leonard, Belgium


-----Original Message-----
From: D'Arcy Demianoff-Thompson [mailto:liberty4640@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wed 4/4/2007 9:15 PM
To: LIESENS Leonard (COMM); ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [RC]   Reducing risk

Now, this makes absolute sense!  Thank you, Leonard of Belgium, for this information.  Now I know we, in the US, are not set up to perform this type of coverage and treatment of our horses.   I can't help but feel this is a direction that would clearly resolve a lot of issues on so many levels.  Most assurdedly it would ward off PETA to some degree (because there is no accounting for their irradic behavior anyway)!  Seriously, why would this be difficult to institute in the US on the 100 mile triple crown rides?  It would make so much sense.  The additional fees would be more than worth the peace of mind! I have to wonder, of the horses that are pulled, and recommendations made, how many owners/riders, whom do not follow the recommendations, take their horses home too soon, only to encounter a high risk health factor.  Again, thank you Leonard, for this insight.  I'd like to know of all the vet riders out there how they do or do not foresee this working in the US. 

D'Arcy L. Demianoff-Thompson 

liberty4640@xxxxxxxxx



By the way, do you know that at FEI level, the horses are during and after the ride under the responsiility of the Treatment vets. They must check regularly the horse and especially the one that were eliminated for serious metabolic issue during the night after the competition. And the morning after, horses are again controled by the vets who allow or not the rider to drive them back home.

In the same domain, when you get pulled, the vet may force you to head to the hospital (or the treatment vet) if he determined that the horse needs serious treatment.