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[RC] N.Geographic, what killed those ponies? - rides2farOK, I'm probably about 10 years behind everyone else in viewing of TV documentaries so ya'll are going to have to bear with me. Last night I watched a National Geographic video "The Horse". In part of the video they went to Mongolia and showed their annual festival where the nomads gathered with their "horses" (smaller ponies than I even imagined they rode). They were dead serious about these little ponies though and calling them "their best race horses". Picture skinny narrow chested bony hipped ponies on the high end of Shetland height. NOT what we'd call Welsh. Anyway, they had a race where the rider couldn't be over 12 years old. Many were closer to 6 (they fit the ponies better). They took FIVE HUNDRED ponies with these tiny kids on them and they're out in this huge open plain. They supposedly walked them 15 miles away to the starting point (they said it took three hours so I wondered if it wasn't closer to 9 miles). Then they turned 500 kids with ponies & quirts back towards camp and turned them loose to race. The ponies were going at more of a canter when they showed them coming in, but they said they'd been running for "about an hour". How fast they went would depend on how far they really went. Then they showed some empty saddles and parents heading out to find where their 6 year olds came off over the course. (I cringed when they'd show them putting their little non-heeled shoes into open stirrups. Wonder how many kids have been dragged to death?) That's when the camera panned down across the plain and you could see ponies, laying on their sides, apparently dead with little kids standing by them crying or carrying away their saddles crying. It was AWFUL. Amazing that the announcer showed absolutely no outrage, just comments, as the camera shows a front end loader scooping up a dead pony and dropping it into a dumpster, that "any trainer whose horse dies on the course is dishonored". It's just amazing to me that I saw more dead horses in one pan of the camera than I've even heard about in 20 years of endurance riding. My question for the vets. What kills them? They were obviously well warmed up from the long walk out there so I'm guessing few tie ups. 9-15 miles seems kinda early for the electrolytes to go crazy...but then, they were probably forced to be anaerobic which would be a whole different ballgame. What would break down in their system? Angie Angie McGhee http://www.lightersideofendurance.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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