An educational experience...

[Trish Dowling <dowling@skyway.usask.ca>]

Endurance riding is a growing sport in western Canada, with the 1999 Pan American Championships slated 
to be held in Manitoba, so there is an increasing demand for qualified veterinarians. To help meet this 
demand, Dr Trisha Dowling of the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 
offered an elective course to 3rd year veterinary students, called "Fit To Continue: The Role of the 
Veterinarian in Endurance Riding". Fifteen veterinary students participated in the elective, which started with 
a 3 hour session on the mechanics of vetting endurance horses, how to fill out the paperwork and how an 
endurance ride is run. Then to put theory into practice, on April 18th, Trisha and her husband Brian Zwaan, 
hosted the WCVM Limited Distance ride at the their farm just east of Saskatoon. The Saskatchewan Long 
Riders sanctioned the ride for distance and 17 horse and rider teams turned out to give the students an 
educational experience. Riders included SLR members from distant parts of the province, veterinary 
students, and faculty of the WCVM. The Saturday morning dawned clear, but with a very chilly North wind 
blowing as the veterinary students paired up to check in the horses. At the rider briefing, "Head Vet" Sarah 
Puchalski, outlined the criteria set by the students for recoveries and cautioned the riders to watch for 
dehydration and muscle cramping from the cold wind. At 10:30 AM, Ride Manager Trisha called the start 
and the horses and riders were off. The trail took the riders and horses along summer roads and across 
alfalfa fields for 12.5 miles to the farm of Dr Alex Livingston, Dean of the WCVM. The veterinary students ran 
the check as a gate into a 30 minute hold and conducted a Heart Rate Recovery Index on all the horses. 
Students and riders scrambled to conduct examinations and attend to horses and themselves within the 
hold period. Then the horses and riders were off to complete the loop back to Zwaan Farm. One rider pulled 
their horse at the vet check for a stone bruise, but the rest completed this first ride of the season in great 
shape. The students were able to see the strategy involved in a limited distance ride (and the usefulness of a 
heart rate monitor), as the third horse to cross the finish line ended up being the first horse to meet pulse 
criteria. All the horses were thoroughly checked again during the completion examination, and the veterinary 
students were able to appreciate the changes in pulse recovery, hydration, movement and impulsion, and 
filling in fetlocks that occurred over the duration of the ride. As a group, the veterinary students evaluated the 
first five finishers for the "Best of Condition" award. With all the horses settled with hay and water, the 
participants crowded into the Zwaan's living room to get out of the wind and eat! The riders' entry fee was 
simply a food item for a potluck supper - so everyone chowed down and socialized. Ride dates and places 
were exchanged so that the students could participate in local rides while at their summer jobs in Manitoba, 
Alberta and Saskatchewan. The winner of the BC award was presented with a WCVM T-shirt and all the 
finishers lugged away 40 lb salt blocks courtesy of the local Sabre salt plant.

The "soon to be" veterinarians participating included: Sarah Puchalski, Coletter Olyarnyk, Regan Keown, 
Tom Picherack, Justene Tedder, Rick Beekman, Carol Piller, Dana Bentley, Tye Perrett, Paula Davies, 
Jayme Harvey-Micay, Mark Bergen, Marnie Cooper, Leanna Grenwich, Leanne McKevitt. So watch for them 
at an endurance ride near you! And the Student Chapter of the American Association of Equine Practitioners 
is in the process of organizing a 50/25 ride for September 26, 1998, where all proceeds will be donated to 
the WCVM's Equine Health Research Fund.


Horse/Rider					
AU Kari On/Keri Hudson (2nd year student)
Waylon/Louis Tapper	Best of Condition
Duke/Rene Blanchard
Wally/Harley Goodwin
Zeus/Vikram Misra (WCVM faculty)
Cappuccino/Brian Zwaan	
Shami/Stan Rubin (WCVM faculty)
Lady/Juliana Deubner (WCVM faculty)
Royal Consort/Alesha Coburn (4th year student)
SS Khaaleeba/Lois Greenbank
Fheline/Sandra Mountney
Rebel/Floyd Shupe
Zantor the Great/Liana Mawer (2nd year student)
Lee/Pat Bliss
Clu/Heather Adamson
Royal Talmon/Jerald Thiessen

Just bragging a bit about the vet students and our college! This idea may work at other veterinary schools as 
well.
Trisha

Trisha Dowling, DVM, MS, Diplomate ACVIM & ACVCP
Associate Professor, Veterinary Clinical Pharmacology
Western College of Veterinary Medicine
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B4
306-966-7359/FAX 306-966-7376