Re: RC: hot weather rides

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 9/20/99 12:13:10 PM Pacific Daylight Time, DVeritas writes:

<< Heidi,
     What you describe is, for some, difficult to do.  And I don't mean this 
in a mean way, but putting the horse and his/her/its welfare FIRST can, for 
some, get lost in the hubbub of a vet check (where THE concern should be 
first for the horse, not for the timer...).
     I have witnessed (and even on occasion been guilty of) good 
horsemanship, i.e., going to the Vet and relating what may or may not be a 
problem and, on occasion, given up the completion and started caring for the 
horse, nonjudgmental victim to my "competitive lust." >>

You are right, Frank, but I was not referring to giving the rider a choice if 
I, as the vet, feel that there is a problem.  My whole point was that many 
problems manifest while the horse is in camp on his hold, and by not 
examining him until near the end of the hold time, I can pick those problems 
up.  When I made reference to catching minor problems and slowing the rider 
down, I am referring only to things that in my best judgment would still get 
to the next check ok even if the rider does NOT follow instructions.  I 
actually think the "completion lust" is worse the way it is now--the horse 
vets through on his "runner's high", and when problems develop back at the 
trailer, the rider does nothing about it (if, indeed, the rider even 
recognizes the problem), because, after all, the horse has already been 
cleared by the vet as being ready to go.  I feel that we miss a LOT of 
problems in this fashion, and that by the time they reach the NEXT check, 
they are no longer simply pulls, but have become major treatments.

Heidi


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