More Dog fights

[Steve Shaw <sshaw@pacbell.net>]

Another interesting incident occurred at the 20 mule team ride. At the
vet check that was set up for checks 3, 5 and 7 many  dogs again were
again in abundance. At one point CEN officials attempted to put a stop
to it. This especially after a black dog nipped at Remmington Steele the
pony and it kicked out at it. Inquiries as to the ownership of the loose
dog determined that it belonged to the new Vet working the ride with
Dave Nicholson. Charlie Liske stated that he always took his dog with
him and that if it got kicked he could stitch it up or if it bit a
horse, he could stitch that up too! Dave Nicholson tried to defend his
new prodigy stating what is the big deal, there were always dogs around.
That was until we pointed out to him that Jim Bumgardner was unhappy
with the loose dogs and had stated in the ride flyer, "dogs should be
kept home or on a leash."

Barney the other vet stated that he always takes his dog too, but that
it is usually leashed except when let off to pee. We all agreed that his
dog seems to drink an awful lot of water!

In any case I, for one, was not impressed with the new vet's attitude
about his dog, especially in light of fairness. He should have his dog
harass every horse in the vet check in order to be fair. But he is new
and has trained his dog only on ponies so far.  But maybe we are on the
verge of a new horse stress gauging parameter here. I propose a new rule
that may be as significant as the Cardiac Recovery Index. THE HEELER
STRESS TEST. All vets should be required to have a loose trained dog
with them in the vet check and in addition to the current parameters
they should sic their heeler on each presenting horse to see at what
point the horse reacts. Any horse that does not kick until the dog has
actually bitten it is probably too stressed to continue and should be
pulled.

This is probably what The Duck was trying to convince me of......



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