RideCamp@endurance.net
Re: RC: FEEDING BEER TO HORSES
In a message dated 9/8/00 12:47:21 AM Pacific Daylight Time, tracey@tbt.co.za
writes:
<< 1. How can any human being be so stupid as to agree to put something in
their horse's food without first investigating it fully. >>
Because it works.
There are genuinely dumb morons, and then, there are really bright morons.
In between is everybody else, encountering problems, trying to solve them,
talking to their friends about them, talking to the "experts"--flailing
around for solutions. And once in a while, a solution pops up out of the
blue, with absolutely no academic knowledge about it whatsoever.
The true morons in the game are those whose minds are paralyzed. It might be
because they can't think at all. It might be because they thought about
things when they were younger, had some success, and then stopped thinking.
And it might be because they have such a fear do doing something incorrectly
that they have to read a large body of scientific literature that actually
forces them to make a decision, before they can actually implement a change
in daily routine. All are mentally paralyzed, and thus, morons, by my
definition.
As far as beer is concerned, I don't think there is a racehorse in Ireland
that DOESN'T get a bottle of Guinness every day. It appears to be beneficial.
Why? Who knows? Certainly there have been no studies done on it.
Similarly, though, firing and blistering are still widely practiced
treatments. At one time, vets made a larger percentage of their income that
way than they do today with corticosteroids--and all three treatments, the
way they are used, are damaging to the horse. And they are typically
administered by the scientific experts at the track--the licensed medical
people. Today, most bucked shins and splints are fired, tendon and suspensory
injuries are blistered. Moronic in the extreme.
A guy named Lubecki invented a treatment for bows and suspensories (actually,
learned it from Sir Charles Strong) using a mucle stimulator to cause 27,000
contractons of the deep and superficial flexor muscles a day. It works.
Quickly and efficiently. Has been working for years. The very first paper on
the technique appeared in 1999. Yet, the typical vet will tell you you're a
moron for trying it. He'll suggest blistering, tendon splitting, superior
check desmotomy, Bapten, or a year in the paddock--none of which are
particularly effective.
I read science every day. And I talk to dozens of trainers every day. Some of
the science I read is written by morons, and some of the trainers I talk to
are morons. That is, people who have stopped thinking. Most solutions to
problems arise from a series of stumbles and bumbles--not from research. They
arise from people flailing around, trying to solve a problem, trying this,
trying that. People whose brains are still alive--if not correct at every
stop along the way.
And so, my First Law is a very intellectual one: What works is real.
ti
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