Ridecamp: [RC] Trail etiquette

 The ambient
> temp.
> was about 90 and he was pouring water from a tank along the trail
> (probably
> about 80 degrees) all over his horse. A woman rode up and told him he
> couldn't do that or his horse would tie up ( this to a veterinarian who
> has
> probably read most of the original research on the subject). She was
> very
> offended when he said "I'll let you know if she does" and kept
> pouring.


OK, I have to come out of lurk mode to tell my embarrasing story.

When the Olympics came to Atlanta there was quite a bit of research done on how 
the horses were going to handle the heat and humidity during intense athletic 
endeavors.

For those of us that have been riding 50s and 100s in this weather for years it 
was somewhat amusing.

In a nutshell, the research showed that the cooler you got the horses the 
faster the better they did.

They set up large misting tents with fans and misters to cool the horses as 
quickly as possible.

They didn't find any likelihood that pouring water on their rumps did anything 
but keep them from overheating.

So, armed with this knowledge I happened to be at a ride in Tennessee. I was 
running with the front runners, and my horse stepped on his shoe and bent it. 
We probably went 8-9 miles before I figured out the shoe was bent. I knew he 
stepped on himself but I didn't realize he was running on a crooked shoe.

Then at the check, I waited an HOUR to find someone who could put the shoe back 
on so my horse STOOD for an hour while I begged for anyone with some tools to 
put his shoe back on.

At this point I had race fever, and I wanted to catch back up with the front 
runners so I leaped on my horse, and took off to catch them. I did catch them 
about 3/4 through the next loop. The next vet check was in a field and there 
was a hose & spiggot in the corner.

I turned it on and started hosing my horse down at the check.

At this point, a 14 year old boy who was helping me crew told me not to hose my 
horse off or he would get a cramp. I then informed him of all the research done 
for the Olympics and how that was pure hogwash. After all, I AM A VETERINARIAN. 
Then, as I walked my horse over to vet in. He........ CRAMPED!!!!

Was it running on the bent shoe for 8 miles? Was is standing for an hour and 
then taking off at speed without a proper warm up? Probably, but in the end, I 
poured water on him and he cramped, so it must've been the water! <wink>

That was one of only 2 pulls in nearly 1500 competition miles. How embarrasing!

Had to share.

Laura Szeremi DVM

 

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