Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

> Why not? Speculation on what "might" have happened is the first step
> toward resolving the problem....as in the Challenger disaster, for
> example. Speculation  should include propose possible scenarios not only
> as to why it might have happened, but how it might be prevented in the
> future. Are the details surrounding the death "secret" and not availble
> to us "regular" AERC members?
Speculation has its place, but not in an official report.  If the official
report says, "Jim Holland's horse that died MIGHT have been saved if he had
given more e-lytes at vet check 3," then by the time it gets on Ridecamp, it
has become "Jim Holland is an ignorant SOB who overrode his horse and
refused to give it e-lytes and the vet committee says he killed his horse."

That aside, let's look at Bob's example about the stallion and the pipe
panel.  The two issues here are management factors and veterinary factors.
It looks to me to be pretty straightforward that a horse getting loose has
nothing to do with the veterinary standards at the ride, so we'll stick to
management.  Did ride management directly CAUSE this accident?  No.  It sure
didn't appear that the stallion was acting out of hormonal drive--he was out
on the road, for goodness sakes, not wreaking havoc among the horses in
camp.  And geldings and mares have also been damaged from getting loose at
rides, so his gender wasn't really an issue--hence outlawing stallions as a
management practice won't solve the problem.  Would outlawing pipe panels
solve the problem?  No, because there are horses that get loose from other
sorts of confinements/restraints as well, and go out and become damaged.  I
don't know of ANY confinement system that is ABSOLUTELY foolproof under ALL
circumstances.  (And in some cases, while the confinement system may contain
the horse, it may cause injury in and of itself.)  So please tell me, Jim,
just what WOULD you change about how we run rides to ABSOLUTELY, beyond a
shadow of a doubt, ensure that NO horse can get loose and become injured?
We can't even guarantee that at home.  When you find that, you'll become a
millionaire, because horsemen all over will want to buy in on your
discovery.

I feel as adamantly as you do that we need to do ALL we can to eliminate
horse deaths from our sport.  But thrashing the veterinary committee for
stating that they couldn't find specific errors in vetting or management on
which to place the blame isn't the answer.  Our society seems to really be
hung up on placing blame for EVERYTHING--and the pressure on the veterinary
committee to do so here is just as erroneous and misplaced.

Heidi


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