Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

> Let me beat Heidi to it!
> Exit vet checks!  If the horse isn't ok at the end of the check, he is
pulled.  Period.  No baby-him-till-the-next-check.

Thanks, Lynne--you saved me the typing...  <g>

> I still think the rider needs to talk to the vet, Howard.  That the vet
has the right to ask "has he been EDPP", etc.  If he is
uncharacteristically not drinking when usually he drinks like a fish,
the exposure of that fact helps the RIDER make the right decision on
the part of the horse.  Talking helps the rider reason it out, with the
vet's input

AMEN!  As a ride vet, talking to the rider is valuable input.  I encourage
riders to talk to me.  That input goes in right along with what I see, hear,
feel, etc. examining the horse.  That doesn't mean that I'm "swayed" by what
the rider says--it just means that we communicate in the best interests of
the horse.  If I don't like what I see, hear, feel, etc., the horse ain't
going on anyway.  But I can advise the rider as to the management of the
horse for the next leg or the remainder of the ride, as long as we can
talk--and that is important BEFORE the horse reaches the point of being
overridden!  As one poster said, there is quite a range between great and
overridden, and all sorts of shades in between.  The time to be talking to
the rider about changing strategies is several "shades" BEFORE the
"overridden" point.  That is a win-win situation--it is in the best
interests of the horse, and the rider learns as well.

And Howard, it is only at the upper eschelon "championship" FEI rides where
the rider is not "supposed" to talk to the ride vet.  And even there, the
ride vet and either the team vet or the chef d'equipe talk about the
horse--and the latter has already talked to the rider.  The main reason for
this is to level the playing field and eliminate language barriers--not to
disallow communication between ride vet and rider.  And in reality, the ride
vets even at championships will often ask the riders direct questions about
the horses.  But the "prohibition" does eliminate begging, whining, and
"back-talk" from the rider to the vet.

If you go to an MD, you'd be pretty miffed (and you should be damned
scared!) if he/she never talks to you in the course of evaluating and
examining you.  In the case of examining a horse, it is more like a
pediatrition examining a child and talking to the mother.  How else do you
find out the clinical things that might be going on outside your immediate
view?  Have you seen the kid stick beans up his nose?  Did he have diarrhea
yesterday?  Etc.  No, you can't base your entire exam and all of your
findings on what is formally called the "history"--the stuff that the
rider/owner/mother tells you--but you can't do a good job without it,
either.  And no, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell when you're
dealing with a rider/owner/mother that is either clueless or lying.

Heidi


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