Gosh Howard ... why don't we just bubblewrap our horses
and never leave the barn with them? Things happen -- to horses, people,
dogs, cats, every living being -- that's life!
I used to have an Arabian gelding I bought as a 4-month
old. Trained him myself. I did lots of trail riding. One day I was
out on a slow pleasure ride with a friend when my horse suddenly just laid down
right in the middle of the trail. Colic! Walked him back to the
trailer and rushed him to the vet. By the time we got there all symptoms
were gone. He was fine. He had a particularly bad colic episode
in the winter a year or so later and was at the vet for two weeks with an
impaction. It took a year for him to be rideable again. He seemed to
be doing fine, but colicked again at a horse show just standing tied to the
trailer. I took him to a nearby well-respected equine facility where he
was scoped, tested, prodded and pronounced fit and healthy. A month later
he was dead. It turns out he had a birth defect -- his intestine was
adhered to something (its been a long time and I've forgotten the details) and
it finally tore away. He was put down. He was only
9. I sold my truck and trailer and said "that's it" --- no more
horses. That lasted about 6 months -- until another horse came into my
life and they have been there ever since.
So should I have quit trail riding because my horse
colicked? Should I quit tying him to the trailer because he coliked?
Should I quit feeding him because he colicked after eating? Do you quit
driving a car if you have an accident?
Get out there and do whatever horse sport appeals to
you. Give your horse the best care you can. If you own horses (or
any animal for that matter) at some point something is going to happen --
just deal, learn and move on.
Well, I'm going out to the barn, peel the bubble wrap
off my horse and go for a ride!
Karen
Karen
Williams Spotsylvania, VA www.mattariver.com
-----Original Message----- From:
ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Howard
Bramhall Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2003 11:49 AM To:
AERCMembersForum; ridecamp Subject: [RC] Howard & War
Cry
<snip>
I'm not trying to scare
anyone off from this sport. Not at all. I've analyzed this thing
quite a lot and have not come up with one concrete thing that might have
caused it. But, I will say, my love for this sport is beginning to
dwindle. I am concerned that so many of ya'll are not aware that it can
happen to you. And, your horse might not be as talkative to you as mine
was to me if it does. You might not catch it until it is too late.
Take it for what it's worth. For me, I'm seriously considering taking a
very long time off away from the sport I love, but, does not seem to love me
back in return. The horse must always come first, above, even the sport
of endurance!
