Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Wow, I am sure having trouble getting this thought out.
Perhaps our difficulty is that term "needed."
Because a number of horses are seen hooked up on an IV as after care at a high profile ride, some are assuming that there was a need involved.
Now we all know what assuming does, it makes an ass out of some of us.  Now I am not assuming that anyone here is an ass.  But really now, there has been way too much assuming going on here lately.
We walk by a horse tied on a trailer and we assume we know how he has been treated all day long, when he was last offered water, how tired he may be, when he was last walked, or even if he has pulsed down.
OK, OK, OK, we all jump to conclusions, (assumptions) me too.  It does seem to be human nature, but it leads to some ugly things when it is let run away.  When I took my ponies to birthday parties, I knew what their habits were.  One hour of walking beside me never even made them sweat.  They chose never to drink water till at home.  That was their behavior.  Well, I was dealing with a very unknowledgeable, about horses, group of people.  But that old "assumption" thing always goes on in peoples minds.  So, I always had a nice clean bucket of water in clear view, just to give pause to any assumers out there.
Many people have their routine after a ride, and most are different from each other.  Some bute for a more comfortable ride home.  It was not needed, it is the choice of the rider to care for his horse that way.  Not my business to assume anything!  Perhaps the replacement of fluids after a ride is finished is also an after care option which I should keep my nose out of.
I know that the quicker the calories, fluids, electrolytes, and anything else lost (used) on a ride are replaced to the horses system, why the better for the horse.  The process can probably be done with a month at pasture, but what is wrong with a rider working on that process at a quicker rate? What is wrong with a rider wanting to take out a horse on another ride sooner than a month?  Just perhaps the rider does know what they are doing, and can get a horse ready for more competition sooner.  Good for them!  That is how we learn more things about what works.  Individuals discover it, and then the knowledge gets shared.
Let us leave open the options for individual decisions on feeding and treating horses.
Let us please back off some on this "assuming" (need), or bad treatment, or neglect or abuse of horses.  We hear or see such a little tidbit of information, and such big stories are developed from it.
We can tear our sport apart by this continual tearing at each other.  There is more than one right way.

Lynge