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[RC] [Guest] The situation surrounding horses death - Ridecamp ModeratorCarol Kight c_kight@xxxxxxxxxxx To all, I have been taking in all the info about the recent loss at PAC and as a member (since 97) I want to contribute info. The dialogue has been long overdue and great. I feel as members we need to put our heads together and figure out how we can keep the standards high in our sport so other groups do not try to integrate their standards on us. Most riders are athletes (or claim to be). I feel if we ride a horse to the point of exhaustion we must be able to do this ourselves. I am suggesting that riders that compete at a high level(PAC, FEI, etc.) be required to run a short distance themselves. I run myself and have run the same trails I train on and believe me it does put another perspective on the demands we ask of our horse. I have seen persons ride the horse hard but cannot trot out 50 yards or so without getting out of breath. Folks, if we demand our horses to do such long mileage(not often done in the wild) at such a fast pace, then we humans should be able to also run a short distance. As a health care provider, long-time athlete, short-time rider(10 years), I can speak with experience. Riders do get tired and mentally strained after long distances and maybe unable to logically make a decision whether their horse should continue or not. That's why is it so important to rely on the veterinarian help at these rides. The only question I have is gastric tubing of electrolytes as opposed to Intravenous. In the central region, our vets very seldom place a gastric tube and always give fluids and lytes IV in central line. If the horse had a full-stomach and was tubed a gallon of fluid, this could have contributed. I feel the horse was showing signs of problems long before this happend though.... Poor gut sounds are a sure sign of decreased motility and if motility is decreased, there is sure to be a disaster to follow. I have seen this with people so many times in my practice, eventhough horses and people are different. Keep in mind the size of a horses stomach, 1-2 gallons I have read..... Good discussion going and I hope we can gather info and answer some of these very tough questions. Horses shouldn't have to die for our sport. We need to be smarter and better equipped with the research essential to keeping our sport alive. Carol Kight, RN, BSN, CPAN M18760 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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