Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Maggie Mieske wrote:

> Never said that.  I said it's a harsh judgement to make.
>
>  
>
> > Obviously it must have been the trail, or the weather, or, or, or. But it could 
> > never have been the rider who did not recognize that there might have been 
> > something wrong. Riders
> > have nothing but the welfare of the horse at heart and so it must be some other 
> > cause.
> >
> > Bob
> >    
   Thank you--that was pretty much my intention.
   There are hundreds of horses going thousands of miles each year 
without major problems.  The difference between these horses and the 
treated ones is not the sport, or the loop length, or the vets, or the 
weather--it's the management provided by the rider.  Note that I am not 
saying all these horses are overridden--the problem may be related to 
feed, or worming, or hauling, or clipping/blanketing, or tack...but it 
is still a rider issue.  When thirty horses win at a ride, and one horse 
needs treatment, the treatment is not due to the ride (trail, weather, 
vets, etc) but to the rider.
   It is becoming almost a cliche to say "metabolic treatments/deaths 
can happen to anybody...".  Well, like all cliches this is both true and 
a vast oversimplification.  Anybody can have a previously undiagnosed 
pathology (like an aneurism) suddenly happen; but the majority of 
treatments are not like that...they are the result of mismanagement of 
some kind.  By endlessly debating loop lengths, etc, (and especially the 
recent phrase "due to the sport") we are, apparently, casting the rider 
as an innocent bystander, or worse yet, a victim of a sport that is 
inherently "a killer".  Well, treatments don't "happen to anybody"--they 
happen to horses, and they are usually caused by riders.  And there is 
only one victim in these cases, and that victim has four feet and no 
internet connection.
   Harsh?  I hope so.  Anybody can make a mistake that might result in 
their horse requiring treatment--I don't think they should be flogged to 
death for that.  But neither should they be excused from all blame; 
extending sympathy only goes so far.  To pat them on the back and say 
"there, there, dear--it wasn't your fault" is not likely to accomplish 
much in the way of improvement.
   We--all of us--have a duty to make the sport as safe and humane for 
horses as we possibly can; and many people are working on this.  When 
treatments happen, we need to provide education to the riders who need 
it.  If they happen too frequently, we may need to provide sanctions to 
the very few riders who may deserve it.
   No changes we make to the management of the sport will protect the 
horses if we absolve the riders of responsibility for their fate.  The 
really ethical riders (which we all claim to be....) have no problem 
with this--in fact they are usually far harder on themselves than 
warranted, and do everything in their power to never repeat their 
mistake.  It's the few who try to make excuses, and evade all blame, 
that I fear--for they cannot learn from mistakes they deny making, and 
they have no hope of changing.

terre


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